Kiki Caruson

So, You Want to Run for Elected Office? How to Engage Students in the Campaign Process Without Leaving the Classroom

The use of active learning strategies can involve students with course material in ways that the traditional lecture can not. As described by Bonwell and Eison ( 1991 ), active learning requires that students engage in activity (other than listening) that emphasizes the development of cognitive skills through higher order thinking tasks such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. There are numerous ways to integrate active learning strategies in the classroom, including: collaborative or group exercises, experiential learning, guided discussion, computer-based instruction, peer-to-peer teaching, and participant demonstrations. Incorporating active learning exercises into course curriculum can have a powerful effect on the development of learning skills. The benefits of active learning for students include an increased motivation to learn, increased responsibility for learning, improved attitudes toward learning, better interpersonal skills, and an increased ability to appreciate and consider a variety of perspectives (Jacobs, Power, and Inn 2002 ).

Disaster Vulnerabilities How Strong a Push Toward Regionalism and Intergovernmental Cooperation

In 2004, the Government Accountability Office reported that in the context of homeland security and disaster management, regional organization is an effective way to improve intergovernmental cooperation and preparedness at the local level. In 2006, the Department of Homeland Security began including risk (vulnerability) calculations in its funding formulas and adopted a regional approach to the distribution of funds to major metropolitan areas. Despite regionalisms theoretical appeal and its popularity as an organizational structure, what makes regionalism work in the context of emergency management/homeland security has not been methodically examined at the first responder level. Our study of local governments in Florida empirically tests the relationship between perceived vulnerabilities (risks) and the effectiveness of regional emergency management organizational structures. We find that certain types of local vulnerabilities, such as population attributes and infrastructure, are more powerful promoters of proregionalism sentiments than others, most notably financial condition.

Code Red: Florida City and County Officials Rate Threat Information Sources and the Homeland Security Advisory System:

Following September 11, 2001, the White House identifi ed the need for an early warning system as one of six critical homeland security missions, including “activities related to detecting terrorists and disseminating threat information and warning [and] the development of programs that promote intelligence sharing across the public and private sectors” (Carafano 2004, 1). The Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS), established by presidential directive in March Code Red: Florida City and County Offi cials Rate Threat Information Sources and the Homeland Security Advisory System

Emergency Management: Gauging the Extensiveness and Quality of Public- and Private-Sector Collaboration at the Local Level

This empirically based study compares the extensiveness and perceived quality of public and private emergency management—related collaborations at the grassroots level, based on a statewide survey of Florida county and city officials. The extensiveness of local officials’ involvement in private-sector collaboration is on par with their emergency management—related interactions with public-sector entities. County officials are more likely than city officials to report higher quality networks with both public and private partners. First responders rate the quality of their intergovernmental public-sector collaborations higher than their generalist counterparts; the results are more varied in terms of each group’s private-sector network quality assessments.

Financing Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness: Use of Inter-local Cost-Sharing

Before this study, much of the research on inter-local collaboration has focused broadly on inter-local service agreements, of which inter-local cost-sharing is but one dimension. This study is one of the first to examine the nature of inter-local cost-sharing agreements for a specific (and critically important) functional area. A mail survey of Florida city and county finance officers finds that the most common inter-local cost-sharing partnership is between local general purpose governments rather than with local special purpose governments. The strongest incentives for inter-local cost-sharing are (1) inadequate funding for emergency management in a jurisdictions capital budget, (2) the perceived inadequacy of federal and/or state homeland security funding, and (3) greater faith in horizontal (local-to-local) than vertical (federal-state-local) intergovernmental agreements. The research also highlights the importance of asking fiscal condition survey questions in a more functionally specific manner rather than as an overall fiscal condition question.

Gauging Disaster Vulnerabilities at the Local Level Divergence and Convergence in an “All-Hazards” System

Using mail survey data, we analyze the types of vulnerabilities Florida’s county officials rate as critical when planning for (a) a natural disaster and (b) a deliberate (terrorist) human-made attack. The research identifies the degree to which these officials provide similar assessments (commonality) of their community’s vulnerabilities across these two types of disasters. Overall, vulnerability assessment commonality is more pervasive for basic needs—water, power, transportation, emergency health care, communication, and financial assets. County management personnel and first responders are more likely to perceive greater overlap across types of hazards than finance, human services, or infrastructure officials, especially in Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

The Seven Sins of American Foreign Policy

States on September 11, 2001, left a scar on the American psyche that will never fully heal. This date, too, will live in infamy, along with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The brutality of the attacks on 9/11 awakened the American people to two central facts of the new century: first, we continue to live in a hostile world, despite the end of the Cold War, and, second, we are vulnerable to adversaries who not only reject our way of life but seek to destroy it. The terrorist attacks have spurred a wideranging debate over the future of American foreign policy. The question of how best to organize the government for the common defense has been a central focus, with the proposal for a Department of Homeland Defense providing Congress and the president with a framework for fashioning preliminary answers. Officials will continue to refine the organizational requirements for improved security as negotiations , continue over the Loch K. Johnson, University of Georgia Kiki Caruson, University of South Florida by

Disaster and Development in Ghana: Improving Disaster Resiliency at the Local Level

Women are essential to disaster risk reduction efforts, but their knowledge and opinions are not systematically leveraged as an asset to improving community resiliency. Using focus group data gathered from residents of several highly vulnerable migrant settlements in Ghana, we present the current roles played by women in disaster resiliency efforts, the limits of their enfranchisement in the emergency management process, and the opportunities for the integration of a gender oriented approach to enhancing disaster resiliency among highly vulnerable populations. Lessons learned from the settlement populations in Ghana include the recognition that local residents perceive their community, or “the people,” as the greatest asset in the context of disaster. This recognition allows for personal networks to be leveraged, in locally relevant ways, for the purpose of enhancing communication, disseminating information, and leadership building. Local women, with their superior organization networks, represent an under-utilized resource for enhancing resiliency and community development.

Public Watchdogs or Imperial Pitbulls: An Evaluation of Special Prosecutor Investigations of Executive Branch Misconduct

The independent counsel investigation process was created to provide a politically neutral and independent avenue for investigating executive misconduct. Twenty investigations of high-ranking department and White House officials occurred during the independent counsel era. During this time, the process was criticized for a lack of accountability, for politicization, and for ineffectiveness in terms of investigatory outcomes. This research provides an empirical evaluation of the primary criticisms of the investigatory process by utilizing data concerning the investigations conducted during the independent counsel era (1978–1999), as well as information from more recent investigations conducted by special counsels appointed directly by the attorney general (1999 to the present). Specifically, I analyze the charge of lack of accountability by measuring the cost, duration, and expansion of jurisdiction for each independent and special counsel investigation. To analyze politicization of the process, I evaluated the impact of divided government and congressional involvement in the investigatory process. Last, the article provides a brief evaluation of the effectiveness of the investigations under review.