This dissertation explores the impacts of state-imposed development on rural communities and their environment in the mountainous district of Upper Svaneti in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. Analyzing these effects is particularly salient as developing countries attempt to attract foreign investment with the option to liquidate natural capital, the wealth and power divide between urban and rural regions widens, and the world is struggles to respond to the global environmental challenges of climate change and biodiversity conservation. The forests, household livelihoods, cultural heritage and traditional property regimes of Upper Svaneti are now under threat by two state-led developments: first, by land acquisitions for the construction of a commercial ski tourism zone; and second, by revisions to the Forest Code that will allow the state to grant 49-year concessions to forests and their underground water and mineral resources. During six months of fieldwork over the summer and fall of 2011, I collected data through 250 household surveys, in-depth interviews with villagers and government officials, and analysis of archival materials and policy documents. This dissertation follows a three-essay format. The first essay measures household dependence on common pool resources (CPRs) and property under traditional private ownership. I find that low-income households are especially dependent on threatened CPRs, as are households in villages at a greater distance from market centers. I conclude that income from new wage employment in the tourism and timber industries is not a sufficient substitute for prospective losses in CPR-based income, due to the importance of diversified livelihood strategies for managing risk, the value of maintaining traditional governance structures and ecosystem functions, the limited substitutability of CPR goods, and the diminishing purchasing power of wage income. I argue that if development trajectories are to create a pathway out of poverty for local communities, they must create new income opportunities that do not limit local access to natural resources or degrade the environment. The second essay utilizes elements of the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework pioneered by Elinor Ostrom and her colleagues to map governance systems and characteristics of forest users in two villages in the Upper Svaneti district. First, I trace the institutional history of the two villages from the formation of traditional self-governance structures prior to the Soviet period, to collectivization and state control during the Soviet era, through the post-Soviet transition to current structures and policies. I then detail the interactions between government and non-governmental organizations, property rights systems, and monitoring and sanctioning processes. I evaluate the attributes of forest users, including their socioeconomic characteristics, history of forest use, social capital, environmental values, and the importance of forest resources in livelihoods. I compare the results against indicators for successful community forest management (CFM) regimes identified in a recent meta analysis in order to identify both the strengths of the region in its ability to support CFM initiatives and the processes that are inhibiting their emergence. I find that the forest users exhibit many of the characteristics associated with successful CFM, but that the legal framework for forest ownership and financial incentives for regional and state officials are obstructing decentralization. Intervention by the international community could help to support communities in establishing ownership rights over village forests and to change the existing incentive structure facing government officials. The third essay explores how households plan to respond to the "peasant dilemma" presented by the introduction of the ski tourism zone: the choice between maintaining pre-modern agricultural practices, on the one hand, or participating in new wage employment or to embarking on new self-enterprise opportunities, such as opening a guesthouse or small business, on the other. Distinguising between the progressive and regressive, I analyze how changes in livelihood strategies are likely to affect collective action for CFM, opportunities for female-headed households, and wealth inequality. I find that households prefer to allocate labor toward starting a small business over participating in wage employment, that there are negative relationships between wage employment and support for CFM and between political connectedness and support for CFM, but a positive relationship between dependence on CPRs and support for CFM. For these reasons, commercial tourism development can be expected to erode possibilities for successful CFM. Meanwhile, the majority of female-headed households, particularly those in villages outside the administrative capital, are unlikely to benefit from the development, and both inter- and intra-village wealth inequalities are likely to increase. My findings suggest that an alternative development approach, such as ecotourism based on establishing a Protected Area, that emphasizes small-scale business, retains traditional subsistence practices, supports CFM, and provides equal opportunity for households across the district, would be more socially desirable than the development trajectory that is currently planned.

