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DEMOCRATIC VOICES SPEAKING LOUDLY: DOES PUBLIC PARTICIPATION YIELD ACCOUNTABILITY IN SPECIAL PURPOSE GOVERNMENTS?
Title
DEMOCRATIC VOICES SPEAKING LOUDLY: DOES PUBLIC PARTICIPATION YIELD ACCOUNTABILITY IN SPECIAL PURPOSE GOVERNMENTS?.
Creator
Beitsch, Owen, Wang, Xiaohu, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
The American system of governance includes a network of state and local units identified as either general purpose or special purpose governments. The latter are often aligned with, but operate independently of, general purpose governments. Even as these special purpose or special district governments have shown extraordinary growth relative to their general purpose counterparts, there has been little interest in them or the structural characteristics that distinguish their systems for...
Show moreThe American system of governance includes a network of state and local units identified as either general purpose or special purpose governments. The latter are often aligned with, but operate independently of, general purpose governments. Even as these special purpose or special district governments have shown extraordinary growth relative to their general purpose counterparts, there has been little interest in them or the structural characteristics that distinguish their systems for maintaining order and assuring accountable behaviors. In the meanwhile, the literature regarding accountability has been expanded materially in the last several years leading to debates about its form, component parts, objectives, and the preferred means for achieving accountability as an end state. While these concepts may have application to special districts, inquiry has yet to extend to the particular devices required to monitor or control these governments. This research effort closes the knowledge gap by linking this little studied form of government with recent ideas about accountability and the role that citizen participation plays in developing or advancing accountable behaviors. The analysis applies an adaptation of the well known model developed by Romzek and Dubnick (1987) to create an accountability framework and documents the role that public participation plays in influencing accountable behaviors. The analysis culminates in a multivariate model that examines the role of pubic participation in the context of competing influences that might also force accountable behaviors. The research concludes that participation can be an important influence in shaping specific forms of accountable behavior but that other factors are also essential to sustaining accountability. Most notable among these other factors is the role of the workplace environment, defined here in terns of employee interaction, ethics training, purpose, overall sense of commitment and other attributes.
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Date Issued
2005
Identifier
CFE0000602, ucf:46500
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000602
Community Participation and Travel Choice: An Analysis of Central Florida New Urban and Conventional Suburban Residents
Title
Community Participation and Travel Choice: An Analysis of Central Florida New Urban and Conventional Suburban Residents.
Creator
Mikovsky, Laura, Korosec, Ronnie, Hawkins, Christopher, Knox, Claire, Beitsch, Owen, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Previous research has demonstrated a relationship between the built environment and social and transportation outcomes when comparing traditional and conventional suburban neighborhoods, but much remains to be learned about whether New Urbanism can produce similar results. Among studies where new urban neighborhoods have been assessed, most have centered on regions with highly-utilized public transit systems and with climates that are amenable to utilitarian physical activity. This research...
Show morePrevious research has demonstrated a relationship between the built environment and social and transportation outcomes when comparing traditional and conventional suburban neighborhoods, but much remains to be learned about whether New Urbanism can produce similar results. Among studies where new urban neighborhoods have been assessed, most have centered on regions with highly-utilized public transit systems and with climates that are amenable to utilitarian physical activity. This research sought to build on the existing research base through direct comparison of new urban and conventional suburban neighborhoods in central Florida, a region with an under-developed transit system and a climate that renders utilitarian physical activity impractical. Further, this research sought to lend greater insights into neighborhood selection factors across neighborhood types.(<)p(>)(<)p(>)A mixed-methods, single-case design was utilized to evaluate one new urban and one conventional suburban neighborhood in the central Florida region. Regional new urban neighborhoods were subjectively rated for adherence to tenets of the Charter of the New Urbanism, with the neighborhood (Celebration, in Osceola County, FL) found to most closely adhere to these tenets selected as the experimental group for the study. A socio-demographically comparable conventional suburban neighborhood (Sweetwater, in Seminole County, FL) was selected as the control group. Quantitative methods consisted of a household survey issued to 250 randomly- and convenience-sampled addresses in each neighborhood, followed by regression analysis to evaluate study hypotheses. Qualitative methods employed analysis of open-ended survey responses, detailed case studies of selected neighborhoods, and resident interviews. The household survey yielded net response rates of 15.79 percent and 25.50 percent for experimental and control neighborhoods, respectively, and a mean cross-neighborhood response rate of 20.64 percent. Twenty resident interviews (10 per neighborhood) were conducted. Quantitative and qualitative findings were compared to collectively address research questions.(<)p(>)(<)p(>)Regression results indicated no statistically significant difference between neighborhoods in attitudinal and behavioral components of community participation, in vehicle miles driven per week, or utilitarian physical activity frequency. However, results indicated that new urban residents had more positive attitudes toward utilitarian physical activity than conventional suburban residents and that attitudes toward community participation and utilitarian physical activity were positively correlated with associated behaviors. Qualitative findings provided substantial individual- and environmental-level insights to factors impacting evaluated attitudes and behaviors, and supported some quantitative findings while not aligning with others. Neighborhood selection factors were found to be quite different across neighborhoods: Celebration residents identified neighborhood social atmosphere and connection to the Walt Disney Company brand as top contributors to their selection decision, while Sweetwater residents expressed that access to quality schools was the most important factor in their selection decision. Qualitative findings indicated that car culture and climate within the central Florida region diminished both attitudinal and behavioral components of utilitarian physical activity across neighborhood types.(<)p(>)(<)p(>)This research expanded the understanding of the social and transportation outcomes of New Urbanism, particularly with respect to the central Florida region. While case and quantitative limitations may have impeded the ability of this study to draw decisive conclusions about research questions, distinctive themes regarding social and transportation outcomes were identified. Findings of this research supported those of some prior studies while contradicting others, indicating that further exploration is needed to establish a firm understanding of the capabilities of new urban development to achieve desired outcomes, and of regional characteristics that may influence these outcomes.
