This dissertation investigates the formation and change of city boundaries in the United States since World War II (WWII). By drawing on previous literatures, it extend a political economy perspective that emphasizes trade-offs in the configuration of municipal boundaries. The dissertation investigates the role of ethnic heterogeneity in the formation of municipal jurisdictions since WWII. This research thus aims to advance, theoretically and empirically, our understanding of local government organization in recent history. The dissertation also builds on institutional foundations of local government organization. In a separate section, the dissertation analyzes the role of homeowner associations as alternative institutions of governance. The dissertation generally frames boundary change as bottom-up initiatives constrained by institutions of American federalism. This dissertation offers an empirical study of boundary change through a historical template: 1940 through 2000. It thus puts together local government datasets on population, socioeconomic, and institutional factors influencing boundary formation events over the postwar. The datasets have been particularly constructed to facilitate future replication and dissemination efforts. / 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, 2013. / June 18, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references. / Richard Feiock, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robert Jackson, University Representative; William Earle Klay, Committee Member; Lance deHaven-Smith, Committee Member; Kaifeng Yang, Committee Member.

Over the past several decades, governments have carried out many public administration reforms in order to enhance public sector performance. However, the focus of the research on administrative reforms has been on their adoption and implementation, while their impacts have rarely been carefully tested. At the local level, various reforms are designed, reflecting multiple and sometimes competing values. This study empirically examines the impacts of three major local administrative reforms--e-government, citizen participation and contracting--on three dimensions of local government performance (efficiency, effectiveness, and equity). For the empirical tests, this study carefully reviews the prior studies and measures the three local administrative reforms and their dimensions with data from several national surveys. This study also objectively measures multiple performance variables based on open archival sources, improving on prior studies that largely focused on internal outputs or a single performance dimension. This study finds that (1) three reform areas are usually not associated with efficiency; (2) e-management and administrative participation channels are positively associated with effectiveness; and (3) e-democracy and administrative participation channels are positively associated with equity. / 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, 2013. / June 19, 2013. / effectiveness, efficiency, equity, performance, reforms, values / Includes bibliographical references. / Kaifeng Yang, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gerald. R. Ferris, Committee Member; William Earle Klay, Committee Member; Richard C. Feiock, Committee Member.

Public sector leadership calls on public administrators to possess skills to resolve complex policy problems/crises and balance political interests and values through negotiation and conflict resolution. However, current leadership theories in the public administration literature have not paid sufficient attention to this issue. Even more surprisingly, almost no empirical studies have been done to measure and explain this particular dimension of public sector leadership. While the business literature has studied individual political skills focusing on interpersonal situations, the political skill construct in the field of public administration should consider both internal and external political environments. Thus, this study develops a new multidimensional construct--public political skill (PPS) that contains three sub-dimensions: political astuteness, inclusive skill, and visionary skill. Using survey data from the Florida Center for Public Management, this new construct is defined using confirmatory factor analysis and is tested for internal reliability and construct validity. Results show that PPS is different from the political skill inventory (PSI) developed by business scholars. In addition, the results find that PPS not only contributes to job promotion and satisfaction but also attenuates the negative effects of red tape on job satisfaction and neutralizes job tension. Yet, the PPS on job tension model shows insignificant results and the interaction with goal ambiguity has dazzling findings which require further discussion. The implications from these results and direction for future research are provided. / 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 12, 2012. / Political skill inventory, Public political skill, Public sector leadership / Includes bibliographical references. / Kaifeng Yang, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gerald R. Ferris, University Representative; Frances S. Berry, Committee Member; Ralph S. Brower, Committee Member.

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, 2005. / November 2, 2005. / Economic Development Policy, Joint Venture, Regional Partnership, Interlocal Cooperation and Network, Instituional Collective Action, Social Capital, Transaction Cost, Metropolitan and Local Governance / Includes bibliographical references. / Richard C. Feiock, Professor Directing Dissertation; John T. Scholz, Outside Committee Member; Frances S. Berry, Committee Member; Lance deHaven-Smith, Committee Member.