The paper identifies the main challenges faced by the City of Johannesburg in the management of street trading in Johannesburg's inner-city. Street trading is very important as it constitutes a great proportion of the informal sector in South Africa, and it plays a great role in the alleviation of poverty and unemployment. Government acknowledges the significance of street trading but this does not translate into urban policy and practice. There is a need for government to be more supportive and developmental in the management of street trading in urban governance. The paper found that the 2013 Constitutional Court Judgement on Operation Clean Sweep has brought about a shift in the City of Johannesburg's approach and attitude towards street trading, however, key challenges remain. Firstly, the City of Johannesburg needs to establish a holistic, developmental and collaborative management model for street trading as the current one is fragmented and inconsistent. The mismanagement of street trading has left traders vulnerable to police harassment and corruption, and it has resulted in the "crime and grime" the City of Johannesburg so often blames street trading for. Secondly, the City of Johannesburg needs to balance its desire to attain world-class African city status with the needs of the poor and marginalized - economic development, urban renewal and investment should not take place at the expense of the poor. Thirdly, street traders need to be at the center of the management model, currently business and private interests are at the center of the model. Lastly, the City of Johannesburg needs to be more creative and lenient in accommodating the growing number of street traders in the inner-city. The City of Johannesburg needs to stop criminalizing street trading through the creation of scarcity. The findings of this paper have implications for urban management policy and practice. Research was conducted through interviews with the Department of Economic Development officials responsible for street trading; draft policy and government documents were used; and secondary sources were drawn upon.

Civil Service reform has swept through all levels of government during the last decade. These reforms call for greater managerial flexibility at the expense of civil servant employment security and tenure. This work examines the effects of these reforms on the psychological contract of various generations working in Florida's state government. The psychological contract can be defined as an exchange agreement of promises and contributions between two parties, the employee and employer, and includes an individual's beliefs regarding mutual obligations (Rousseau, 1990, 1995). Psychological contract theory is believed by many to be the most accurate explanation of the varied, albeit primarily negative, reactions of employees to job insecurity (King, 2000). The psychological contract becomes an important and appropriate framework to study employee perceptions of civil service reforms. In this research, three distinct literatures were reviewed to build a theory of worker perceptions based on generational cohort. First, a brief account of the civil service reform efforts taking place. From there, the work outlined streams of research associated with the psychological contract and generational differences. From there, gaps in the literature were identified and hypotheses proposed. The hypotheses fell into four groups: psychological contract obligations, job security, self-reliance, and loyalty/commitment levels. Age (birth year) was converted to generational cohort variables which were used in the exploration of generational differences. Analysis of Variance was used to identify the differences in means. The predicted theory of this research was that various generations hold differences in psychological contract perceptions, self-reliance factors, and various career and organizational commitment measures. This theory was only partially supported by the findings. The findings were significant in the area of continuance commitment. There was also significance found between the hypotheses and various control variables. Possible reasons for this are discussed. Employment conditions are changing rapidly in today's public and private work environments. Researchers have attempted to capture the effects of those changes on perceptions, including their effects on the psychological contract. This research contributes to a better understanding of civil service reform, psychological contract, and generational differences. Moreover, it highlights the need for additional research that will illuminate a more accurate conceptualization of the relationship between generation and worker perceptions. / A Dissertation submitted to the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2007. / April 23, 2007. / Motivation, Generation, Civil Service Reform, Psychological Contract / Includes bibliographical references. / Mary Ellen Guy, Professor Directing Dissertation; Pam Perrewe, Outside Committee Member; James Bowman, Committee Member; Kaifeng Yang, Committee Member.

The policy of the State of Florida recognizes high-level public administration as a profession and expects administrators to be competent and to practice managerial, political, and ethical roles. Conceptual frameworks of high-level administrators' credentials (knowledge and skills) and behaviors (managerial, political, and ethical roles) in public administration literature are reviewed. Operational definitions are developed for the concepts of professional credentials, managerial roles, political roles, and ethical roles. A model is presented which views a professional public administrator from two different perspectives: (1) knowledge and skills and (2) practices and views of managerial, political, and ethical roles. Hypotheses are developed for specific research questions. Survey instruments were developed and sent via the World Wide Web to State of Florida high-level agency administrators. The response rate was 32.9 percent. Overall, the sample was representative of the population, except that female respondents were under represented. Results indicate that Florida high-level administrators surveyed exhibit high professional credentials based on experience, education, training, political acuity, and public service attitudes. Results indicate that these administrators exhibit and place high importance on many of the expected behaviors or roles. Results fail to show the anticipated positive association between measures of professional credentials and professional behaviors. Results indicate little professional credentials and professional behavior differences in those administrators entering these high-level positions voluntarily (hired into the position) compared to those entering involuntarily (position was converted from the career service system). Overall, Florida high-level administrators exhibit the high level of professional competence and professional behaviors described in the public administration literature and prescribed in Florida public policies. Strengths and weaknesses of these administrators are discussed. Theoretical, policy, and practical implications of the findings are discussed as well as are the limitations and directions for future research. / A Dissertation submitted to the Reubin O’ D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2003. / October 20, 2003. / Senior Public Administrators, Ethical Roles, Political Roles, Managerial Roles, Professionalism, State Government / Includes bibliographical references. / Frances S. Berry, Professor Directing Dissertation; Charles J. Barrilleaux, Outside Committee Member; William Earle Klay, Committee Member; James S. Bowman, Committee Member.

