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The Great Lakes region is an important ecological asset for the United States, yet studies show that several environmental risks threaten its viability. As a result, it is important to respond to these risks with effective policies. When and how policy is implemented often depends on public opinion and perceptions; yet, we understand little about how individuals from the Great Lakes region construct opinions about the threats facing the lakes. We seek to understand how individuals from the state of Michigan form opinions on three risks to the lakes: invasive Asian carp, climate change, and offshore drilling. To do this, we evaluate the utility of two dominant models of environmental opinion formation: trust and deference to scientific authority, and partisan bias and motivated reasoning. We find that when issues have been politicized, opinion is greatly influenced by political factors like partisanship but that trust and deference as well as underlying environmental attitudes play a more important role for issues that have not been politicized. We discuss the implications of these findings in terms of policy and communication in Michigan, arguing that if we want Michiganders to support policy consistent with science, they must view risk in ways that are consistent with scientific consensus. For that to happen, advocates and policy makers must focus on reducing the political rhetoric around these threats, developing communication that taps into underlying trust and deference to science, and using underlying attitudes about the role of government in environmental protection to promote environmental policy.

Contents: Part I Policy: Incentives for collaboration: state-level brownfield remediation and redevelopment programs, Elizabeth A. Lowham Changing agendas in state environmental policy: development versus cleanup in brownfield programs, Richard C. Hula Revitalizing contaminated land in Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States: a comparative perspective, Philip Catney, Tiziana Cianflone and Kris Wernstedt Redevelopment strategy of brownfield sites in the Czech Republic, Petra Rydvalova and Miroslav Zizka. Part II Implementation and Evaluation: Exploring the potential for integrating community benefits agreements into brownfield redevelopment projects, Courtney E. Knapp and Justin B. Hollander The quantitative and qualitative impacts of brownfield policies in England, Katie Williams New urban communities: building on brownfields for America's next generation, Mark L. Gillem and Jill A. Schreifer The inertia of environmental regulatory enforcement in China: collusion or abuse of authority?, Han Hongyun and Zhao Liange Appendices to chapter Strategic land management in Germany: one key for brownfield cleanup and sustainable development, Detlef Grimski, Fabian Dosch and Herbert Klapperich. Part III Brownfield Case Studies: Fostering brownfields development in rust belt cities: a comparison of state approaches and their impacts in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, Andrea E. Yang Institutional network management in brownfield cleanup and redevelopment, Rob Alexander From blighted brownfields to healthy and sustainable communities: tracking performance and measuring outcomes, Laurel Berman, Christopher A. De Sousa, Terri Linder and David Misky Michigan brownfield redevelopment innovation: two decades of success, Robert A. Jones and William Welsh Appendix to chapter 13 Index.

This article explores the impact of a brownfield redevelopment initiative in the state of Michigan. Although such programs are often perceived as having a positive impact, there is remarkably little evidence beyond anecdotal examples to support such claims. The reported analysis is based on a 5-year project to create a database capable of assessing the impact of the Michigan program. Findings indicate that a viable market for brownfield redevelopment has been created since the change in Michigan brownfield law. On average, brownfield sites have shown a decline in quality over time; however, many sites demonstrated significant improvement.

Over the past thirty years, there has been a dramatic transformation in the way the American political process operates. There has been a growing public perception that traditional political institutions lack the capacity to meet existing challenges. This has led many observers to call for a rethinking of how government does its work. Numerous alternatives, including the use of faith-based organizations, have been suggested. The current popular debate on the appropriate role of faith-based organizations in public service delivery has shed little light on a number of important issues raised by engaging such actors in governance issues. The impact of using faith-based institutions to design and implement public policy must be considered not only in terms of traditional evaluation standards, but also regarding potential long-term impacts on the political process itself. This article outlines a theoretical framework for the evaluation of faith-based organizations as “alternatives” to conventional governance structures. It identifies key practical and theoretical issues raised by such substitution, in both short and long range systemic terms.

Educators, political leaders, and the public in the United States share a broad consensus that school systems in the larger urban areas are not meeting the educational needs of the children they are charged to serve. The result has been a virtual explosion in alternative reform strategies. In one fascinating example, some cities have consciously decided to recruit a school CEO or superintendent whose professional backgrounds lie entirely outside of the sphere of public education. We liken these education outsiders, these nontraditional school system leaders, to the “gunslinger” of American frontier mythology, the stranger, like Shane, who rides into town and solves a menacing problem that the townsfolk cannot manage themselves. This article explores the gunslinger phenomenon in public education leadership by describing it, specifying the conditions under which cities resort to this sort of reform, and exploring its implications for public education.

This guide concentrates on resources that are useful, in an easy-to-use format to enable architects, designers and engineers to access a wealth of knowledge. Information allows users to find, evaluate and contact the resources that can save time and money in day-to-day practice.

This article examines recent changes in toxic waste policy in the United States. It argues that major deviations from the framework established by the Comprehensive Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) have occurred. Examples include a shifting of program authority to the states, a modification of traditional command and control program structures, and perhaps most important, the adoption of economic development as a core program goal. More than two dozen pieces of federal legislation currently regulate toxic materials. Of these, three define the broad regulatory framework that has controlled these substances for the past 20 years. They are the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976 (TSCA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA), and the Comprehensive Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). Each is targeted to a different period in the life cycle of hazardous material. TSCA sets out rules for the review and analysis of new chemicals. The goal is to identify dangerous chemicals as they are developed so that appropriate control strategies can be devised before they cause human harm. RCRA charges the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop standards for current waste management. CERCLA targets the cleaning of existing toxic waste sites. Together, these laws create a complex network of regulations that attempts to control toxic materials from inception to disposal. 1

In recent years, we have witnessed an increase in the role and influence of nonprofit organizations in local and regional policy decisions. Often, these organizations assume a quasi-govern-mental role in pursuit of their missions. Roles of coalition builder and policy initiator/formulator join more traditional roles of service provider and policy advocate. These emerging roles forge new relationships between the nonprofit, for-profit, and public sectors. In Detroit, there is evidence that nonprofit organizations such as New Detroit and Detroit Renaissance can play a role in redefining the local political agenda. Yet that role is severely limited if such organizations are not tied to public authority.

