<p> Although Internet censorship is a well-studied topic, to date most published studies have focused on a single aspect of the phenomenon, using methods and sources specific to each researcher. Results are difficult to compare, and global, historical perspectives are rare. Because each group maintains their own software, erroneous methods may continue to be used long after the error has been discovered. Because censors continually update their equipment and blacklists, it may be impossible to reproduce historical results even with the same vantage points and testing software. Because &ldquo;probe lists&rdquo; of potentially censored material are labor-intensive to compile, requiring an understanding of the politics and culture of each country studied, researchers discover only the most obvious and long-lasting cases of censorship. </p><p> In this dissertation I will show that it is possible to make progress toward addressing all of these problems at once. I will present a proof-of concept monitoring system designed to operate continuously, in as many different countries as possible, using the best known techniques for detection and analysis. I will also demonstrate improved techniques for verifying the geographic location of a monitoring vantage point; for distinguishing innocuous network problems from censorship and other malicious network interference; and for discovering new web pages that are closely related to known-censored pages. These techniques improve the accuracy of a continuous monitoring system and reduce the manual labor required to operate it. </p><p> This research has, in addition, already led to new discoveries. For example, I have confirmed reports that a commonly-used heuristic is too sensitive and will mischaracterize a wide variety of unrelated problems as censorship. I have been able to identify a few cases of political censorship within a much longer list of cases of moralizing censorship. I have expanded small seed groups of politically sensitive documents into larger groups of documents to test for censorship. Finally, I can also detect other forms of network interference with a totalitarian motive, such as injection of surveillance scripts. </p><p> In summary, this work demonstrates that mostly-automated measurements of Internet censorship on a worldwide scale are feasible, and that the elusive global and historical perspective is within reach.</p><p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--The University of Chicago, 2005. / Adviser: Iris Marion Young. Includes bibliographical references.

<p> The modern internet and phone networks offer very little security, privacy, or accountability to their users. As people conduct their business and social lives online and over the phone, they naturally generate private or sensitive data about themselves. But any number of parties can and do track this data. Not only the services people interact with everyday, but third-party services for ad tracking, malicious hackers, government agencies operating with nebulous legal authority, and service providers themselves can and do observe and track users. They can then use the sensitive data in a variety of objectionable ways.</p><p> Changing this state of affairs without an earth-shattering technological breakthrough may appear to be a hopeless situation. But, in this dissertation, we demonstrate how existing technology can, if deployed and used properly, markedly improve privacy for users and accountability for those collecting data. We discuss two techniques for achieving these improvements: privacy-preserving surveillance and anonymous communication. For each technique, we present example protocols for which we have implemented fast prototypes running on commercial hardware.</p><p> First, we define the notion of privacy-preserving surveillance. Currently, a government agency can collect and examine bulk user data while making no distinction between the legitimate target of investigation and the average person, and with little or no oversight from other agencies. Privacy-preserving surveillance is an alternative legal regime in which searches of sensitive user data could only take place with the active collaboration of multiple government agencies. Trust is distributed amongst these agencies, assuring that no single authority can unilaterally view sensitive user data (or metadata). We then show how two types of bulk surveillance, currently in use by the authorities, could be made privacy-preserving by the adoption of modern cryptographic protocols to secure data.</p><p> We also discuss protocols for anonymous communication. We take two approaches to anonymity. First, we present an improvement to the Tor network, an anonymity substrate based on onion routing that is already deployed in the wild. Second, we present a complete specification of the dining-cryptographers-based Verdict protocol arid formally prove its anonymity, security, and accountability properties. </p>

<p> This dissertation has both science and policy components. The research examines the presence or absence of two amphibian species in one Virginia County. Two amphibian species <i>Pseudacris crucifer</i> (Spring Peeper) and <i>Hyla versicolor</i> (Gray Tree Frog) are proposed to serve as a biotic indicator, or proxy, for water quality/watershed condition and ecosystem services. My dissertation hypothesized that amphibian presence of the target species would correlate with watershed integrity values, which was verified by statistical analysis. Greater amounts of amphibian presence correlated with higher watershed integrity scores. Detailed studies of amphibian occurrence, with continued monitoring, can document trends and behaviors of the target species. Facing concern for thresholds and factors that allow or limit amphibian presence, amphibian monitoring contributes to our understanding of anthropogenic impacts on biotic communities. </p><p> Both of the targeted amphibian species were distributed county-wide; occurrences were recorded in each of the major sub-watersheds. Areas surrounding the monitored road segments were calculated (using GIS technology) for the amount of areas assigned to one of four watershed integrity values. Amphibian occurrences correlated with watershed integrity scores using Spearman Rank Correlation. </p><p> What it means to possess watershed integrity sufficient to host amphibian populations brings science into the realm of public policy. Values, economics, demographics, education, politics and culture come into play. Watershed integrity, water quality and ecosystem condition, function and services directly impact human health and wellbeing, and can have profound influences on economic and cultural circumstances. </p><p> County-wide amphibian monitoring can establish an important baseline for ecological conditions, with the potential for citizen engagement. It is one more portal through which citizens may connect with the natural world. Connections to nature, along with environmental literacy and forward-looking public policies will be required to protect the ecosystem services upon which our communities depend. Monitoring for two or three amphibian species from public roads can become a citizen science effort that raises awareness of water resource issues. Aware and engaged citizens are needed to inspire governments and elected representatives to plan for 21^st century conditions and sustainability. If engaging citizens, of all ages, in the workings of their own watershed will deepen their understanding of this vital, complex and dynamic system, then we may realize higher levels of water stewardship and sustainability.</p><p>

