In 1995, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) took over the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) on grounds of mismanagement and failure to revitalize a failing housing stock. When the CHA regained independence five years later, in 2000, the agency launched the most extensive redevelopment effort of public housing in the nation’s history. This paper assesses the extent to which the CHA has succeeded in meeting the directive outlined by the Plan for Transformation. It concludes that, despite setbacks in meeting specific goals, the CHA has demonstrated itself to be an effective and accountable housing agency. Nonetheless, the CHA needs to addresses shortcomings in the transparency of management, efficiency of operations, and accessibility of services.

One way to prompt people to act is to claim that one’s commands impose duties upon some persons to act and subsequently to command those persons. This is the approach of practical authority. The claim of practical authority is ingredient to a predominant conception of the state. This thesis argues that the state’s claim to practical authority is both unjustified and morally wrong; it defends philosophical anarchism. The philosophical anarchist argument advanced here begins with a defence of a presumption against practical authority. It then argues that no argument for the practical authority of the state overcomes that presumption. Thus the state’s claim to practical authority is unjustified. The philosophical anarchist’s position suggests that we rethink both the normative claim ingredient to the concept of the state and the relationship between states and persons. This thesis suggests that states claim legitimacy – that is, states claim that the potentially coercive legal directives that they enact are all-things-considered morally permissible. The thesis outlines the ideal of legitimacy in political philosophy, an ideal distinct from authority. An analysis of legitimacy requires an analysis of coercion. The thesis develops a specific account of the pro tanto wrongfulness of coercion that locates the wrongfulness of coercion not with the badness of the outcomes that the coercee faces but rather with the beliefs and intentions of the coercer. Two upshots emerge from that account. The first is that legal directives are not necessarily coercive. The second is that the conditions which render coercion pro tanto wrongful also render the state’s claim to practical authority wrongful. However, whereas coercion is justifiable by an appeal to reasons that defeat its pro tanto wrongfulness, the philosophical anarchist shows that the state’s claim to practical authority is not so justifiable. Therefore, the state’s claim to practical authority is decisively wrongful.

This thesis investigates legal and political authority in mid-Tudor England, using the operation of the legal system in Oxfordshire and Berkshire in the period from 1540 to 1570 as a case study through which to give context and content to more abstract forms of contemporary political thought. It seeks to address the broad question: how did people experience the civil—as opposed to the criminal—legal system, and what does this tell us about their understanding of authority? In so doing, it aims to shed light on mid-Tudor attitudes towards legality, limited government and the rule of law. The argument of the thesis is built up piece by piece. First, people in the Thames Valley engaged in a remarkable, and increasing, amount of litigation over the period in question, much of which was based on antecedent commercial transactions. Encountering the law, whether in its litigious or transactional forms, was thus a very common social experience. Second, despite their frequent interaction with the legal system, ordinary people perhaps knew less about the technical law than some historians have suggested. Third, even if technical legal knowledge was not widespread among the population, the complicated map of overlapping jurisdictions and rival legal institutions meant that ordinary people nonetheless cultivated a detailed mental map of their legal world. Boundaries mattered because jurisdiction and legal authority mattered. Fourth, partly because of their own lack of detailed technical knowledge, and partly because of the complicated legal landscape which they had to navigate, people sought out legal advice from professional advisers. Fifth, even if people frequently sought out professional legal advice, many people’s experience of the law (and of lawyers) was far more negative than their desire to seek out such advice might suggest. Seen in this light, the social utility of legal institutions was quite separate from their ability to provide an idealised standard of abstract justice.