This research investigates the inherent dilemma evident in attempts to promote decentralization initiatives in urban public schools. Detroit provides a natural experiment in decentralized education reform given both the collaborative and the competitive reform efforts that were advanced between 1988 and 1994. A collaborative partnership, the Detroit Compact, was created, and schools of empowerment and choice were partially implemented, conceptually designed to enlarge the community role in the operation of the schools. Results indicate that efforts at promoting decentralization, over time may produce counterpressures to recentralize decision making.

Faith-based organizations have been shown to have varying relevance and saliency in urban politics. Past research typically focuses on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as intermediary organizations. The discussions revolve around the distinctly political, financial or administrative/service providing capacities of NGOs. Less explored are the unintended political consequences of their activities.Like their secular counterparts, faith-based organizations can play an essential role in the delivery of local public goods and services. They can become a linchpin of governance, providing much needed social support structures. Faith-based and other non-governmental organizations can act in concert with or under the devolved authority of the government. They can also fill gaps left by both the government and the market. This paper contends that by being consistent and trustworthy service providers, NGOs may change the landscape of stakeholders involved in urban politics. Indeed, even faith-based and secular NGOs that do not explicitly seek to influence policy may do so through the networks in which they affiliate and the entities with which they collaborate to carry out their primary functions.The paper is based on a nested research design with quantitative and qualitative data from public documents, surveys and interviews from several different types of communities, government entities and service providers. This paper examines the degree and extent to which NGOs work with the government and other entities to provide services and how that positions them to influence policy in Michigan’s two largest urban centers. It demonstrates the importance of collaborative networks for a range of governance functions. The paper also illuminates how service provision allows NGOs, faith-based and secular, to gain entree to local political networks and systems and correspondingly parlay that political access into policy influence.

This article examines education reform in Detroit, employing data from over 75 semi structured elite interviews. The research explores the apparent collapse of a local education reform effort in Detroit despite broad dissatisfaction with the current education system. Both collaborative and competitive approaches to reform are investigated through a regime framework Reformers who implemented change were removed from office and yet a business school compact, neighborhood-based empowerment schools, and schools of choice remain as a legacy. This indicates that although short-term political support for change in Detroit did collapse, some long-term institutional impact of the reform remains.

Drawing on work by Schattschneider (1960) and Baumgartner and Jones (1993) and examining governing nonprofits in three U.S. cities, the authors assert that governing nonprofits can provide a platform for restructuring political agendas. They take on roles and responsibilities traditionally reserved for the government, and they forge coalitions among and across groups, organizations, and sectors to address societal problems. These organizations require broad community support, embrace flexible policy agendas, and operate in the public domain. The success of governing nonprofits also lies in their ability to foster positive linkages with the local leadership without becoming completely identified with local authorities.

This paper reports initial results of a survey exploring current practice in Public Housing Authorities in Michigan and Indiana. Particular emphasis is given to current efforts to support citizen e...

The author reconsiders the relationship between race and geographic location with the allocation of home credit by private sector lending institutions. Using a national data set for the years 1981 through 1987, the author tests the relative explanatory power of race, location, and a number of market variables. The initial analysis suggests that race is less important than is sometimes asserted in the literature. Several alternative explanations for this weak relationship are discussed.

Introduction: Thinking about Family Policy by Richard C. Hula The Normative Context of Family Policy Balancing the Policy Interests of Children and Adults by John Scanzoni A Feminist Approach to National Family Policy by Patricia Spakes Linking Ideology to Action The Policy Functions of Family Policies in Three States: A Comparative Analysis by Shirley L. Zimmerman State Initiatives in Family Policy by Steven R. Wisensale Latchkey Children and After-School Care: A Feminist Dilemma? by Clifton P. Flynn and Hyman Rodman Translating the Problems of the Elderly into Effective Policies: Filial Responsibility by Doris E. Dinkins Ford Abortion and Family Policy: A Mental Health Perspective by Gregory A. Wilmoth, Danielle Bussell, and Brian L. Wilcox Women Under the Collective: The Exigencies of Family Policies in China by Jean Robinson Exploring Impacts Post-Mortem on the Deterioration of the Welfare Grant by Theresa Funiciello and Sanford F. Schram Reagan's Federalism and Family Planning Services: Implications for Family Policy by Deborah R. McFarlane Child Support and the Feminization of Poverty by Andrea H. Beller and Seung Sin Chung Child Care in America: Retrospect and Prospect by Sally Lubeck and Patricia Garrett Rethinking Joint Custody Policy: Option or Presumption? by Clifton P. Flynn Policy Implications of Involving Parents in Head Start by Robert K. Leik, Mary Anne Chalkley, and Nancy J. Peterson The Future of Family Policy: A Postscript by Elaine A. Anderson References Index

This article examines the effect of a court-ordered school desegregation plan on neighborhood housing markets in Dallas, Texas. Three market indicators are used: price, housing turnover, and utilization of conventional credit. The analysis suggests that court-ordered school desegregation had no significant effect on any market indicator in any of the five neighborhoods studied.