This dissertation is about policy decision making in transportation infrastructure. With this dissertation an attempt is made to understand factors which affect policy decisions in state governments or within the public sector. The dissertation analyzes the factors influencing policy decisions related to High Speed Rail (HSR) in the 48 contiguous states. To analyze the administrative decision making more systematically, this dissertation constructs a new decision making framework. The Eastern Three Elements (ETE) framework combines three established models in decision making. Using the ETE framework, the dissertation analyzes the reasons for the repealed Florida High Speed Rail (FHSR) and the reasons for the continuing progress of the California High Speed Rail (CHSR). By comparing the underpinning decision making, the dissertation provides factors that influence the policy decisions within state government. By recognizing these factors, the dissertation constructs hypotheses from the theoretical development, and empirically tests this underlying theory through a generalization to all states affected by the U.S. High Speed Rail Project. The finding is that the ETE framework provides a more complete analysis of the decision making in public transportation. These analyses provide evidence to assist in our understanding vis-à-vis the implications of today's public transportation system construction and public infrastructure policies. / 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, 2012. / July 25, 2012. / California High Speed Rail, ETE Framework, Florida High Speed Rail, High Speed Rail, Policy Decision Making, Transportation Infrastructure / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert J. Eger, III, Professor Directing Dissertation; Randall G. Holcombe, University Representative; Frances S. Berry, Committee Member; KeonHyung Lee, Committee Member.

This research contemplates the influence of donors' security concerns on humanitarian aid and development. The phenomenon has been referred in the literature with various titles including securitization of aid, politics of aid, security-aid nexus and securitizing human development. While the extant literature delves into the impact and influence of securitization of aid on humanitarian development and its undermining effects on voluntary sector; this study explores the phenomenon from the perspective of the aid recipients with the assumption that the recipients' outlook and beliefs regarding the donors' intentions and motives influence the effectiveness of the humanitarian aid. The study contributes towards the development literature by identifying the factors shaping the perception of the aid recipients about donors and NGOs. The factors, thus explored, are going to facilitate the work of the humanitarian aid agencies in a politically hostile or conflict riddled societies and may also prove beneficial for policy makers. The data depicts that the culture and institutions of the region plays an important role in shaping the recipients' perceptions of donors and NGOs and that if due consideration is given to these elements it may help rebuilding societal trust on humanitarian efforts. This study employs Bourdieu's theorization of capital and its role in determining power within the society. The premise is that actors can use the capital possessed by them for acquiring other types of capital possessed by other actors in the field and thus can improve their position within the field. Thus, the economic capital of the donors can be utilized to earn social capital and cultural capital possessed by local NGOs. / 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. / Spring Semester, 2015. / March 3, 2015. / Cultural Capital, Development, Securitization of aid, Social Capital, Symbolic Capital, Tribal Areas and Swat / Includes bibliographical references. / Ralph S. Brower, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stephen McDowell, University Representative; Frances Berry, Committee Member; Lance deHaven-Smith, Committee Member.

The research question guiding of this dissertation asks, "How and to what extent do network relations of a city with organizations within its community and external networks with external governmental and other development actors influence success in attracting jobs, business, and economic development?" Little to no empirical research has touched on the effects of a certain type of network on performance. Thus, this dissertation investigates whether the scope and type of networks (internal and external networks) are related to the performance of economic development (e.g., change in the manufacturing employment, firms, investment). A transaction costs based theoretical framework is advances in which government's internal networks with organizations in the community and external networks with other governments and development actors influence the transaction costs of economic development. Network relationships are identified based on a national survey of cities conducted in 2004. Patterns of manufacturing development growth from 2002 to 2007 are estimated based on network structure, development policies, political structure, regional competition, and socioeconomic characteristics. Two sets of regression equations based on these models are estimated to test these hypotheses. The implications of the findings for research and practice will be discussed in the conclusion. / 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. / Spring Semester, 2012. / February 27, 2012. / Local Economic Development, Network, Performance, Social Capital, Transaction Cost / Includes bibliographical references. / Richard Feiock, Professor Directing Dissertation; Charles Barrilleaux, University Representative; Lance deHaven-Smith, Committee Member; Keon-Hyung Lee, Committee Member.

The literature on decision-making in public organizations is replete with debate on how they pursue expenditure reductions in conditions of fiscal strain. Typically, their strategies are described as being either "across-the-board" or "targeted" and that these strategies are employed for both political and organizational reasons. This dissertation supports the concept that practitioners' responses to fiscal strain are likely to encompass both strategies. Florida counties' fiscal decision making is analyzed in this dissertation by applying the Hirschman-Herfindahl Index (HHI) to statutorily mandated uniform classifications of expenditures, adjusted for inflation and population growth. Changes in the mean and median HHI values during and following the implementation of the state's Amendment 1 tax and expenditure limitation are compared to the HHIs for preceding years. Descriptive analysis employing socio-economic, demographic, and organizational differences portray the effects of fiscal strain on counties' expenditure decision strategies. This dissertation uses a Most Similar Systems Comparative Design, minimizing the extent to which experimental variables affect the outcomes of analysis. Its underlying premise is that Florida counties' response to fiscal strain is comparable to one another and derives from their mutual commitment to a statutorily regulated budgeting and accounting system in response to revenue decreases of a known scale imposed on a specific date. Functionally, it postulates the use of different expenditure reduction strategies in response to fiscal strain is evident when observed from the viewpoints of the (macro) programmatic perspective and the contrasting (micro) perspective of individual objects of expenditure. / A Dissertation submitted tothe 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, 2013. / October 21, 2013. / Fiscal decision making, Fiscal strain, Fiscal stress, Governmental budgeting, Hirschman-Herfindahl Index, Tax and expenditure limitations / Includes bibliographical references. / Wm. Earle Klay, Professor Directing Dissertation; Carolyn Herrington, University Representative; James S. Bowman, Committee Member; Lance deHaven-Smith, Committee Member; Robert J. Eger, III, Committee Member; David S. T. Matkin, Committee Member.