Voluntary cooperative arrangements are being established among local governments for economic development purposes. However, there is a lack of empirical research that explains the conditions under which cooperative joint ventures are formed. Extending the Institutional Collective Action framework to the policy area of economic development, this dissertation explores how local government units overcome transaction costs that pose barriers to acting collectively. Survey research methods are used to collect data on intergovernmental relations from 425 local governments with a population of 10,000 or more in 12 metropolitan areas. A logistic regression model is used to test the extent to which a combination of community characteristics and intergovernmental network resources influence voluntary cooperation. The findings suggest that among the factors that influence the formation of joint ventures is frequent communication among economic development officials and planners, cooperative norms and trust, and the competitive development activity of local governments. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2007. / July 19, 2007. / Economic Development, Social Capital / Includes bibliographical references. / Tim Chapin, Professor Directing Dissertation; Richard Feiock, Outside Committee Member; Charles Connerly, Committee Member.

State legislatures face many challenges in obtaining reliable information about the policy choices they face and the effectiveness of previously established programs, and they have limited ability to enforce agency compliance with program directives. To help address these challenges, most state legislatures have created oversight offices and have endowed them with significant resources and access to information. These offices provide program evaluation and policy analysis services to their parent legislatures, and their work is intended to help improve legislative decision making and oversight. However, these intended benefits will not be realized unless legislatures actually use the information produced by these offices. Research utilization literature has identified steps that the offices can take to promote use in legislative environments. These steps can be categorized into two overall strategies—developing strong networks with decision makers, and astute marketing of research products. However, there has been little empirical information on whether these strategies are actually being used, or whether when used are related to increased satisfaction with and use of research products in the legislative environment. This study bridges this gap and identifies and analyzes the strategies that state legislative oversight offices are using to promote use of their work in the legislative process, and assesses how differences in the offices' networking and marketing activities is related to how their work is valued and used by key stakeholders—legislative staff in leadership, appropriations, and committee positions. The institutional design of the offices—whether they are located within auditing or legislative units—and the research standards they have adopted— whether they conform to Government Auditing Standards which stress organizational independence or other standards that stress utility to stakeholders—are found to be key variables related to both the offices' utilization activities and legislative stakeholder satisfaction and use of their work products. The study advances scholarship relevant to knowledge utilization and the policy process and provides practical information that evaluators and policy analysts can use to increase their value and impact and serve as an effective voice speaking truth to power rather than a voice crying in the wilderness. / A Dissertation submitted to the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2006. / October 24, 2006. / Program Evaluation, Policy Analysis, Legislative Oversight, Utilization, Legislatures / Includes bibliographical references. / Frances Berry, Professor Directing Dissertation; Carol Weissert, Outside Committee Member; Lance deHaven-Smith, Committee Member; Earle Klay, Committee Member.

Fragmented local governmental units will cooperate to address needs that span across regional boundaries while retaining local autonomy. These efforts, referred to as institutional collective action (ICA), come forth when local governments voluntarily form institutional arrangements to address common goals. Multiple jurisdictions are seen as working together to enhance their own interests, while still contributing to the needs of the broader region. Such efforts allow local governments to augment the provision of their services and address citizens' demands where doing so on an individual basis may be more difficult, specifically when limitations exist that hinder governments from taxing and borrowing for service production. As with individual collective action, ICA is easier when the number of actors is small and homogenous, and when they share common goals. The costs of acting collectively must also be lower than the costs of individual actions. When these conditions are not met, barriers to ICA will exist leading to fewer incentives to cooperate. This problem creates a need for less voluntary mechanisms to address regional goals, while maintaining some measure of self governance. This research argues that regional special districts provide this mechanism. To explore this proposition, this dissertation investigates when and how local governments create regional special purpose governments. The specific focus is on county governments, and their choices to use multi-jurisdictional special districts when faced with barriers to institutional collective action. This question is addressed using descriptive and empirical analyses. To conduct the descriptive analysis, surveys were conducted among 18 special districts that explored the implications of barriers to voluntary cooperation on regional special district formation. The empirical portion of this study was conducted using data for 790 counties collected from the U.S. Census of Governments for the periods of 1992 and 2002. Logistic and Poisson regression analyses were used to analyze these data. The major lesson which was brought forth tells us that it is important to consider the implications of the service sector when examining special district usage. The consideration of barriers to institutional collective action revealed that conditions did not have uniform effects among the various service sectors. In order for various types to be used, regional needs had to exist; however, the extent of those regional needs were based upon specific contextual factors. / A Dissertation submitted to the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2008. / February 5, 2008. / Regional Governments, Urban Politics Government Institutions, Institutional Collective Action, Special Districts, Local Government Studies, Regionalism, County Governments / Includes bibliographical references. / Richard C. Feiock, Professor Directing Dissertation; Patrice Iatarola, Outside Committee Member; Lance deHaven-Smith, Committee Member; Gabriella S. Wolfson, Committee Member.