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Date Issued
2012
Identifier
CFE0004413, ucf:49376
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004413
Assessing the Effect of Social Networks on Employee Creativity in a Fast-Food Restaurant Environment
Title
Assessing the Effect of Social Networks on Employee Creativity in a Fast-Food Restaurant Environment.
Creator
Rabinowitz, Mitchell, Karwowski, Waldemar, Elshennawy, Ahmad, Rabelo, Luis, Williams, Kent, Beitsch, Owen, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Creativity has been widely recognized as critical to the economic success of organizations for over 60 years. Today, it is considered to be the most highly prized (")commodity(") of businesses. As such, there have been numerous efforts to better understand creativity with the goal of increasing individual creativity and therefore improving the economic success of organizations. An emerging area of research on creativity recognizes creativity as a complex, social process that is dependent upon...
Show moreCreativity has been widely recognized as critical to the economic success of organizations for over 60 years. Today, it is considered to be the most highly prized (")commodity(") of businesses. As such, there have been numerous efforts to better understand creativity with the goal of increasing individual creativity and therefore improving the economic success of organizations. An emerging area of research on creativity recognizes creativity as a complex, social process that is dependent upon many factors, including those of an environmental nature. In support of this perspective, a growing amount of research has investigated the effect of social networks on individual creativity. This relationship is based on the premise that an individual's social network affects access to diverse information, which in turn, is critical for creativity. The previous studies on this relationship, however, have been conducted in a limited number of environments, most of which have been knowledge-intensive in nature. As such, this study was conducted in a fast-food restaurant environment to determine whether the relationship between social networks and creativity is the same as in other, previously studied environments.Data was collected for a sample of 247 employees of an organization consisting of seven fast-food franchise restaurants of a popular fast-food restaurant chain in the northeast region of the United States. An ordinary least squares regression model was developed to investigate the relationship between creativity and the commonly studied social network variables: number of weak ties, number of strong ties, clustering, and centrality. The social network variables accounted for 17.3% of the overall variance in creativity, establishing that a relationship does exist between social networks and creativity in the fast-food restaurant environment. This relationship, however, was not as expected. In contrast to expectations, weak ties were not found to be a significant, positive predictor of creativity. Also, strong ties were found to be a significant, positive predictor of creativity, where it was expected that this relationship would be in the negative direction. Centrality, however, was found to be a significant, positive predictor of creativity, as expected, while the results for clustering were inconclusive due to its high correlation with the other social network variables in the study.As such, it appears that the relationship between social networks and creativity may be different in the fast-food restaurant environment when compared to environments previously studied. It is possible that this difference is a result of the differences between high and low knowledge-intensive working environments. The lack of support for weak ties as a significant positive predictor of creativity in conjunction with limited opportunities for significant creative achievement suggests that access to diverse information may be less important for creativity in the fast-food restaurant environment than in other environments. The findings that strong ties and centrality are significant, positive predictors of creativity, however, appear to indicate that the ability to implement a creative idea, however minor it may be, is more important in the fast-food restaurant environment than the generation of that idea in the first place. Due to the limitations of this study, however, it is not possible to definitively conclude this notion without efforts to determine which factor afforded by positions rich in strong ties or high in centrality, the informational benefits or the organizational influence, is more important for creativity.
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Date Issued
2016
Identifier
CFE0006846, ucf:51799
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006846