Political Science

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/53

Political Science faculty's diverse research, teaching and outreach activities engage our students and the community in issues of ethics, power, identity, globalization governance, citizenship and representation. Our faculty are active scholars with recent awards for their publications, outreach, service and teaching.

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Managing Sanitation in Protected Areas: Problems and Challenges in Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park, Nepal
(Association for Nepal & Himalayan Studies, 1998) Lachapelle, Paul
In this paper, it is argued that four distinct issues have prevented adequate management of toilets, water quality and sanitary conditions in Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park. First, numerous interest groups, both government and non-governmental, have apportioned work requirements and responsibilities for the infrastructural obligations in the park thereby drawing accusation and criticism for unmet needs. Second, there lacks a strong sense of community in several of the densely populated and/or popular tourist sites and therefore these areas are either ill-equipped, do not have the necessary community will or all-together neglect certain public sanitation needs. Third, there is no regulatory body that consistently enforces sanitary rules from the original park management plan. Lastly, various development initiatives in the park have created a cycle of dependency and the expectation that sanitation structures will be built and maintained.
Access to Power or Genuine Empowerment? An Analysis of Three Community Forest Groups in Nepal
(Society for Human Ecology, 2004) Lachapelle, Paul; Smith, Patrick D.; McCool, SF
The introduction of community forestry in Nepal represents an attempt to decentralize control and instill democratic reform in the management of forest resources through the direct involvement of individuals in decision making and benefit sharing. Detailed analyses of community forest outcomes, specifically an understanding of the process of self-governance and the exercise of power, remains a critical gap. Using a purposive sampling methodology, we identified 38 forest users representing a diversity of interests in three communities of the middle hills of Nepal and conducted in-depth interviews focusing on perceptions of an ability to exercise power in forest management. Power in this context is defined as the ability to create rules, make decisions, enforce compliance and adjudicate disputes. Our results identify inferiority, vulnerability, and a lack of transparency as factors that keep forest users from exercising power. We conclude that while community forestry offers tremendous potential to practice self-governance, the behavior of individuals based on complex informal institutional arrangements, such as caste and gender, must be accounted for in such formalized policy initiatives. Opportunities to influence power through mandated processes alone fail to fully explain or affect the potential for community forestry. Instead, we note that genuine empowerment is related to capacities involving the skills and confidence necessary to exercise power.
Using Focus Groups for Community Development. MSU Extension MontGuide
(MSU Extension, 2008-05) Lachapelle, Paul; Mastel, Tara
Focus groups can be an effective means of involving citizens in a decision-making process. Yet, focus groups can also increase conflict and strain group dynamics if not properly executed. This publication provides information on the reasons to use a focus group, the steps involved, the types of questions that could be posed and expected outcomes.
Apsaalooke Upsauloouk Bucha Unnaylayda - Crow Men's Health
(MSU Extension, 2009) Lachapelle, Paul; Real Bird, James
Whether they talk about it or not, health is a very important part of all Crow mens' lives. A modern lifestyle of fast-food and little exercise has put this health in jeopardy. In this video, Crow men talk about their feeling on health and the Crow Men's Health Ride. The 2008 ride to Sacrifice Cliff/Four Dances Vision Site acknowledged the importance of health and recognized the young Crow men who gave their lives to save the tribe from smallpox.
Montana Horizons Program: Transforming Communities from Striving to Thriving
(MSU Extension: Local Government Center, 2009) Lachapelle, Paul; Flaherty, C.
This report has descriptions of the sixteen communities stretching from Scobey to Anaconda. These sixteen communities successfully completed the Horizons II program during 2007-08 which provide just a small example of their achievements. The smallest town had 139 residents, the largest, 4,089. Poverty rates ranged from 11% to 41%. As examples throughout this report attest, the challenges in rural communities are signiﬁcant but not insurmountable and opportunities abound. When community members focus on a speciﬁc outcome, join hands with collaborating partners and keep their eye on the future, the possibilities are never-ending. A new spirit and passion for community involvement is created when a common goal is identiﬁed and shared broadly.
Montana Horizons Program: Transforming Communities from Striving to Thriving
(MSU Extension: Local Government Center, 2010) Lachapelle, Paul; Graham, B
This report details the work accomplished by 15 communities that successfully completed the Horizons III program during 2008-10 and provides a snapshot of their achievements. As examples throughout this report attest, the challenges in rural communities are significant but not insurmountable and opportunities abound. When community members focus on a specific outcome, join hands with collaborating partners and keep their eye on the future, the possibilities are never-ending. A new spirit and passion for community involvement is created when a common goal is identified and shared broadly.
The Pedagogy of Citizen Participation in Local government: Designing and implementing effective board training programs for municipalities and counties
(Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration, 2010) Lachapelle, Paul; Shanahan, Elizabeth A.
