Award Date

Summer 2009

Degree Type

Capstone

Degree Name

Master of Public Administration (MPA)

Department

Public Administration

First Committee Member

Christopher Stream, Chair

Number of Pages

33

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of policy analysis by planning and development departments throughout the Southern Nevada region. The data for this study was collected from interviewing eight planning and development department heads within various jurisdictions. The interviews consisted of twelve questions that were designed to explore the roles of department heads with respect to the policymaking process as well as whom is conducting policy analysis to assist in Decision-making. The main research question this study attempts to answer is, do Southern Nevada planning and development agencies conduct and use policy analysis?

The data was interpreted through qualitative analysis and conclusions were derived from the findings. The findings suggest that all the departments in some form utilize policy analysis such as GIS mapping, flow charts, gantt charts. The exact extent these organizations conduct policy analysis is unknown. However, it is speculated the amount of analysis conducted increases with the size of the organization. Although elected officials are the primary decision makers, they were not the focus of this study.

After summarizing the findings, limitations are discussed to explain challenges and obstacles encountered. The small sample size and inconsistent methods of obtaining interview answers are some of these challenges that could be addressed in future research. Additional suggestions of improving and expanding on the current study are discussed in the future research. Further research is needed to provide more comparable and universal results for Nevada

Keywords

City planning -- Government policy; Nevada; Policy sciences

Disciplines

Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration | Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation | Public Administration | Urban Studies

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Comments

Appendixes attached

AppendixA.pdf (696 kB)
AppendixB.pdf (11856 kB)
AppendixC.pdf (918 kB)

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/


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