Charter schools have now been in operation for two decades in the U.S., and for 15 years in Florida. Florida took the third place in the U.S. in the number of charter schools operated and the student enrollment in 2010. This study examined the assumed effects of charter school policy on the public school system: charter school effect on student achievement in charter schools and in TPSs, and segregation effects and stratification effects on charter schools and traditional public schools (TPSs). I applied three perspectives to investigate charter school effect on student achievement: School effectiveness theory, Market competition theory, and Social inequality theory. The racial/ethnic segregation effect and the socio-economic stratification effect were examined longitudinally and cross-sectionally. Datasets of primary and secondary public schools and county educational and demographic information covering 1998 to 2010 were obtained from multiple sources: the Common Core of Data from NCES, the Florida School Indicator Report, the Florida Department of Education, Florida Statistics Abstract, and Census Bureau. Hierarchical linear modeling was utilized to explore charter school effect in different organizational levels and hierarchical multivariate linear modeling was used to take into account the closely correlated relationships of the demographic compositions in public schools. The analyses of student achievement in charter schools and traditional schools indicated that charter schools and traditional public schools are significantly different from each other, and that the school characteristics were more influential on the school performances than county characteristics or the year effects, especially in the higher grades. Some charter schools achieved better in some subjects and grades in that they started at the lower scores than TPSs but grew faster during the period of 1998-2010. However, the charter school effectiveness turned out to be insignificant or even negative when control variables were introduced such as educational factors and demographic compositions. Market competition theory could not explain the variations in schools' FCAT scores, while social inequality theory explained them better. The findings of this study did not support the School Effectiveness Theory nor the Market Competition Theory in charter school movement. Instead, Social Inequality Theory was proved to be relevant to understand the differences in public school academic achievement. The analyses of segregation and stratification effects showed that charter schools were more racially and socio-economically segregated, and that they exacerbated the segregation and stratification in traditional public schools. The analyses of the Dissimilarity Index (DI) distribution among charter schools and TPSs revealed that the demographic compositions in charter schools deviate more from the county means than do TPSs during the period of 1998 through 2009. Charter schools had much lower proportion of free/reduced price lunch program students than TPSs in every school level, which was negatively related to the percentage of white students but positively to the percentage of black students. The years of charter school policy adoption in a county have similar effects on both groups: The longer it was since a county introduced charter school policy, the fewer black students and the more white students would enroll in charter schools. Overall, charter schools were likely used as pockets for white flight and self-isolation as well and exacerbated socio-economic stratification in public schools. The analyses of charter school DIs supported the warnings of white flight, self-isolation, and socio-economic stratification (Carnoy, 2000; Frankenberg, Lee, & Orfield, 2003; Rivkin, 1994). Findings of this study suggested that the increasing proportion of black students and free/reduced price lunch program recipients have enrolled in TPSs for all school levels along the years during the period of 1998-2009, but that the percentages of white students in TPSs have decreased year by year even though the rates are small. The analyses implied that charter schools were likely to locate around TPSs that had a higher proportion of a certain demographic group: The higher proportion of a certain demographic groups in a certain area would induce charter schools targeting these groups. Hierarchical multivariate linear models (HMLM) were introduced to detect the relative relationships between demographic groups. The multivariate analyses suggested that middle school charters were likely to locate around the TPSs with more white students and fewer Hispanic students, while elementary charter schools opened more around the TPSs with fewer black students. The location and targeting strategies of charter schools affected also the racial/ethnic distributions in high TPSs, even though the relationship got weaker. The proportions of free/reduced lunch program students in TPSs havd a consistently and significantly negative influence on the proportions of white students and a positive influence on the percentages of black and Hispanic students in TPSs. The academic performances of TPSs were highly and negatively related to the proportion of black students, while the relationship becomes much weaker to the percentage of white students and neutral to that of Hispanic students. The cross-sectional multivariate analyses suggested that charter schools created more racially segregated educational institutes in public education in Florida. The racial/ethnic compositions in TPSs were closely interrelated to the issues of the socio-economic stratification and residential division (Carnoy, 2000; Frankenberg, et al., 2003; Rivkin, 1994). The comparisons of the explained variance proportions by HMLM models and those of other models revealed that the percentages of white students were much more sensitive to the socio-economic and residential factors than the proportions of black students were, while the proportions of Hispanic students were much more sensitive to the charter school factors. The findings of this study highlighted the critical role of social context in public educational policies and the importance of policy design. This study rediscovered the old but important principle that charter school policy makers need to take into account the expectable but ignored or unintended consequences of the policy in public education system and the impacts of the policy on the non-choosers in TPSs as well. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2012. / March 20, 2012. / Charter School, HLM, Policy Analysis, Public School, Segregation, Student Achievement / Includes bibliographical references. / Frances Stokes Berry, Professor Directing Dissertation; Betsy Jane Becker, University Representative; Ralph Brower, Committee Member; Lance deHaven-Smith, Committee Member.

