Desperately Seeking Selznick: Cooptation and the Dark Side of Public Management in Networks

Most literature on public-sector networks focuses on how to build and manage systems and ignores the political problems that networks can create for organizations. This article argues that individual network nodes can work to bias the organization's actions in ways that benefit the organization's more advantaged clientele. The argument is supported by an analysis of performance data from 500 organizations over a five-year period. A classic theoretical point is supported in a systematic empirical investigation. While networks can greatly benefit the organization, they have a dark side that managers and scholars need to consider more seriously

In majority Democratic school districts, African Americans gain significantly more representation in at-large elections

Research on electoral structure has often touted single member districts to be beneficial for achieving minority representation. In a study of a national sample of school board elections between 2002 and 2008, Kenneth J. Meier and Amanda Rutherford find an unanticipated trend—African Americans are now over-represented on school boards with at-large elections when they are a minority of the population. They argue that partisanship changes the relationship between electoral structure and race so that African American may benefit in counties with a majority Democrat constituency. The traditional pattern of African-American under representation occurs only in school districts with a Republican voting majority

Isopraxis leadership: leader confidence, managerial strategy and organizational performance

Attention has been given to the notion that organizational leaders’ expressed confidence and optimism regarding their organizations’ performance can affect that performance by increasing the motivation and/or selfefficacy of subordinates. This idea, a part of various leadership theories, we call “isopraxis leadership.” This paper examines the logic of the claim, reviews and critiques extant evidence, develops a measure of leader confidence (the starting point for isopraxis leadership), undertakes initial validation of the measure, and then tests for the link between leader confidence and performance among several hundred public organizations. Leader confidence is found to be largely unrelated to performance; some evidence indicates that it can help only for those organizations that are already doing well or have more resources than average – that is, where it is least needed

Business-targeted tax cuts do not improve state economies

On the surface, cutting business taxes would appear to be an obvious way for states to attract new business investment, and therefore growth and jobs. Soledad Artiz Prillaman and Kenneth J. Meier have studied business tax incentives across the 50 states over the past 30 years, and find that this is largely not the case, and that tax reductions can actually be harmful to state economies by reducing tax revenues and thus their ability to provide public services. They argue that given the already low tax burden on many companies, businesses are much more likely to decide on their location based on factors such as workforce education, land prices and public service levels

Experimental realization of catalytic CH_4 hydroxylation predicted for an iridium NNC pincer complex, demonstrating thermal, protic, and oxidant stability

A discrete, air, protic, and thermally stable (NNC)Ir(III) pincer complex was synthesized that catalytically activates the CH bond of methane in trifluoroacetic acid; functionalization using NaIO_4 and KIO_3 gives the oxy-ester

Managing in the regulatory thicket: regulation legitimacy and expertise

While the influence of government regulation on organizations is undeniable, empirical research in this field is scarce. This study investigates how the understanding of and attitudes towards government regulation among public, nonprofit, and for-profit managers affect organizational performance, using U.S. nursing homes as the empirical setting. Our findings suggest that managers’ perceptions of regulation legitimacy – views of regulation fairness, inspectors’ effectiveness, and internal utility of the mandates – positively affect service quality. Sub-group analysis suggests that the managers’ views of regulation matter in nonprofit and for-profit, but not public organizations. In nonprofit homes, performance declines when managers report higher regulatory expertise – better knowledge of the regulatory standards. In for-profit facilities, frequent communication with regulators lowers quality. These findings suggest that the regulated entities’ views of government regulation are central to their success, which necessitates improvements in the regulatory process

Heterolytic CH Activation with a Cyclometalated Platinum(II) 6-Phenyl-4,4‘-di-tert-butyl-2,2-Bipyridine Complex

The more electron-rich, thermally, air, and protic stable, cyclometalated Pt(II)(NNC) trifluoroacetate complex (3) (NNC = κ^3-6-phenyl-4,4‘-di-tert-butyl-2,2‘-bipyridine) was synthesized with the expectation that it would be less susceptible to H_2O inhibition than the Pt(bpym)(TFA)_2 system (bpym = κ^2-2,2‘-bipyrimidine) for the catalytic oxidation of hydrocarbons. Complex 3 was found to catalyze the H/D exchange between benzene and trifluoroacetic acid via CH activation but at a rate slower than the Pt(bpym) complex. Experimental and theoretical studies show that while the use of the more electron-rich NNC ligand motif lowered the ΔH for substrate coordination relative to the Pt(bpym) system, a larger increase in the barrier for CH cleavage led to an increase in the overall barrier for CH activation