Although there are some general resources for citizens who are appointed or elected to local government boards, there is a clear need to develop comprehensive and context-specific training material to better prepare citizens for public service and board governance. This study details the development, delivery, and impact of a structured curriculum developed by the authors and used for citizen board training in Montana. The curriculum covers four key areas: (1) Foundations of governance (such as relevant statutes, including state constitutional provisions on the right to participate and right to know, and good governance principles); (2) effective meeting techniques, with a focus on procedural methods such as Robert’s Rules of Order; (3) conflict management; and (4) leadership and team-building skills. Curricular materials include a detailed handbook, case study exercises, relevant handouts and worksheets, and Web based resources such as podcasts. At the end of the training, we asked participants to self-evaluate their level of change in terms of knowledge and behavior, using both print and online surveys with Likert-scale items and open-ended questions. We used the responses to measure the impact of the educational program; analysis showed a positive change in participants’ knowledge and behavior as a result of the training. Strengths, challenges, and implications of the current training curriculum, as well as further program refinement and its delivery in various contexts, are presented and discussed.
Citizen Participation and Interaction
(MSU Extension: Local Government Center, 2010) Lachapelle, Paul
Community Strategic Visioning as a Method to Address Poverty: An Analysis from Select Rural Montana Communities
(Extension Journal, Inc., 2010) Lachapelle, Paul; Austin, Eric; Clark, D.
Community strategic visioning is a citizen-based planning process in which diverse sectors of a community collectively determine a future state and coordinate a plan of action. Twenty-one communities in rural Montana participated in a multi-phase poverty reduction program that culminated in a community strategic vision process. Research on this process was guided by alternative definitions of poverty and place attachment literature. Results from the qualitative survey data show many descriptions of poverty outside of traditional economic definitions and illustrations on the significance of place. Implications and recommendations on the use of visioning in other contexts in Extension are discussed.
City of Bozeman Ethics Handbook
(MSU Extension: Local Government Center, 2010) Lachapelle, Paul
This ethics handbook is produced by the city of Bozeman Board of ethics to educate citizens and train employees and public officials in best practices and legal requirements. In addition, this handbook details specific ethical requirements and provides guidance on obtaining information and filing complaints. The City Code of Ethics provides legal requirements outlining conduct and best practices as detailed in Chapter 2.01 of the Bozeman Municipal Code.
The National Board Basics Curriculum Project: A Leadership Capacity Building Tool for Boards
(Extension Journal, Inc., 2011) Lachapelle, Paul; Barnes, James
We explain in this article the need for board training in rural America irrespective of industry or government sector. We discuss how an assessment of training needs has led to the launch of a new project called the National Board Basics Curriculum (NBBC) project. In this project, we have identified four key core competencies that every board needs collectively to be a high-performance system. We provide preliminary results of our findings as a tool Extension educators can use with boards in rural communities. Extension educators can use these existing resources and many more developed through the NBBC project.
Strategic Visioning for Community Development. MSU Extension MontGuide
(MSU Extension, 2011) Lachapelle, Paul; Anderson, Katelyn; Wedum, Wendy
Strategic visioning is used by communities to identify future goals and work collectively to address community development needs. This guide provides an overview of the benefits of strategic visioning, situations appropriate to apply the techniques, and the steps to plan, implement and evaluate a visioning process.
Montana Policy Review
(MSU Extension: Local Government Center, 2011-03) Multiple Authors; Lachapelle, Paul; Lachapelle, Paul; Clark, Dan
The Spring 2011 special issue titled "Montana Horizons: Program Outcomes and Policy Implications" focuses on an on-going community leadership program aimed at reducing poverty in rural communities experiencing significant decline or demographic change. The articles describe Horizons from the people who coordinated or actively participated in the program. With personal insights and professional learning and wisdom, the stories, narratives, and academic articles provide the most complete analysis to date of this program from the people who delivered it; a program that many will attribute to wide-spread and positive community change.
Montana Policy Review
(MSU Extension: Local Government Center, 2011-09) Multiple Authors; Lachapelle, Paul; Lachapelle, Paul; Costakis, Cathy; Clark, Dan
The Fall 2011 issue titled Community Resiliency and the Built Environment: Innovations and Policy Issues in Montana focuses on how the built environment influences quality of life and economic prosperity across Montana. The built environment refers to the human-made physical structures and supporting infrastructure that provide the setting for human activity. In Montana, these surroundings shape our economic, social, environmental, and public health outcomes. The articles provide the most complete analysis to date of built environment initiatives from the people who have designed, developed, and delivered the programs and plans.