In this dissertation I use an institutional framework to examine the contributions of George Washington to public administration theory and practice. The best way to understand current public administration theory is to examine its historical roots. Institutions are a part of culture, and thus, public administration's institutions have passed from generation to generation along with our other cultural beliefs and values. As the first commander in chief of the Continental Army, the only president of the Constitutional Convention, and the first president of the United States, Washington was frequently in positions to establish precedents that could later become institutions of American public administration. In my dissertation, I use grounded analysis and primary documents from archives to uncover Washington's theories and practices. I then match these findings to some of the most important institutions in American public administration. This research is important for three principal reasons. One, as the first administrator of the federal government, Washington was in the position to set precedent in public administration theory and practice. Two, understanding the historical development of public administration enhances our understanding of current public administration theory and practice. And three, there is a gap in the literature because current scholars have not studied Washington's contributions to public administration. In addition to uncovering Washington's general theory of public administration, I describe his contributions to theory and practice in the areas of military administration, education, Progressivism, financial management, and public-private partnerships. Washington's general theory is based on a combination of virtue ethics and utilitarianism. Using his theory, he helped originate institutions such as the federal budgeting process and the military's professional reading program, he serves as a role model for such institutions as civilian control of the military and government accountability, and he indicated the direction of such institutions as merit selection and public education. / A Dissertation submitted to the Reubin O’D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2012. / June 22, 2012. / George Washington, Military Administration, Progressivism, Theory, Utilitarianism, Virtue Ethics / Includes bibliographical references. / William Earle Klay, Professor Directing Dissertation; Ralph Brower, Committee Member; Lance deHaven-Smith, Committee Member.

Pro-environmental behavior (PEB) has received considerable attention in business and other social sciences disciplines. However, no study has examined the link between workplace and non-workplace PEB; almost no research study has focused on public employees' workplace PEB; and little is known as to how salient public organizational characteristics influence public employees' PEB. Building upon the existing theories in other disciplines, this dissertation examines the extent to which PEB exists in public organizations, and investigates how PEB is influenced by several salient characteristics of public organizations, i.e. public service motivation (PSM) and civic participation categorized as civic engagement and cognitive engagement. Data were collected by means of self-report surveys from public employees of two city governments in Florida-- Tallahassee and Lakeland. Confirmatory factor analysis and multiple and logistic regression analyses were employed to test the proposed model. The findings indicate that public service motivation positively influences non-workplace PEBs. Civic engagement negatively and cognitive engagement positively influences the workplace and non-workplace PEB. The barriers as moderator significantly influences the positive relationship of PSM and workplace and non-workplace PEB, the negative relationship of civic engagement and workplace PEB and positive relationship of cognitive engagement with workplace PEB. Among organizational factors, green culture and transformational leadership support workplace and non-workplace PEBs. The findings demonstrate that public organizational characteristics potentially influence employee environmental orientations not only at workplace but also in non-workplace settings. / A Dissertation submitted to the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2012. / June 20, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references. / Kaifeng Yang, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gerald Ferris, University Representative; Ralph Brower, Committee Member; James Bowman, Committee Member; Richard Feiock, Committee Member.