Patient satisfaction has been identified as an indicator of quality care. There is no research on patient satisfaction with Nurse Practitioner (NP) care on Guam. Therefore, a cross sectional descriptive study was conducted to assess patient satisfaction with NP care at three primary care clinics on Guam. A convenience sample of patients 18 years and older, seen by an NP were invited to participate in completing the Nurse Practitioner Satisfaction Survey (NPSS). Data collection concluded after a one-month period (N = 108). Descriptive statistics, between group differences, and correlational analyses were conducted. Participation in the survey was voluntary and anonymity, confidentiality, and privacy were ensured. General patient satisfaction was very high for NP care on Guam. "My NP is caring" was the highest scoring item on the NPSS with a mean score of 4.43 (n=56). Participants selected the NP as providing the health education and care the patient found most satisfying. A statistically significant weak negative correlation between patient satisfaction and age and level of injury was found. Singles reported significantly higher patient satisfaction scores than widowers. Study limitations included the small sample size, convenience sampling, social desirability and selection bias. Caring is an essential tenet of NP care and patient satisfaction. Improving NP role clarity is vital to the continued success and growth of the NP profession. The value that NPs bring to primary care is substantiated by the high patient satisfaction levels consistently produced from studies across the globe. In order for NPs to significantly impact the primary care provider shortage all 50 states and the US territories must enact full practice authority (FPA).

This thesis explores the capacity of local government to influence intergovernmental organizations’ policy frameworks during the formulation and implementation of their instruments and policies. It provides empirical insights into the decision making and implementation of international policy regimes, specifically within a European context, and contributes to the broader theoretical understanding of these regimes through the development of multi-level governance as a framework of analysis. The thesis extends multi-level governance as a theoretical framework in two ways. First, it does so by going beyond its usual development and application within the European Union. The role of local government is examined in the pan-European political context shaped by the Council of Europe. Second, it pays special attention to the upstream link between local authorities and international actors in the context of multi-level governance settings. To date, most research on local government in multi-level governance settings has focused on the new challenges brought by extended multiple tiers of jurisdictions and how local government has been affected by the internationally shaped political arrangements. Little attention has been placed on the upward flow of interaction of local authorities or their capacity to influence international decision making and policy implementation. Empirical research in this thesis has focused on the capacity of local government to share the meta-steering role with the multi-level governance framework. The potential of local government to influence the international policy frameworks has been investigated based on its unique value in enhancing good governance in line with international norms and principles. At the theoretical level, the research argues multi-level governance reflects not simply the redistribution of power resources among various actors, but also the process of reshaping understanding and preferences through direct communication between actors at different territorial levels. It suggests that local political preferences can be shaped and reframed by broader values and consequently generates significant influence on higher level policy outcomes. However, despite the existence of specific constitutional devices for involving local development in the legislative processes of the Council of Europe, empirical evidence shows local authorities have largely failed to take up this opportunity, and their influence remains limited. Implications hence can be drawn for wider utilization of local engagement in intergovernmental organizations; for example, within the context the Committee of the Regions of the Europe Union.

Introduction: The World Health Assembly declared violence as a worldwide public health problem. Homicides have been identified as a leading cause of death in the United States across all age groups. The national homicide rate for 2004 and 2005 are 5.5 and 5.6 per 100,000 population, respectively. The reported rates for Virginia are 5.2 (2004) and 5.6 (2005) per 100,000 population, showing a 16.9% increase. Richmond has been ranked as high as the sixth most dangerous among similar cities in the United States. This study examines penetrating trauma injuries identified through 9-1-1 calls as an indicator of the incidence of homicide in Richmond, Virginia. The purpose of this study was to determine if Richmond has become a safer city, with respect to this type of injury over a five year period. Objectives: (1) To determine if the incidence of penetrating trauma has changed significantly over the five year study period. (2) To examine possible trends in descriptive statistics of study variables. (3) To assess trends in the distribution of response location. Methods: This is a retrospective study of data collected from 91 1 calls to Richmond Ambulance Authority in Richmond, Virginia, with a chief complaint of penetrating trauma during the years 2002-2006. Descriptive statistics were completed on all transported patients. Chi-square tests were used to determine trends. GIs was used to spatially examine the distribution of incident locations.Results: There was no significant trend in the incidence by year. Annual distribution of shooting versus stabbings varied significantly over the study period with the proportions of gunshots decreasing while stabbings increased. There was no significant trend in age, gender, number of patients transported or transport protocol over the study period. Level of care varied significantly over the five year period with BLS decreasing while Basic ALS increased. 39% of neighborhoods had no known incidents, while 8% of neighborhoods accounted for 40% of known gunshot and stabbing incidents. Discussion: These findings show that overall, with respect to known penetrating trauma incidents, Richmond has not become much safer over the five year period. A major limitation of this study is that most analyses were completed using only patients transported by the RAA. Future research should examine outcome data to determine if the change in type of penetrating trauma proportions resulted in greater survival rates.

