Category: Public Service

1. How would you describe your personality using the Big Five (also
known as OCEAN) personality traits? How or where might you
have developed these traits from?
2. Do you believe that Freud’s theory was applicable only to the era
in which he lived, or do you believe it can still apply today? Why?
Can you think of any applications in your life?
3. Define at least four defense mechanisms in your own words.
Describe a situation that happened in which you used a defense
mechanism. Why do you believe you used this defense
mechanism?
4. How do you think your personality shifts in various contexts? Are
you different at school than at home? What about with your
friends? How do you think personalities vary across the different parts of the US?
5. Create and answer your own fifth question.

Module Overview
Learning Objectives
Recognize and understand accepted techniques for designing different types of evaluations, as determined by key project goals and objectives
Understand core principles and typical content of impact, needs, and implementation assessments
Understand process elements in evaluating policies and programs to inform decision-making
Identify and understand core concepts associated with performance measurement
Overview and Purpose
Primary Assignment Option (Option 1)
The primary assignment for this module is for you to provide a preliminary benefit-cost analysis report in support of a FEMA hazard mitigation grant proposal. The report you will write should cover these topics: it should provide a short explanation of what CBA is and how it is relevant to writing a grant proposal such as this one. You should outline the basic logic of estimating costs and benefits, provide your own assessment of the merits of the cost and benefit measures that have been included in the summary outlined below (including whether you think items have been missed, or questions you might have about the efficacy of measuring benefits items such as recreational/aesthetic benefits), explain how to interpret the benefit-cost ratio and the NPV criterion result, and provide an explanation of a recommended course of action (i.e. whether the green space project as a flood mitigation tool) can be justified in a funding request.
Instructions
For the BCA option (assignment Option 1), you can review these Written Assignment Instructions
BCA Estimates for assignment 3Download BCA Estimates for assignment 3
Formatting and Guidelines
4-5 pages in length
include APA citations as appropriate
follow guidelines in Instructions

DQ 10 – Social Psychology
1. Think about how you dressed this week. Why did you
choose to wear what you did? How might social
psychology explain how you dressed?
2. Are there ways that conformity and obedience can be
beneficial for a society? How might they be dangerous?
3. Do you subscribe more to the belief that “opposites attract”
or “birds of a feather flock together”? Why and is there an
example from your life?
4. Describe a time you had cognitive dissonance. What was
going through your head at the time and why did that
inconsistency in actions/beliefs bother you?

DQ 10 – Social Psychology
1. Think about how you dressed this week. Why did you
choose to wear what you did? How might social
psychology explain how you dressed?
2. Are there ways that conformity and obedience can be
beneficial for a society? How might they be dangerous?
3. Do you subscribe more to the belief that “opposites attract”
or “birds of a feather flock together”? Why and is there an
example from your life?
4. Describe a time you had cognitive dissonance. What was
going through your head at the time and why did that
inconsistency in actions/beliefs bother you?
5. Create and answer your own fifth question.

Reflections on the tensions between the Executive and Congressional Budget Processes
As one Congressional Research report notes, “Conflicting budget priorities of the President and Congress accentuate the institutional tensions between the executive and legislative branches inherent in the federal budget process.”
In a 400-500 word reflection, please address the following questions.
1) Briefly describe those institutional tensions. What does the President want out of the budget process? How about the Congress? Structurally, where are their goals aligned and where is conflict inevitable?
2) Define “impoundment” in the context of the Federal budget process, and how it is related to the tensions you outlined in your answer to question 1. And how is this obscure budgetary concept linked to the first impeachment trial of President Trump?
Reading:
1.1967 Presidential Commission on Budget Concepts, Chapter 2
2.CRS Report: Introduction to the Federal Budget Process
3.CRS Report: The Congressional Appropriation Process: An Introduction
4.CRS Report: Item Veto and Expanded Impoundment Proposals: History and Current Status
5. New York Times, “GAO Report Says Trump Administration Broke Law in Witholding Ukraine Aid
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/16/us/politics/gao…

TOPIC: Medicare
write the introduction for your evaluation project in paragraph format and incorporate the following:
What public issue/problem(s) does the program address?
Why is this considered a problem?
Who are the target of the program’s services?
How is the program delivered (i.e., resources, activities/services, and outputs)?
What are the expected results (i.e., short term outcomes, intermediate outcomes, long term comes)?
What are the hypothesized effects and relationships? In other words, how are the inputs supposed to result in changes in outputs or outcomes.

