dc.contributor.author	Owens, Eric Dustin
dc.date.accessioned	2012-09-06T11:57:12Z
dc.date.available	2012-09-06T11:57:12Z
dc.date.issued	2012-09-06
dc.identifier.citation	Owens, Eric Dustin. "The Understanding and Perceptions of Local Government: A Study of Position in Society, Municipality Size, and Gender." PhD diss., Valdosta State University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10428/1161.
dc.identifier.other	E59D02BD-D711-07A7-477B-B8968A02F60F	UUID
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10428/1161
dc.description	A dissertation, "The Understanding and Perceptions of Local Government: A Study of Position in Society, Municipality Size, and Gender," by Eric Dustin Owens.	en_US
dc.description.abstract	Community empowerment and social capital are terms that can be used to describe the interactions between neighborhoods and government in order to maintain democracy. Hunter (1953) and Dahl (1961) researched this topic by observing the interactions between elected officials and average citizens. In later years, Putnam (2001) studied the levels of social capital of adult populations. Lappe and DuBois (1995) and Diers (2004) studied the interactions among neighborhood advocates, elected officials, and average citizens. Which population has the best understanding of its local government and outlook towards its neighborhood? The municipalities represented in the 2010 Regional Neighborhood Networking Conference were surveyed as part of this exploratory study. The data were divided into three categories: position in society, municipality size, and gender. In regard to the first category, position in society, the cross-tabulations and difference of means tests demonstrated that neighborhood advocates responded more positively to community services, but advocates were least likely to correctly name their form of local government and were least satisfied with their quality of life. Elected officials were more likely to correctly name their form of local government, attend meetings, and be satisfied with the quality of life in the community. In regard to the second category, municipality size, participants from medium-sized cities were more likely to identify the municipality as participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, be satisfied with the quality of life in the community, correctly name their form of government, and attend meetings. The third category of gender did not result in any statistically significant findings. The combined data suggest that all members of society need additional educational opportunities in order to insure that democracy is maintained.
dc.description.sponsorship	James W. Peterson James T. LaPlant Jack D. Byrd Connie L. Richards Alfred F. Fuciarelli	en_US
dc.description.tableofcontents	Chapter I: INTRODUCTION 1 -- Nature of Problem, 1 -- Objectives of Research, 3 -- Measurements and Research 4 -- Summary 6 -- Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW, 7 -- Problem Statement and Overview 7 -- The, Education of Neighborhood Advocates 7 -- Reasons for Neighborhood Watch 9 -- Lack of Literature on Neighborhood Advocates Understanding -- Government , 14 -- Neighborhood Advocates Interaction With Local Governments 15 -- The Education of Elected Officials 18 -- The Education of the Average Citizen 19 -- Basic Education Courses 21 -- Previous Studies on Local Governments and Neighborhoods 21 -- Summary 25 -- Chapter III: METHODOLOGy 26 -- Survey Sample, , , 26 -- Neighborhood Advocates: Scope of Surveying 26 -- Elected Officials: Scope of Surveying 28 -- Average Residents: Scope of Surveying 28 -- Municipality Size 28 -- Gender 29 -- Data Collected 30 -- Synopsis of Participating Municipalities 30 -- Format of Survey 31 -- Study Limitations 36 -- Chapter IV: RESULTS 38 -- Results: Neighborhood Advocates, Elected Officials, and Average -- Citizens 38 -- Results: Size of Municipality 58 -- Results: Gender 67 -- Summary 71 -- Chapter V: DiSCUSSION 74 -- BIBLIOGRAPHY: 86 -- Appendix A: Valdosta State University's Institutional Review Board Protocol -- Exemption Report 91 -- Appendix B: Survey 93 -- Appendix C: Synopsis of Municipalities 99.
dc.format.extent	1 pdf file. 121 pages.
dc.format.medium	Dissertations; Electronic records (digital records); PDF;
dc.format.mimetype	applic
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.rights	This dissertation is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, revised in 1976). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgment. Use of the materials for financial gain with the author's expressed written permissions is not allowed.
dc.subject	Politics and government
dc.subject	Public officers
dc.subject	Local government--Citizen participation
dc.subject	Social capital (Sociology)
dc.subject	Dissertations, Academic--United States
dc.title	The Understanding and Perceptions of Local Government: A Study of Position in Society, Municipality Size, and Gender	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US