archives@tulane.edu / In this dissertation, I analyze the development and dissemination of state-level policies to prohibit colleges from considering criminal history for purposes of admissions otherwise known as ban the box in higher education. This research engages with practical and instructive questions of how individuals or coalitions can learn from other policy campaigns to strategically reduce the collateral consequences of criminal convictions. I conducted a collective case study of the first five states to introduce ban the box in higher education legislation, namely New York, Illinois, Maryland, Louisiana, and Washington. I used critical discourse analysis to analyze all available media and social media content to identify where legislation was filed and major stakeholders. I then transcribed and analyzed all available legislative hearings and interviewed key stakeholders to determine the dominant discourses within and across five states. The study found that legislators and advocates evoked the following arguments in opposition to ban the box in higher education: positive self/ negative other, paternalistic decision making, uselessness, and fear of the undeserving. In support, advocates and legislators used arguments that emphasized individual benefits, community benefits, and diversity. Advocates in support also presented personal testimony from formerly incarcerated students and alumni to humanize people with convictions. The findings illuminate possible strategies and barriers to passing supportive policy that reduces collateral consequences and limits the reach of the criminal legal system. / 1 / Annie Phoenix

This thesis examines Flora Krauch’s use of Progressive Era social reform methods to develop and expand infants’ and children’s merchandise departments in American department stores and specialty shops. Krauch used the pages of the industry’s first trade journal, The Infants’ Department, to wage her battle against the commercialization of these departments, and to urge the use of mother education and child welfare as their foundation. At the turn of the twentieth century, retailers began to demonstrate their civic leadership in socially responsible ways. By 1916 independently owned department stores faced new forms of competition which led them to build alliances with individuals who highlighted the significance of scientific management methods and commercialization. The Retail Research Association and Harvard Business School spearheaded these merchandising shifts. The effects of these trends are apparent in children’s departments. To explore how Krauch rejected commercialization, this thesis analyzes all available newspaper and journal articles Krauch wrote from 1909 to 1940, as well as primary sources from the U.S. Children’s Bureau and Harvard Business School. Krauch was a leading force in the effort to challenge commercializing forces through the professionalization of women in retail buying and sales, and through the education of mothers about the health and safety of infants’ and children’s merchandise.

<p>Pension reform has been on the social policy agenda in many countries across the world since the 1980s. The main debate has been whether to maintain the postwar PayAs-Y ou-Go (PA YG) pension programs or replace them with private pensions known as individual accounts. lnstitutionalists claim that (PA YG) pension programs are impossible to transform because they are not only fraught with interest group conflicts that have adverse implications for the electoral chances of reform-minded politicians, but also because they are popular among voters, and supported by beneficiaries and trade unions. On the other hand, those international political economists studying welfare reforms argue that the structural transformation of PA YG pension systems is possible and driven by a coalition of global policy actors led by the World Bank. Most of the data that informed these theoretical postulations came from OECD and middle-income countries in Latin America and Eastern Europe. The story of pension reforms in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries had until now not been factored adequately into the debate.</p><p>This thesis argues that an understanding of pension reforms in SSA countries requires an analysis of both the domestic and international political processes. But this understanding is only possible if the relative role played by domestic and international factors are taken into account and analyzed. Using pension reforms in Ghana since the 1980s as an illustrative case which can inform us about other English-speaking SSA countries, this thesis therefore takes the international level into account, but focuses on the domestic level and argues that domestic politics mattered much more than is assumed by some international political economists in the literature. The thesis affirms aspects of institutionalist arguments, but presents an alternative explanation of pension reforms in SSA that (a) for the first time analyzes the domestic politics of pension reform and (b) casts serious doubts on arguments about the dominant role of transnational actors, while suggests significant improvements to theoretical understandings of pension reform policy processes.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

While serving as governor of Mississippi from 1980 until 1984, William F. Winter envisioned education as a key to moving Mississippi away from poverty. He championed educational reform as the means for improving schools with low student achievement. From the beginning of his tenure, Winter?s goal was to improve K-12 education by implementing three needed improvements: public kindergarten, compulsory attendance, and a lay board of education. During the first two years of his administration, Winter struggled to gain support from within the legislative body itself. Mores of Mississippi, which relegated African Americans to a lesser role of social status, were difficult to overcome without causing a great deal of social upheaval. Winter?s goal of educational reform was inclusive and not just aimed at the Whites of Mississippi. This necessitated carefully calculated planning. It was not until a controversial ending to the 1982 regular session that Winter began to explore options of calling a special session and promoting the goals for education to the constituents of the legislators. Through a series of nine public forums that were carefully crafted to explore the issues and spotlight the legislators for that particular venue, Winter and his band of young supporters, called the ?Boys of Spring?, were able to bring about a paradigm shift in attitudes and beliefs. The focus of this study is to examine Winter?s leadership style, relate the story of reform, and highlight one man?s dream for his state. Winter was a master at surrounding himself with a high quality and high energy staff, designing a plan for success, and knowing what changes needed to be made and how to bring them about effectively. Specifically, this study will highlight hard work with purpose. It will also illustrate that those closest to a problem or issue should always be part of the solution to the problem, and finally, the study will show how a leader is only as good as the people with whom he or she surrounds himself/herself, with. The efforts that resulted in this study could and should be used to solve other problems of this society, especially those related to education.

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<p> The primary purpose of this thesis is to provide an in-depth analysis of a political interest group. In doing so, some of the theoretical studies that attempt to explain why groups arise and why individuals freely join them have been empirically tested. It is noteworthy that most of the members surveyed would not renew their membership if the group stopped lobbying and only supplied "Selective incentives". </p> <p> The secondary purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the literature on the politicalization of health care. The Medical Reform Group of Ontario is a relatively small, yet highly politicized group of progressive doctors who want to make the health care system more democratic and preventative in nature. As far as the author knows, this is the first academic investigation of any kind into the Medical Reform Group. </p> <p> In carrying out these two purposes, it is argued that the Medical Reform Group is a product of social changes which took place in medical practice over the last decade and that, despite assumptions to the contrary, "rational men" will voluntarily join a political interest group to solely advance its political (or collective) goals. </p> / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)