Thesis (D. Ed.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2004. / Thesis research directed by: Education Policy, and Leadership. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

Thesis (M.P.A. )--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2005. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2938. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as 1 leaf (ii). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-83).

Missing pages 28, 32. Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

Policy conflict plays an important role in shaping public policy—both as a process and as a product. The policy conflict framework—a theoretical framework, developed by Christopher Weible and Tanya Heikkila in 2017—considers position divergence among policymakers a key characteristic of policy conflict, which can be affected several factors including organizational and network affiliation of policymakers. This dissertation analyzes position divergence among local and regional officials over community sustainability policy, with a focus on affordable housing, which is a major concern of community sustainability. This research examines if, and how, local government officials' engagement with regional governance can play a role in shaping their policy positions. Understanding what influences officials' policy positions is essential in managing conflicts that arise in the making of sustainability policies in general and affordable housing policies, in particular. This study argues that local government officials' engagement with regional governance can lower policy position divergence among them by influencing their policy core beliefs and policy relevant knowledge. This analysis includes testing several hypotheses using data from a state-wide survey of local and regional policymakers. Employing cross-tabulation, multivariate regression, and ordered logit analysis, this study finds that (a) policymakers share a wide range of policy positions on community sustainability policies and (b) for local government officials engaged with regional governance, position divergence on community sustainability is lower than that among those who are not engaged with regional governance. Although position divergence on affordable housing among those engaged with regional governance is generally lower than those who are not engaged with regional governance, this finding is not robust. In some regions and localities, the relationship between position divergence and engagement with regional governance does not hold. Furthermore, this study finds that local government officials' engagement with regional governance is associated with higher levels of policy relevant knowledge, which can influence the policymakers' policy positions. The relationship, if any, between policymakers' core beliefs and their engagement with regional governance is weak and statistically insignificant. This cross-sectional analysis based on limited data suggests that local government officials' policy core beliefs are not related to their engagement with regional governance. However, future studies with better data may yield different results. / Doctor of Philosophy / Policy conflicts can impede the policymaking process; they usually influence and shape policy goals. Metropolitan governance is rife with policy conflicts. Especially in substantive policy areas such as community sustainability and affordable housing, policy conflicts are quite common. Policy conflicts emerge because of policy actors' divergent views, beliefs, priorities, preferences, and aspirations. To ensure a smoother policymaking process, mechanisms to handle conflicts are imperative. Regional governance can offer one such mechanism to handle policy conflicts that arise due to divergent policy positions of local government officials. This dissertation examines policy conflicts focusing on community sustainability policies. Analyzing survey data from Maryland, this study finds that (a) local government officials share a wide range of policy positions on community sustainability policies, (b) local government officials engaged with regional governance take policy positions that are more homogeneous compared to those who are not engaged with regional governance, and (c) officials engaged regional governance tend to have better policy relevant knowledge than others.

This dissertation is a study of the State of Maryland in the secession crisis of 1860-1861. Previous historians have emphasized economic, political, societal, and geographical considerations as the reasons Maryland remained loyal to the Union. However, not adequately considered is the manner in which Maryland understood and reacted to the secession of the Lower South. Historians have tended to portray Maryland's inaction as inevitable and reasonable. This study offers another reason for Maryland's inaction by placing the state in time and space, following where the sources lead, and allowing for contingency. No one in Maryland could have known that their state would not secede in 1860-61. Seeing the crisis through their eyes is instructive. It becomes clear that Maryland was a state on the brink of secession, but its resentment, suspicion, and anger toward the Lower South isolated it from the larger secession movement. Marylanders regarded the Lower South's rush to separate as precipitous, dangerous, and coercive to the Old Line State. A focus on a single state like Maryland allows a deeper, richer understanding of the dynamics, forces, and characteristics of the secession movement and the federal government's response to it. It cuts through the larger debates about the causes of secession and instead focuses on the manner in which secession was carried out, the intended effect of it, the actual effect it generated in the vitally important state of Maryland, and what it all says about the nature of internal divisions in the South at large.

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I studied the piping plover on Assateague Island during the 1986 and 1987 breeding seasons. In 1987, I estimated the population to be 69 pairs. During both years, plovers nested on only a few portions of the island. I think that this pattern of nesting was determined by the distribution of three types of foraging habitats: bayside mud and sand flats, saltwater pools formed by storm tides, and a drawn down waterfowl impoundment. Reproductive rates were lower than two recent estimates of the level necessary to maintain a stable population. The primary problem was poor nest success and the leading cause of nest loss was nest predation by red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and raccoons (Procyon Iotor). I was not able to identify factors responsible for chick mortality, but my data show a relationship between chick survival and foraging habitat. Broods feeding on bayside foraging areas had a much higher survival rate than broods which did not have access to these areas. Management efforts should focus on reducing nest predation. Recent experiments have indicated that predator exclosures constructed around individual nests can be used to reduce nest predation. These exclosures should be tested on Assateague. Future research efforts should focus on the role of foraging habitat in breeding site selection and the relationship between chick survival and the type of foraging used. / Master of Science

M.S.