This week we continue to build on the fundamentals by recalling inquiry modes and methods. This week we will build on description as an inquiry. You are also introduced to concepts and issues on economic evaluation. These topics are important to help you establish a foundation for your research project. Some important information was reviewed to guide you in describing the activities of a program, the surrounding contexts, the resources involved, and describing the characteristics of stakeholders in the program as well as to identify the expected short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes.
Using the fundamentals from this week and following
What public issue/problem(s) does the program address?
Why is this considered a problem?
Who are the target of the program’s services?
How is the program delivered (i.e., resources, activities/services, and outputs)?
What are the expected results (i.e., short term outcomes, intermediate outcomes, long term comes)?
What are the hypothesized effects and relationships? In other words, how are the inputs supposed to result in changes in outputs or outcomes.

Real World Reflections:
Paper Length: 250 words. Do not exceed 250 words.
Find a newspaper article or look in books, such as Freakonomics (Steven Levitt), Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science (Charles Wheelan), or The Economic Naturalist: In search of explanations for everyday enigmas (Robert Frank), that use a concept from the chapter. Use and define the concept, briefly summarize the article, and relate the article to the economic concept, attach the article and cite it in your write up.
WRITING:
clearly concept
clearly written summary
APA style
in-text cited (with page number)
reference
Word count must not exceed 250 words.

Reflection on the Promises and Perils of Performance-based Budgeting :
Please finish the required readings and then write a reflection paper base on the readings (see readings from attached files)
____________________________________________
Allan Schick’s paper, The Road to PPB,” describes the evolution of budgeting from a system characterized by control to one focused on management and administration to one focused on goals, policies, and programmatic outcomes. The tone of this piece is hopeful that these developments will be positive — I will point to this quote: “the very availability of analytic data will cause a shift in the balance of economic and political forces that go into the making of a budget.”
Based on the readings, please write a 400–500-word reflection that addresses the following questions:
What would you characterize as the promise of budgeting decisions based on outcomes or performance – that is, what are people hoping to get out of it?
What are some of the ways people have tried to better integrate data and performance measurement into the budgeting system?
And finally, where does it go wrong? What are some of the pitfalls?
____________________________________________
WRITING STYLE:
Well-organized; free of grammatical errors or typos
Well-crafted and clear; facts and opinions are differentiated
There is a logical flow to your thinking
All parts of the prompt are addressed
Readings are referenced by identifying the key thesis or theme and integrated into the discussion
Paper exhibits creative thought, analysis, and synthesis
____________________________________________
Required Reading:
1. Schick, “The Road to PPB: The Stages of Budget Reform”
2. Of Narratives & Numbers
3. Joyce, “Linking Performance and Budgeting” for US federal examples.
4. Harris, “Managing for Social Change,” esp pages 101-127
5. GFOA Performance Measures:
https://www.gfoa.org/materials/performance-measure…
6. Capretta, “We Used to Want Government to Work Well – and We Still Can”
https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/government-efficienc…

Topic
Using FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center, find your home or school address and answer the following questions:
What does the flood map tell you about your flood risk? Attach the flood risk map to your paper. You can do this by clicking dynamic map after you generated your map.
Given your risk, what are some steps that you could take to prepare for and mitigate damage caused by floods? Discuss the differences between preparedness, mitigation, and risk in your answer.
If a hurricane was headed to your area, would you take steps to prepare for potential flooding? Why or why not?
If roles were reversed and you were the city manager for your city, what advice would you give to citizens about their flood risk during a hurricane? How is this similar or different from the actions you would take if you were a private citizen?
FEMA Flood Map Service Center | Search By Address
Instructions
Review the course materials.
Write a 2-page paper, including the following elements:
Organization – The paper includes the following elements:An introduction that lays out the main argument and gives an outline of what the reader can expect within the paper.
A main body that presents the argument and counter-argument which is supported by in-class and external sources and explains why the stated opinion is better than the counter-arguments.
A conclusion that synthesizes the main argument, briefly addresses the counter-arguments, and articulates why this opinion is important and how it can help or support future efforts.
Argument – The paper presents an argument for or against the prompt and provides sources as evidence in support of that argument and why this opinion is important. Sources should include in-class (e.g., textbook and articles presented in class) and external resources (books, journal articles, etc.).
Counter-argument – The paper presents and acknowledges counter-arguments and ideas and explains why these arguments exist and why their opinion is a better choice/option. This section is supported by sources.
Sources – Sources are included to support the paper’s argument and counter-argument. Sources should include in-class (e.g., textbook and articles presented in class) and external resources (books, journal articles, etc.).
Citation – Sources are cited using APA style.