The flypaper effect states that grants-in-aid increases public spending more than a comparable increase in personal income. If aid increases spending, then there is the possibility that it displaces own-source revenue or a portion of the aid itself is used to meet other priorities of governments, fungibility. Different local government structures have the tendency to prioritize either the operating or capital budget. Empirical evidence shows that federal and state grants have different flypaper effect. While fungible state aid is allocated to the operating budget, that of federal goes to the capital budget. Council-manager and mayor-council form of governments do not allocate fungible intergovernmental aid differently between the capital and operating budgets.

The current study projects the third-person perception phenomenon into the area of emergency management, specifically regarding risk communication in the context of religious gatherings. This study utilized the Umrah religious gathering in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, during summer 2019 as a case study (N = 257). This study aimed to investigate whether pilgrims perceive there was a greater effect of health information on others than on themselves. Survey results were translated and then coded and analyzed statistically using SPSS software. The findings indicated that third-person perception existed among pilgrims. Specifically, the perception of pilgrims that the influence of news about MERS-CoV, believed to be undesirable in its effect on themselves, was greater on others than on themselves was found statistically significant. Further, the findings indicated that the more pilgrims watched, listened to, or read news about MERS-CoV, the larger the effect of the news they perceived on themselves and others was. Thus, exposure to MERS-CoV news did not increase, but rather decreased the perception of difference between self and others. Also, the empirical findings indicated that pilgrims who were knowledgeable about MERS-CoV could relate to the coverage. Moreover, if pilgrims believed they were affected by MERS-CoV news, they believed that the …

This dissertation answers three research questions: "What differences and similarities exist among neighborhood associations in the United States, Japan, and Seoul, South Korea?," "What are the civic roles of neighborhood associations in apartment complexes in Seoul, South Korea?," and "What factors promote neighborhood associations to play civic roles in urban governance?" To answer the first question, this research analyzes the purposes, governance structures, roles, and legal substance of neighborhood associations by reviewing previous studies, public and legal documents, court cases in the U.S., and by conducting interviews. To answer the second and the third questions, a 2016 survey, "Understanding the Roles of Neighborhood Associations in Urban Governance" was conducted with 154 representatives of neighborhood associations in Seoul. Social capital theory, government failure theory, and third party government theory were used to create hypotheses that test proposed relationships about neighborhood interactions, community characteristics, and the civic roles played by neighborhood associations. The findings show that neighborhood associations have adopted several roles including service provider, partner in public service delivery for local government, and advocate for residents in urban governance. The findings also show that social capital created by neighborhood interactions and community characteristics facilitates neighborhood associations to play civic roles in …

Local government in the United States have been collaborating across institutional boundaries, collaborating with other local government to share their resources in the delivery of goods and services in their communities. Although local governments have collaborated for a long time, mixed analysis resulted on which form of government is most effective in the delivery of goods and services based on structure and stability of their financial conditions. This dissertation introduces technology as a key component in the collaborative process in implementing smart initiatives among communities. This dissertation uses surveys conducted from ICMA and Smart City Council, 2016, and a case study comparing two smart cities to test the hypotheses; which structure of government is more effective and whether an increase in financial condition encourages more collaborative efforts. The data reveals that the council-manager form of government is more efficient, however, in contrast, to the case study which indicated that both forms of government were efficient in implementing smart initiatives, however, differences in collaborative efforts were seen based on structure. The results of this analysis provide significant new information for both scholars and practitioners.