John S. Klemanski

Urban Regimes in Comparative Perspective The Politics of Urban Development in Britain

Until now urban regime analysts focused almost entirely on cities in the United States. In this article the authors broaden the definition of urban regimes to fit the British urban experience, then seek to trace the formation of regimes in Birmingham and Bristol during the 1980s. The formulation and implementation of specific economic development strategies and policies for each of these two cases is detailed, and finally, an evaluation of regime capacity for each is explored.

Using Tax Increment Financing for Urban Redevelopment Projects

Part of a trend beginning in the mid 1970s, many states became quite aggressive and competitive in providing public financing, tax incentives, and regulatory relief for those businesses considering location or relocation in the state. This article focuses on a particular redevelopment financing mechanism called Tax Increment Financing (TIF), and attempts to assess some of its political and financial consequences in various states. TIF is a state-authorized, locally implemented plan that helps finance public improvements associated with private development projects. Currently, Tax Increment Financing has been authorized in about 33 states, but many states have experienced political, legal, and fiscal controversies with its implementation.

Trends in Michigan Supreme Court Elections 2000-2012

ABSTRACT This article explores various trends in Michigan Supreme Court elections from 2000 through 2012. Within the backdrop of the structure of Court elections, dimensions such as incumbency, ele...

Outcome-Based Evaluation: Robert L. Schalock, Plenum Press, 1995, 242 pp.

The field of program evaluation has seen a number of new developments over the past several years. One of those developments has been a shift toward oufcomes evaluation, in an attempt to identify and measure program effects on client knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors, or conditions. This shift has impacted virtually all not-for-profit organizations, who now need to demonstrate to donors, decision-makers, taxpayers, clients, and other stakeholders that a given program is achieving its intended goals and objectives. This focus on client change has been advocated by a host of individuals and organizations (see, e.g., Drucker, 1990; Hatry, et al., 1992; United Way of America, 1996). Schalock’s Outcome-Based Evaluation continues this shift by providing a primer on outcome evaluation, intended for both consumers and producers of program evaluations. This focus on outcomes is a welcome addition to the program evaluation textbook market, because so many of the major texts have yet to dedicate any meaningful space to outcomes-for example, Rossi and Freeman’s (1993) highly regarded text, even in its fifth edition, spends little time on outcomes evaluation. This book would probably best serve as a text in a program evaluation course for graduate students. Its strengths are, first, in its coverage of an important new approach in evaluation (a “paradigm shift,” according to the author); and among others, a very fine chapter covering the specifics of data management, with details on collecting and organizing data. Most other evaluation texts tell the reader about the importance of data collection and management, but fail to provide adequate instruction on the techniques. Another plus for the reader of this book is the inclusion of “study questions” at the end of each chapter, which help to crystallize the major points contained in the chapter. While the book claims it also is written for a “consumer” of evaluations and evaluation reports, I would guess that the organization of the book is a bit too confusing for someone not already versed in some of the techniques and issues of program evaluation. Part of the confusing organization of the book, at least for me, is the placement of the topics-for example, the treatment of evaluation designs is left until chapter 8. Moreover, the “Benefit-Cost Analysis” chapter is mostly a rendering of a traditional “efficiency” model, rather than a cost-effectiveness (cost per positive outcome) approach. While the author briefly mentions and recognizes cost-effectiveness as an approach, he does not explore it further, and the discussion seems to

Book Review: Outcome-Based Evaluation:

The field of program evaluation has seen a number of new developments over the past several years. One of those developments has been a shift toward oufcomes evaluation, in an attempt to identify and measure program effects on client knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors, or conditions. This shift has impacted virtually all not-for-profit organizations, who now need to demonstrate to donors, decision-makers, taxpayers, clients, and other stakeholders that a given program is achieving its intended goals and objectives. This focus on client change has been advocated by a host of individuals and organizations (see, e.g., Drucker, 1990; Hatry, et al., 1992; United Way of America, 1996). Schalock’s Outcome-Based Evaluation continues this shift by providing a primer on outcome evaluation, intended for both consumers and producers of program evaluations. This focus on outcomes is a welcome addition to the program evaluation textbook market, because so many of the major texts have yet to dedicate any meaningful space to outcomes-for example, Rossi and Freeman’s (1993) highly regarded text, even in its fifth edition, spends little time on outcomes evaluation. This book would probably best serve as a text in a program evaluation course for graduate students. Its strengths are, first, in its coverage of an important new approach in evaluation (a “paradigm shift,” according to the author); and among others, a very fine chapter covering the specifics of data management, with details on collecting and organizing data. Most other evaluation texts tell the reader about the importance of data collection and management, but fail to provide adequate instruction on the techniques. Another plus for the reader of this book is the inclusion of “study questions” at the end of each chapter, which help to crystallize the major points contained in the chapter. While the book claims it also is written for a “consumer” of evaluations and evaluation reports, I would guess that the organization of the book is a bit too confusing for someone not already versed in some of the techniques and issues of program evaluation. Part of the confusing organization of the book, at least for me, is the placement of the topics-for example, the treatment of evaluation designs is left until chapter 8. Moreover, the “Benefit-Cost Analysis” chapter is mostly a rendering of a traditional “efficiency” model, rather than a cost-effectiveness (cost per positive outcome) approach. While the author briefly mentions and recognizes cost-effectiveness as an approach, he does not explore it further, and the discussion seems to

Book Reviews : Anne Bonar Blalock, (Ed.). Evaluating Social. Programs at the State and Local Level: The JTPA Evaluation Design Project. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute, 1991, 410 pp

John S. Klemanski Department of Political Science, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, 48309-4401. This book is the product of a nation-wide evaluation project of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). This project was created, developed, and directed by the Washington State Employment Security Department. The six contributors to this volume come from a variety of backgrounds, including different academic disciplines, and from government service. The book treats the evaluation of state and local-level implementation of JTPA to raise a number of issues relevant to evaluation practitioners as well as students of evaluation research and practice. Contained in this offering are discussions of state and local evaluations versus

Post-Graduate Public Administration Education: Comparisons of the United Kingdom and the United States

The United Kingdom has seen a substantial expansion ot post-graduate business administration education during the past twenty years. Professional and management education programmes are popular curricula with students, and have the cooperation and support ot many private sector firms that allow or encourage their employees to pursue further education and training. The success of the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree in the UK is testimony to the popularity and acceptance of this degree over the past two decades.