<p> The amount of digital data generated and stored by users increases every day. In order to protect this data, modern computing systems employ numerous cryptographic and access control solutions. Almost all of such solutions, however, require the keeping of certain secrets as the basis of their security models. How best to securely store and control access to these secrets is a significant challenge: such secrets must be stored in a manner that protects them from a variety of potentially malicious actors while still enabling the kinds of functionality users expect. </p><p> This dissertation discusses a system for isolating secrets from the applications that rely on them and storing these secrets via a standardized, service-oriented secret storage system. This &ldquo;Secret Storage as a Service&rdquo; (SSaaS) model allows users to reduce the trust they must place in any single actor while still providing mechanisms to support a range of cloud-based, multi-user, and multi-device use cases. </p><p> This dissertation contains the following contributions: an overview of the secret-storage problem and how it relates to the security and privacy of modern computing systems and users, a framework for evaluating the degree by which one must trust various actors across a range of popular use cases and the mechanisms by which this trust can be violated, a description of the SSaaS model and how it helps avoid such trust and security failures, a discussion of how the SSaaS approach can integrate with and improve the security of a range of applications, an overview of Custos &ndash; a first-generation SSaaS prototype, an overview of Tutamen &ndash; a next-generation SSaaS prototypes, and an exploration of the legal and policy implications of the SSaaS ecosystem. </p>

<p> Since the end of the Cold War, recurring civil conflicts have been the dominant form of violent armed conflict in the world, accounting for 70% of conflicts active between 2000-2013. Duration and intensity of episodes within recurring conflicts in Africa exhibit four behaviors characteristic of archetypal dynamic system structures. The overarching questions asked in this study are whether these patterns are robustly correlated with fundamental concepts of resiliency in dynamic systems that scale from micro-to macro levels; are they consistent with theoretical risk factors and causal mechanisms; and what are the policy implications. </p><p> Econometric analysis and dynamic systems modeling of 36 conflicts in Africa between 1989 -2014 are combined with process tracing in a case study of Somalia to evaluate correlations between state characteristics, peace operations and foreign aid on the likelihood of observed conflict patterns, test hypothesized causal mechanisms across scales, and develop policy recommendations for increasing human security while decreasing resiliency of belligerents. Findings are that observed conflict patterns scale from micro to macro levels; are strongly correlated with state characteristics that proxy a mix of cooperative (e.g., gender equality) and coercive (e.g., security forces) conflict-balancing mechanisms; and are weakly correlated with UN and regional peace operations and humanitarian aid. Interactions between peace operations and aid interventions that effect conflict persistence at micro levels are not seen in macro level analysis, due to interdependent, micro-level feedback mechanisms, sequencing, and lagged effects. </p><p> This study finds that the dynamic system structures associated with observed conflict patterns contain tipping points between balancing mechanisms at the interface of micro-macro level interactions that are determined as much by factors related to how intervention policies are designed and implemented, as what they are. Policy implications are that reducing risk of conflict persistence requires that peace operations and aid interventions (1) simultaneously increase transparency, promote inclusivity (with emphasis on gender equality), and empower local civilian involvement in accountability measures at the local levels; (2) build bridges to horizontally and vertically integrate across levels; and (3) pave pathways towards conflict transformation mechanisms and justice that scale from the individual, to community, regional, and national levels.</p>