Association of Blood Biomarkers With Acute Sport-Related Concussion in Collegiate Athletes: Findings From the NCAA and Department of Defense CARE Consortium

Importance: There is potential scientific and clinical value in validation of objective biomarkers for sport-related concussion (SRC). Objective: To investigate the association of acute-phase blood biomarker levels with SRC in collegiate athletes. Design, Setting, and Participants: This multicenter, prospective, case-control study was conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the US Department of Defense Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium from February 20, 2015, to May 31, 2018, at 6 CARE Advanced Research Core sites. A total of 504 collegiate athletes with concussion, contact sport control athletes, and non-contact sport control athletes completed clinical testing and blood collection at preseason baseline, the acute postinjury period, 24 to 48 hours after injury, the point of reporting being asymptomatic, and 7 days after return to play. Data analysis was conducted from March 1 to November 30, 2019. Main Outcomes and Measures: Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1 (UCH-L1), neurofilament light chain, and tau were quantified using the Quanterix Simoa multiplex assay. Clinical outcome measures included the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool-Third Edition (SCAT-3) symptom evaluation, Standardized Assessment of Concussion, Balance Error Scoring System, and Brief Symptom Inventory 18. Results: A total of 264 athletes with concussion (mean [SD] age, 19.08 [1.24] years; 211 [79.9%] male), 138 contact sport controls (mean [SD] age, 19.03 [1.27] years; 107 [77.5%] male), and 102 non-contact sport controls (mean [SD] age, 19.39 [1.25] years; 82 [80.4%] male) were included in the study. Athletes with concussion had significant elevation in GFAP (mean difference, 0.430 pg/mL; 95% CI, 0.339-0.521 pg/mL; P < .001), UCH-L1 (mean difference, 0.449 pg/mL; 95% CI, 0.167-0.732 pg/mL; P < .001), and tau levels (mean difference, 0.221 pg/mL; 95% CI, 0.046-0.396 pg/mL; P = .004) at the acute postinjury time point compared with preseason baseline. Longitudinally, a significant interaction (group × visit) was found for GFAP (F7,1507.36 = 16.18, P < .001), UCH-L1 (F7,1153.09 = 5.71, P < .001), and tau (F7,1480.55 = 6.81, P < .001); the interaction for neurofilament light chain was not significant (F7,1506.90 = 1.33, P = .23). The area under the curve for the combination of GFAP and UCH-L1 in differentiating athletes with concussion from contact sport controls at the acute postinjury period was 0.71 (95% CI, 0.64-0.78; P < .001); the acute postinjury area under the curve for all 4 biomarkers combined was 0.72 (95% CI, 0.65-0.79; P < .001). Beyond SCAT-3 symptom score, GFAP at the acute postinjury time point was associated with the classification of athletes with concussion from contact controls (β = 12.298; 95% CI, 2.776-54.481; P = .001) and non-contact sport controls (β = 5.438; 95% CI, 1.676-17.645; P = .005). Athletes with concussion with loss of consciousness or posttraumatic amnesia had significantly higher levels of GFAP than athletes with concussion with neither loss of consciousness nor posttraumatic amnesia at the acute postinjury time point (mean difference, 0.583 pg/mL; 95% CI, 0.369-0.797 pg/mL; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: The results suggest that blood biomarkers can be used as research tools to inform the underlying pathophysiological mechanism of concussion and provide additional support for future studies to optimize and validate biomarkers for potential clinical use in SRC

Chapter 1 The Common Denominator: Persistent Racial Gaps in the Administration of Policy

Issues of race permeate virtually every corner of policy creation and implementation in the United States, yet theoretically driven research on interactions of policy, race, and ethnicity rarely offers practical tools that can be readily applied by current and future civil servants, private contractors, or nonprofit boards. Arguing that scholarship can and should inform practice to address issues of equity in public affairs, rather than overlook, ignore, or deny them, Race and Public Administration offers a much-needed and accessible exploration of current and cutting-edge research on race and policy. This book evaluates what contradictions, unanswered questions, and best (or worst) practices exist in conducting and understanding research that can provide evidence-based policy and management guidance to practitioners in the field.　 Individual chapters are written by established and emerging scholars and explore a wide range of policy areas, including public education, policing, health and access to healthcare, digital governance, nonprofit diversity, and international contexts. Together, the chapters serve as a link between theoretically informed research in public administration and those students and professionals trained to work in the trenches of public administration. This book is ideally suited as a text for courses in schools of public administration, public policy, or nonprofit management, and is required reading for those actively involved in policy analysis, creation, or evaluation