Volume 1 (2007)
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New Voices in Public Policy is a student-run journal published by the GMU Graduate School of Public Policy (SPP). It is student- and faculty-reviewed, and features outstanding work by the students in all SPP degree programs. It provides a forum for insightful analyses, new approaches to significant policy questions, and the best examples of student writing from the school's diverse programs.
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Item Screen image of Table of Contents for Volume 1(2011-06-21)Item Funding New Infrastructure: Virginia's Public Private Transportation Act Experience, 1995-2006(2007) Jones, James WebbThis paper examines the Commonwealth of Virginia’s experience utilizing a state Public Private Transportation Act [PPTA or the Act] to promote funding for new infrastructure. Virginia’s PPTA is an initiative that federal highway officials recommend as a model for public private partnership legislation. Federal highway researchers have performed an exhaustive 28-point analysis of Virginia’s PPTA and found it to be extremely flexible. This paper will review Virginia’s PPTA project history and the use of the PPP concept and tolls in the United States. The paper will then focus on recent PPTA developments in Virginia including the June 29, 2006, $548 million concession arrangement concluded with an Australian toll operator to manage and maintain the 8.8-mile tolled Pocahontas Parkway near Richmond. Finally, this paper will present some conclusions about Virginia’s experience.Item The Fairfax County Connector Bus System: Measuring the Impact of Subsidized Fares on Ridership(2007) Cosner, Matthew; Eisenberg, Marcy; Sachs, Marcus; Seneviratne, DulaniThis study hypothesizes that low-income, automobile-based commuters within the service areas of the Fairfax Connector bus system can be persuaded to use the Fairfax Connector county bus system, as opposed to a single occupancy vehicle (SOV), if the cost of their Connector fare is partially subsidized. This increase in the relative affordability of public transportation will enable targeted low-income commuters to take advantage of new, higher- paying job opportunities that may currently exist beyond their affordable commuting distance. Although not explicitly modeled, we surmise that increased utilization of the Fairfax Connector will also provide the added benefit of removing additional automobile traffic from the county's crowded roads and highways, thereby decreasing automotive traffic and providing benefits to commuters and employers.Item Policy Brief to the Minister of Finance of Liberia Mme Antoinette Sayeh: What Should Liberia Do to Improve Its Economy and the Well-Being of Its Citizens?(2007) Pyrtel, Mikael M.; Sandifer, Kirsten E.; Namabiro, Ann D.This policy brief is the result of Professor Todd La Porte issuing a challenge to students as part of an introductory course in the International Commerce and Policy (ICP) program at the George Mason University School of Public Policy. The assignment was to recommend ways in which the country of Liberia, having recently emerged from years of civil war and dictatorship, can strengthen the economy and improve the well-being of its citizens. We accepted the challenge and began researching Liberian history and the current political, economic, and social challenges that Liberia is working to overcome, and some of the development efforts currently underway with multi-lateral institutions. This policy brief begins with an executive summary and makes recommendations for economic growth and improved social well-being by addressing several areas, including fiscal policy, agriculture and rural development, and education.Item Best Practices for Successful Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR)(2007) Edloe, L. LenisseThis paper identifies and discusses “best practices” for successful disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) of former combatants in intrastate military conflicts and civil wars, which is a vital component of achieving peace among warring factions. By extracting and examining lessons learned from United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations over the past decade where DDR has been successfully employed, a clear set of best practices with respect to each component of DDR emerges.Item Weighing the Costs of Capital Punishment v. Life In Prison Without Parole(2007) Ebert, Michael EThis paper is a cost analysis that compares the costs of charging, trying, convicting and imposing a sentence of death versus the costs for its alternatives, life in prison without parole (LWOP) and life in prison with the possibility of parole (LPP) when the crime charged (“indictment”) involves one or more instances of aggravated first-degree murder. For the most part, the cost analysis will involve only one option to the death penalty, LWOP; this option is available to prosecutors in death penalty states for the same class of particularly heinous crimes for which a capital indictment is available.Item The Role of Democracy in Public Policy Making by Private Groups: A Case Study of the American Petroleum Institute (API)(2007) Dickson, StaciaThis paper explores API’s history, its multiple functions within the industry, and its connections to government. It focuses on policy- making processes and the level of democratic procedure employed in creating standards. A comparison is made between API and the Australian Gas Association to differentiate between the role of private groups in public policymaking in the United States, where such groups are more prevalent, and the international arena. API’s connections to other standard-making bodies and international associations are discussed in order to determine who API’s stakeholders are, whom the organization is ultimately accountable to, and from where it derives legitimacy in its ability to develop policies that its members, as well as the greater international oil and gas industry, voluntarily abide by. The study also attempts to support a hypothesis on the impact of government involvement in standard-setting on the number of viewpoints involved in API’s policymaking process.Item Balancing 'Brick-and-Mortar' and 'Bits-And-Bytes': An Analysis of Cyber Charter School Funding in Pennsylvania(2007) Clarke, Suzie; Hurlburt, Steven; Wines, LindsayThis paper examines the controversy related to the funding and management of Pennsylvania cyber charter schools through a discussion of the important characteristics of cyber charter schools and their emergence in Pennsylvania. In particular, it looks at the sustainability and fairness of the current funding model from the perspectives of both cyber charters and local school districts.Item Item Item Message from the Dean(2007) Haynes, Kingsley EMessage from the Dean of the School of Public Policy, Kingsley E. Haynes