<p> Since the inception of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), considerable emphasis has been placed on the use of prospective policy analysis tools that aim to inform environmental decisions, including cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment. However, compared to the prevalence of <i> ex ante</i> analysis at the EPA to inform decisions, relatively little evaluation of these same environmental policies is conducted after implementation, to inform future policy development or to modify existing policies. </p><p> This dissertation applied accountability, organizational learning, evaluation capacity, and institutionalism literature in consideration of processes and determinants that affect evaluation supply at the EPA. The dissertation relied on archival documents, semi-structured interviews, and three embedded case studies of EPA&rsquo;s ambient air, hazardous waste, and performance partnership programs. Ten key factors were identified across the three case studies in this research that affect EPA's production of program evaluation to inform decision-making, and a new emergent model of evaluation capacity was proposed for EPA given the agency's regulatory structure. This research concludes that evaluation has much to offer EPA decision-makers, and efforts to improve evaluation capacity will present organizational learning opportunities that can further support the agency's evidence-building practices, specifically improving the application and use of program evaluation at EPA.</p>

<p> This quantitative study sought to investigate the differences in the electoral outcomes of school bond elections in Missouri from 2009-2016 based on election timing. The researcher utilized election timing theory as a framework for the study. Data from Missouri school bond elections was compiled from online databases, the Missouri State Auditor&rsquo;s office, and archived newspaper reports. Results suggest that differences exist in electoral outcomes for school bond issues based on election timing. The study concludes with recommendations for Missouri school administrators, designed to aid in the successful passage of school bond issues.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine how a group of 12 public high school principals describe and understand the two elements of Elmore's (2006) principle of reciprocity in their practices (i.e., the accountabilities to which they are subject and the sources of development and support for their professional leadership capacities), using a grounded theory methodology. I used Seidman's (2006) three-interview structure for data collection, with each interview lasting from one to two and a half hours (totaling 60 hours). Through the eight major steps of my analysis (e.g., multiple coding passes, memoing, examination of matrices constructed from the data) of the interview transcripts and my field notes, I developed both descriptive and explanatory findings. </p><p> My descriptive findings included three typologies, which I inductively developed from what these principals shared with me. The first details 17 categories of leadership capacities. The second details 30 categories of accountors (i.e., to whom these principals feel accountable), grouped into 7 super-categories. The third details 45 categories of accountances (i.e., for what these principals feel accountable), grouped into 11 super-categories. I also discovered a critical 18^th leadership capacity&mdash;a capacity for being held accountable. </p><p> My explanatory findings included four major learnings. First, interpersonal relationships are a key driver of accountability for these principals. Second, these principals are often active co-creators of their own accountabilities. Third, academics is not necessarily the focus of their most important accountabilities. Fourth, a shortage of capacity providers and the inappropriateness of expecting certain key accountors (e.g., students) to be capacity providers undermines the explanatory and predictive power of the principle of reciprocity for these principals. </p><p> These findings will help those interested in school leadership to better understand the complexities of the principalship. This will support current and aspiring principals' efforts to take a more active role in ensuring they are prepared for the principalship. It will help those involved in the preparation and support of principals to strategically target their efforts. Last, it will inform those who wish to use educational policy as a lever to improve our schools.</p>

<p> Length of time teaching shapes educators&rsquo; competence with intentional integration of democratic engagement in the classroom. This study finding stems from a pivotal understanding of civic engagement refocused and defined as democratic engagement by Saltmarsh and Hartley (2011). The authors determine that <i>democratic engagement</i> as an ideal includes far more than the civic participation element of voting. These authors suggest that for a representative democracy to thrive, communities and civic institutions must partner to create civic agency among not just the individual, but collective, social, and government entities. In this study, educators in a small to medium sized K-6 district are surveyed to identify differing levels of democratic engagement among demographic indicators as identified by Saltmarsh and Hartley (2011). Democratic engagement constructs of community engagement, political voice, civic participation and political knowledge combine to create a Civic Index Scale measure. This measure describes a sample population of highly democratic engaged versus disengaged participants. Identified educators with the most engaged, somewhat engaged, and disengaged civic scores were interviewed for attitudes, beliefs, and professional practice in relation to democratic engagement. A series of two interviews per educator yielded unexpected results. The study found that democratic disengagement does not equate to disengagement in the classroom, poor teaching, or lack of effort to promote citizenship as developmentally appropriate. A disengaged educator in the study was professionally fulfilled, and successfully created classroom community. A medium engaged educator identified in the interview process exhibited highly effective teaching practice as a seasoned professional with lower levels of job satisfaction and difficulty in classroom management. The highly engaged educator in the qualitative analysis exhibited not only effective teaching practice, but also intentional relationship building, and highly effective classroom management. Hierarchical Regression analysis indicated that time teaching, age, race, and gender were significant in the model and that time teaching persisted as a key factor contributing to variance in the model.</p><p>