UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
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Item THE POLITICS OF NON-INCREMENTAL SCHOOL FINANCE REFORM: A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF VERMONT'S ACT 60 AS A TEST OF MAZZONI'S ARENA MODEL(2011) Curtis, Kimberly Anne; Malen, Betty; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This research, grounded in political theory, had two major purposes: 1) to explain a case of non-incremental policy change within the realm of school finance reform; and 2) to test the utility of Mazzoni's (1991) arena model for explaining state-level school finance policymaking. These goals were accomplished through an examination of the Vermont state legislature's policymaking process in response to the Vermont Supreme Court Brigham v. State (1997) ruling declaring the state's system of school finance unconstitutional. This analysis sought to explain how key political actors, taking advantage of favorable reform conditions, utilized power derived from positional authority as well as personal influence to impact the passage of Act 60, an innovative and forcefully redistributive piece of school finance legislation. The research employed a qualitative case method as a means to answer the research questions. Data collection drew from an informant interview process supported by extensive primary and secondary source document review. Data were systematically analyzed against the conceptual framework, presented in a case narrative and discussed in light of related literature to generate analytic conclusions with regard to the process of state education policymaking for school finance. Study findings highlight the general utility of Mazzoni's arena model in explaining non-incremental policy change in the realm of school finance reform; the importance of politically savvy and well-situated policy entrepreneurs who can take advantage of propitious events such as a court ruling to advance non-incremental policy reform; and the role of political elites in advancing the cause of school finance reform. Suggestions for future research include the potential refinement of the arena model to include a judicial arena and the use of other policy frameworks to analyze non-incremental policy innovation for school finance.Item World Trade and Higher Education: The United States' Experience with Development of Trade Policy in Higher Education under the General Agreement on Trade in Services(2007-04-26) Messenger, Laura Christine; Malen, Betty; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This case study examined the United States' experience from April 1999 through January 2007 in development of its trade policy regarding inclusion of higher education in the World Trade Organization's (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It examined how the key actors sought to influence the manner in which technical ambiguities, ideological differences and other points of contest were resolved. This study also examined how the actors' ability to influence these issues was conditioned by features of the decision making arenas and the broader sociocultural context. It utilized a combined political systems/power-influence model developed by Mazzoni (1991) to categorize the variables and to account for the findings. Data sources included publicly available information and interviews with individuals familar with the case (e.g., WTO officials, U.S. trade representatives, and nongovernmental organization officials). The study also outlined possibilities for future research in this ongoing policy making process. Findings underscored the importance of the domestic arena even with regard to agreements at the supranational level. The study identified four key players in the process, all of which were U.S.-based organizations. The WTO, although responsible for setting the overall rules of the game, was a hidden or background player in this issue. In addition, agricultural interests were important hidden players; their actions were not designed to influence U.S. higher education trade policy but, nevertheless, their ability to halt trade talks twice put the policy in jeopardy. The study also found that players' motivations and actions were tied closely to their stated organizational missions and affected when the players became involved in trying to influence the development of higher education trade policy. Professional expertise and direct channels to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative were important resources, facilitating access to the actor with the authority for developing U.S. higher education trade policy. Moreover, the study's findings underscore the subtle manner in which some issues are resolved: The use of voice through printed materials and face-to-face meetings, exercised in a collaborative rather than a confrontational manner, was an effective influence strategy for the players who were skeptical of GATS' inclusion of higher education.