The decentralization or devolution of public service delivery has been prevalent in modern governance. Such transformation of governance enhances the roles of sub-national governments or nonprofit and private organizations for public service delivery. However, the extensive decentralization or devolution of public service delivery may make the federal government seem more 'hollow'. What is commonly called the "hollow state" is a significant challenge in public administration. Scholars have recently paid increasing attention to the hollow state by focusing on service networks and contracts. They have identified a number of important factors related to network and contract management. Nevertheless, many questions remain about the impact of the hollow state federal agencies. This study explores to answer how the hollow state has affected organizational structures and professionalization in the federal government. This study also looks at the impacts of the hollow state on the attitudes of federal civil servants regarding performance-based felt accountability, affective commitment and job satisfaction. This study found that the hollow state type activities have significant impacts on both organizational structures and professionalization in federal agencies. Through panel data analysis, this study indicates that the hollow state activities increase organizational centralization and levels of professionalization in federal agencies. The results of hierarchical linear models show that hollow state initiatives negatively impact performance-based felt accountability of federal civil servants. Based on the findings, this study provides theoretical and practical implications on the hollowing out of government. / A Dissertation submitted to 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, 2013. / October 3, 2013. / Accountability, Commitment, Hollow State, Job satisfaction / Includes bibliographical references. / Kaifeng Yang, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gerald R. Ferris, University Representative; William Earle Klay, Committee Member; Ralph S. Brower, Committee Member.

This dissertation examines the factors affecting changes of revenue structures in Florida's 67 counties during 30 years. It investigates the fiscal impacts of changes in revenue structures in Florida counties, with a particular focus on multiplicity and diversification. In analyzing influencing factors and fiscal impacts, a robust standard error models approach in fixed-effects model is employed in order to explore factors affecting changes in revenue structures. Fiscal impacts of changes in revenue structures on budget size, total tax burden, property tax burden, reliance on higher levels of government, and reliance on taxes in Florida counties are studied for a thirty-year period (FY 1981 - FY 2010). The major findings are as follows. With respect to factors affecting changes in revenue structures, this research shows that taxable consumption value, the number of interstate highways, and the form of government are associated with greater degree of revenue diversification. Taxable property value, a presence of metropolitan statistical areas, the proportion of homeownership, the proportion of democratic voters, and property tax millage rate are negatively associated with revenue diversification. Taxable property value, taxable consumption value, the number of interstate highways, the form of government, and property tax millage rate are associated with a larger number of consumption taxes. The proportion of persons working in hotels and restaurants, the proportion of homeownership, and the proportion of democratic voters are negatively associated with the number of consumption taxes. Revenue multiplicity, a measure of fiscal illusion, is found to be associated with larger government budget sizes and higher total tax burdens. An increase in revenue diversification is associated with a decrease in property tax burden. On the other hand, this study does not support the premise that an increase in revenue diversification leads to decreases in reliance on higher levels of government. Finally, this research reveals that more diversified revenue structures tended to produce more stable revenue structures in Florida's counties. The research findings of this dissertation have both theoretical and policy implications. The research findings from the two empirical analyses contribute a longitudinal perspectives to the literature about changes in revenue diversification and multiplicity as well as the fiscal implications of these changes. This dissertation also has practical implications for tax policy. Financial officials and taxpayers are often interested in having more diversified and multiple sourced revenue structures to export their tax burdens, reduce property tax burden, and increase their budget size. However, taxpayers and financial officials should know that a more diversified and multiple sourced revenue structure is likely to increase their total tax burdens. / A Dissertation submitted to 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, 2013. / September 20, 2013. / Budget growth, Diversification, Fiscal illusion, Multiplicity, Portfolio, Property tax relief / Includes bibliographical references. / William Earle Klay, Professor Directing Dissertation; Randall G. Holcombe, University Representative; Keon-Hyung Lee, Committee Member; David Matkin, Committee Member.