Extension Learning Exchange: Lessons from Nicaragua
(Extension Journal, Inc., 2013) Lachapelle, Paul; Treadwell, P; Howe, Rod
There is a clear need to support global professional development, international education, and collaborative learning opportunities in Extension. The program described here established an international learning exchange in Nicaragua to lead to global professional development and future international collaboration. The primary lessons and outcomes include first-hand experience of how rural outreach/Extension agencies in a foreign culture address similar issues, development of a multi-disciplined Extension educator network, opportunities for information sharing with U.S./ Nicaraguan colleagues, and realization of the role Extension educators play as global citizens to develop innovative Extension programs within a global context. Implications for future exchanges are discussed.
An Assessment of the Safety Program within the Department of Interior US Geological Survey
(2013-01) Schmitz, Stephanie L.
The intent of the Occupational Safety and Health Act is to protect American workers from unsafe work environments and provide citizens safe access to America’s natural resources. The safety program of the Department of Interior US Geological Survey is evaluated through qualitative analysis of secondary survey data. The comment data came from 6 years of employee opinion surveys about the USGS safety program. Funding, communication, leadership and management, and program awareness need improvement which will in turn improve the other 12 categories identified by the survey participants. Further effort needs to be made to improve the overall safety program within the US Geological Survey.
Exploring the Implementation of New Public Service Role within Disaster Management
(2013-01) Ranck, Andrew T.
Disasters, both natural and manmade, can occur throughout the world at any given time and are caused by numerous different types of events. Communities that experience disasters often must utilize contingency plans to manage the direct and after affects carnage of the disasters. Many survivors of disasters must rely on aid from the international community to begin the revitalization process of the community. The international community acts under its own accord doing what it thinks is the best following the aftermath of a disaster within a community. This research project demonstrates the use of the New Public Service model to give local communities the ability to begin the revitalization of the community without the assistance of the international community. By being a part of the community revitalization, the community is able to have a direct impact on the outcomes that will affect the community and its future generations. The new public service model also influences the organizational dynamics, leadership, and coordination of the community in the event of a disaster. This paper demonstrates how New Public Service can be implemented within a disaster stricken community and how it shapes organizational dynamics helping to revitalize the community.
Individual Interpretation Matters: The Influence of Policy Narrative Elements on Individual Policy Preference
(2013-01) Adams, Stephanie M.
Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) provides a framework for analyzing how policy narrative elements can influence an individual’s policy preference in a manner that adheres to traditional scientific standards. At the micro-level, NPF is nascent in empirically testing whether specific narrative elements have an effect in influencing individual opinion formation. The narrative element of causal mechanism, which is embedded in policy narratives to assign responsibility and blame, is an important element that has not yet been examined. This study utilizes an experimental design to analyze which specific type of causal mechanism has a greater influence on individual opinion. As a treatment, four policy narratives were developed based on the two opposing policy preferences expressed in public comments pertaining to a controversial land use issue in Montana. For each policy preferences two narratives were developed; one with an inadvertent and another with an intentional casual mechanism. A survey pre-test measured the dependent variables of policy opinion, while controlling for policy preference, general knowledge, and political ideology. A control narrative was also employed. After exposure to one of the five randomly assigned policy narratives, a post-test was administered to determine changes in policy opinion. A probability sample of college students was employed, with n=778. Both paired t-tests and regression analyses reveal that the intentional casual mechanism has the ability to strongly influence an individual policy preference. The inadvertent causal mechanism influences those who initially hold an opposing policy preference than the one presented in the narrative. The importance of this study for public administrators is that it further illuminates the influence that narrative elements, specifically causal mechanisms, can have on influencing individual opinion.
Finding a Way to Deliberative Democracy: Rural Montana Historical Societies and the Reinvigoration of the Social Bond
(2013-12) Higgins, Megan M.
The practicalities of public administration accepting O.C. McSwite’s challenge to become the new carrier of the social bond are formidable. This study argues that for public administration to successfully transition from a market-based bond to a social bond of discourse, it is the responsibility of citizens to first firmly established public discourse as a practice in civil society. This study asks: as a civic association, to what extent does a historical society have the capacity to reinvigorate the social bond? To answer that question this research uses a qualitative strategy in conducting an exploratory study of four rural Montana historical societies and their attendant museums. The findings show that rural historical societies, as active caretakers of community identity within the political realm of civil society, meet the benchmarks for the reinvigoration of the social bond: concern for community welfare; acknowledgement of a mutual dependence within civil society; recognition of a multiplicity of diverse views; and a commitment to public engagement in collaborative, consensus driven decision-making.
Class Connections: Congressional Classes and the Republicans of 1994
(2014-10) Rae, Nicol; Pitney, John
Large partisan classes in the House of Representatives are, in important ways, products of the congressional politics of preceding years. The class of 1994 is an example: understanding its origins requires a look at previous classes, especially the often-overlooked class of 1978. The class of 1994 did have a major impact on American politics, but as the fresh-faced outsiders became insiders, their power waned and their personal fortunes darkened.