Planning for Sustainability in Small Municipalities: The Influence of Interest Groups, Growth Patterns, and Institutional Characteristics

How and why small municipalities promote sustainability through planning efforts is poorly understood. We analyzed ordinances in 451 Maine municipalities and tested theories of policy adoption using regression analysis.We found that smaller communities do adopt programs that contribute to sustainability relevant to their scale and context. In line with the political market theory, we found that municipalities with strong environmental interests, higher growth, and more formal governments were more likely to adopt these policies. Consideration of context and capacity in planning for sustainability will help planners better identify and benefit from collaboration, training, and outreach opportunities

Adjunctive rifampicin for Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (ARREST): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia is a common cause of severe community-acquired and hospital-acquired infection worldwide. We tested the hypothesis that adjunctive rifampicin would reduce bacteriologically confirmed treatment failure or disease recurrence, or death, by enhancing early S aureus killing, sterilising infected foci and blood faster, and reducing risks of dissemination and metastatic infection. METHODS: In this multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, adults (≥18 years) with S aureus bacteraemia who had received ≤96 h of active antibiotic therapy were recruited from 29 UK hospitals. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) via a computer-generated sequential randomisation list to receive 2 weeks of adjunctive rifampicin (600 mg or 900 mg per day according to weight, oral or intravenous) versus identical placebo, together with standard antibiotic therapy. Randomisation was stratified by centre. Patients, investigators, and those caring for the patients were masked to group allocation. The primary outcome was time to bacteriologically confirmed treatment failure or disease recurrence, or death (all-cause), from randomisation to 12 weeks, adjudicated by an independent review committee masked to the treatment. Analysis was intention to treat. This trial was registered, number ISRCTN37666216, and is closed to new participants. FINDINGS: Between Dec 10, 2012, and Oct 25, 2016, 758 eligible participants were randomly assigned: 370 to rifampicin and 388 to placebo. 485 (64%) participants had community-acquired S aureus infections, and 132 (17%) had nosocomial S aureus infections. 47 (6%) had meticillin-resistant infections. 301 (40%) participants had an initial deep infection focus. Standard antibiotics were given for 29 (IQR 18-45) days; 619 (82%) participants received flucloxacillin. By week 12, 62 (17%) of participants who received rifampicin versus 71 (18%) who received placebo experienced treatment failure or disease recurrence, or died (absolute risk difference -1·4%, 95% CI -7·0 to 4·3; hazard ratio 0·96, 0·68-1·35, p=0·81). From randomisation to 12 weeks, no evidence of differences in serious (p=0·17) or grade 3-4 (p=0·36) adverse events were observed; however, 63 (17%) participants in the rifampicin group versus 39 (10%) in the placebo group had antibiotic or trial drug-modifying adverse events (p=0·004), and 24 (6%) versus six (2%) had drug interactions (p=0·0005). INTERPRETATION: Adjunctive rifampicin provided no overall benefit over standard antibiotic therapy in adults with S aureus bacteraemia. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment

Using propensity score matching to improve validity in public administration research

Randomized clinical trials have a longstanding status as the gold standard in detecting causal effects. In the social sciences, randomized clinical trials are rare because of their attendant logistical and cost burdens. Most social science research makes use of observational data. The empirical challenge posed by observational data is that treatment assignment is no longer random. This challenge continues to spur innovation across many disciplines toward more sophisticated techniques for estimating causal relationships. Scholars have developed a common theoretical framework for estimating causal effects, often called the potential outcomes or counterfactual framework. This chapter demonstrates the propensity score matching methodology as a way to estimate causal effects using observational data. Throughout, an example from public administration research, the effect of government employment on volunteerism, is used to illustrate the concepts. Empirical estimates of the treatment effects show that there may be a causal effect of government employment on volunteerism

A description and exploration of recent state-led smart-growth efforts

I provide a systematic analysis of smart-growth activity across the fifty US states from 1998 to 2001, summarizing their efforts across more than twenty policy areas. My analysis then turns to a set of nonlinear regression models for predicting state adoption of smart-growth policy. The empirical results from a variety of models suggest that the rate of per capita housing-start growth, and to a lesser extent, political liberalism, and the percentage of state land devoted to urban uses are all consistent predictors of state smart-growth-policy adoption. In addition, analyses of associations between policy areas reveals positive associative adoption patterns between urban revitalization and land-preservation policy. Positive associations were also found between growth control and housing-affordability policies. © 2008 Pion Ltd and its Licensors

Community characteristics, open space preservation and regionalism: Is there a connection?