ABSTRACT SCHOOL BOARD TAXING AUTHORITY IN VIRGINIA By Leon T. Johnson, Ph.D. A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy and Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009 Dr. William C. Bosher, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Education The purpose of this study is to determine to what degree local government officials in Virginia support fiscal autonomy for locally elected School Boards in the state. Currently School Boards in Virginia do not have the ability to raise their own revenues and must depend on the local City Council or Board of Supervisors to appropriate school funding each year. Many more states in the nation allow local School Boards to raise their own revenues than not, and some would argue that Virginia’s system is an inferior form of local government having a negative effect on K-12 education in the state. Others would argue that Virginia’s current system works quite well and to give taxing authority to local School Boards would degrade the quality of K-12 education in the state. To set the national context for this question a comparative survey was done of all fifty state systems in the nation to learn the differences between state systems for funding K-12 education. Second, a survey was conducted of 1,782 Virginia public officials whose professional lives would be affected by a change to allow local School Boards to raise their own revenue. These officials were asked a variety of questions the answers to which tell us whether they view fiscal autonomy for School Boards as progress. Finally, statistical analyses are performed on the responses to the survey using the public officials’ positions and their region of the state as variables. Through this statistical analysis we are able to determine whether position or region of the state have a significant affect on answers to the survey questions.

I explore how the structure of Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible invites the reader to accept narrators’ authority in different ways depending on their temporal situatedness. I examine how a retrospective, extradiegetic perspective contrasts with limited, homodiegetic and intradiegeitc perspectives among female narrators. I analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, as well as how they shape one another. I discuss how the intersection of these voices develops the identity and enhances the authority of each narrator. Kingsolver employs polyvocality to bring female voices out of marginalization in order for readers to hear and respect their testimonies.

Cette thèse entend démontrer par le recours à la comparaison que le principe de séparation des pouvoirs civils et militaires constitue un élément fondamental des Etats de tradition libérale. En droit, elle prend la forme d’incompatibilités. Dans un premier temps, suite aux expériences de confusion des pouvoirs civils et militaires cette séparation a pris la forme d’une incompatibilité entre le militaire et l’électeur. Dans un second temps, cette séparation a pris la forme d’une incompatibilité entre le militaire et le représentant. / This comparative study aims to demonstrate that the principle of separation of civil and military powers is a fundamental part of States with liberal tradition. In law it takes the form of incompatibilities. In law, it takes the form of incompatibilities. Initially, following the experiences of confusion of civil and military powers that separation has taken the shape of an incompatibility between the military and the voter. In a second step, this separation has taken the shape of a mismatch between the military and the representative.

The arbitration in consumer disputes ABSTRACT The topic of this thesis is especially arbitration in consumer disputes. The general part of work dedicates the historical progress of arbitration and common attribute of arbitration and also takes into account the role of the courts in arbitration proceedings with respect to some aspects of consumer disputes in particular. A special part of this work deals with advantages and disadvantages of arbitration from the point of view of consumer and special legislation in arbitration in consumer disputes as well. The aim of the work is to evaluate if the arbitration is suitable way to decision making in the area of consumer disputes in comparison with functionality of arbitration in commercial disputes, and also the aim is to find an appropriate way to settlement of consumer disputes in arbitration, if there is one.