A recent policy response to sprawl that is gaining popularity is the preservation of open space by municipal governments. This article examines the patterns of open space policy adoption using a sample of 344 suburban governments in the Philadelphia area. The empirical evidence shows that newer, high-status communities with more loss of land to development are more likely to opt for open space preservation as a policy avenue. The evidence of independent effects with respect to community age has implications for regionalism. Orfield has argued that older suburban communities are the swing vote for moving metropolitan areas toward regionalism. If the middle-aged suburbs in the Philadelphia area are needed to build a pro-regional coalition, their apparent preference for open space preservation may limit possibilities for regional reform. I argue that open space preservation on balance poses a threat to the potential for regional government by further entrenching the municipally based institutional structure of the status quo. © 2004 Urban Affairs Association. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved

Faith-based partnerships and foster parent satisfaction

Throughout the last several decades, there has been a chronic shortage of foster and adoptive families in the United States. Recruiting families to begin the licensure process to become foster and adoptive parents is already a difficult undertaking. But research shows that a very large proportion of families drop out of the licensure process early on due to frustration or a lack of support. This paper studies two faith-based partnerships that have arisen to create new capacity in the child welfare system. These programs recruit prospective families from churches and then provide training and ongoing support to those families throughout the licensure process. Using survey data collected from program participants, respondent perceptions of the licensure process are compared to a nationally representative sample of foster parents from the National Foster Care Adoptions Attitude Survey. Statistical results demonstrate that participants with the faith-based programs reported much higher levels of satisfaction with the process than the national sample. These findings provide evidence that these faith-based partnerships may provide an important additional source of capacity for an overburdened child welfare system

Studying the effects of the intensity of US State growth management approaches on land development outcomes

Driven by negative externalities from suburban sprawl, many states in the US have adopted comprehensive growth management legislation in an effort to regulate land development more directly. Most extant scholarship evaluating the effects of growth management programmes employs a design that averages growth management\u27s effect across all of the growth management states. Yet, this approach largely ignores descriptive analyses of individual state growth management approaches which show large variation in both the methods and intensity of means by which states manage growth. This paper seeks to ascertain if differences in growth management intensity yield different evaluative outcomes. Analysis of panel data for nine growth management states using fixed effects regressions, across eight different model specifications, shows that only states with the strongest growth management intensity experience consistent success at reducing the expansion of urban land and increasing population densities

The Tiebout hypothesis 50 years later: Lessons and lingering challenges for metropolitan governance in the 21st century

More than five decades have passed since Charles Tiebout wrote his seminal 1956 paper, often cited as the classic apologetic for locally based systems of metropolitan governance. This essay traces the impact of Tiebout\u27s work and subsequent scholarship in public choice, identifying important lessons and lingering issues. Although public choice has demonstrated that polycentric systems are adept and flexible in producing and providing municipal services and a variety of interlocal agreements, the presence of municipal boundaries gives rise to a host of spillover problems, such as urban sprawl and segregation. These spillovers are particularly nefarious because, unlike the natural cooperation that seems to occur in service provision, municipalities tend to assert narrow self-interest in the face of these types of externalities. The essay proposes that, commensurate with the growing salience of equity among the pillars of public administration, interjurisdictional spillovers and their attendant equity impacts will be the central challenge for thinkers studying metropolitan governance in the 21st century. © 2007 The American Society for Public Administration

Fostering capacity: The role of faith-based congregations in the child welfare system in the United States

This article focuses on recent collaborative efforts between child welfare agencies and local congregations to recruit foster families. Drawing on in-depth interviews with persons involved in collaborations of this type, the article discusses the advantages and pitfalls associated with faith-based collaboration in the child welfare system. The major advantages seem to accrue both in congregations\u27 strong religious motivations to care for children and the supportive social network provided by congregations. Potential pitfalls include a lack of flexibility and possible conflicts that could arise from unwanted proselytization of foster children. The article concludes with suggestions for future empirical inquiry that flow from these exploratory qualitative findings