Eric Zeemering, assistant professor of public policy at UMBC, has been named this year’s recipient of both the Clarence Stone Young Scholar Award and the Norton Long Developing Scholar Award from the Urban section of the American Political Science Association, in recognition of his scholarship, teaching and public service. Zeemering’s work focuses on public management, intergovernmental relations and urban policy. His research has appeared in journals including Public Administration Review and Urban Affairs Review.

Social Movements and the New State: The Fate of Pro-Democracy Organizations When Democracy Is Won, from Stanford University Press, is the latest book by Brian K. Grodsky, associate professor of political science at UMBC. Reviewers have called it “exceptionally rich” and “theoretically innovative.” The book description reads:

The world’s democracies cheered as the social movements of the Arab Spring ended the reigns of longstanding dictators and ushered in the possibility of democracy. Yet these unique transitions also fit into a broader pattern of democratic breakthroughs around the globe, where political leaders emerge from the pro-democracy movement that helped affect change. In Social Movements and the New State, Brian Grodsky examines the relationships between new political elites and the civil society organizations that brought them to power in three culturally and geographically disparate countries—Poland, South Africa, and Georgia.This book argues that the identities and personal networks developed during the struggle provide “movement activists” with opportunities to influence minor issues, but that new and differing institutional pressures create schisms on broader policy that can turn prior bonds into a liability rather than an asset. Drawing on media analyses and more than 150 elite interviews, Grodsky offers a rare empirical assessment of the degree to which social movement organizations shape activists’ beliefs and actions over the long term.

Chuck Milligan, former executive director of The Hilltop Institute at UMBC and current Maryland Medicaid director, just published a featured post on blog Health Affairs titled, “Expanding Medicaid: The Smart Decision For Maryland.”

The post cites Hilltop’s analysis to explain the economic benefit that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will provide to states and why these findings support Maryland’s decision to expand Medicaid and fully implement the ACA. It also directs readers Hilltop’s Maryland Health Care Reform Simulation reports (1, 2).

Health Affairs is a leading health policy journal and this post illustrates how Hilltop’s work is directly informing U.S. health policy.

Maryland Natural Resources Police are investigating an incident where Republican Del. Donald H. Dwyer Jr. reportedly drunkenly piloted a speedboat that collided with another vessel and sent six people to the hospital last week. The fallout? “It is possible that this is the end of his political career,” Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, told the Baltimore Sun.

Norris said, of Dwyer, “He comes from a very conservative constituency” that is not likely to overlook the incident. It could take weeks before authorities conclude the investigation. In addition to facing misdemeanor or felony charges, Dwyer could also face a civil suit from those who were injured.

Emerald Christopher has been selected as one of WREI’s 2013 Congressional Fellows on Women and Public Policy. “The Women’s Research & Education Institute (WREI) is an independent, public policy research and information center whose mission is to inform and help shape the public policy debate on issues affecting women and their roles in the family, the workplace, the classroom, the military, and the public arena.

The WREI Congressional Fellowship on Women and Public Policy is designed to train potential leaders in public policy formation to examine issues from the perspective, experiences, and needs of women. Administered by WREI, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, organization located in Washington, DC, this program is unique – the only fellowship program on Capitol Hill directly by, for, and about women.

Congratulations Emerald!

A WREI fellow works in a Congressional office as a legislative aide on policy issues affecting women. Fellows meet weekly for issue seminars directed by the WREI staff. Fellows are selected on the basis of academic competence as well as demonstrated interest in the public policy process. They must be articulate and adaptable and have strong writing skills” (WREI Fellows Brochure, 2013, web).

As the new semester brings fresh energy to campus, UMBC is launching BreakingGround: a campus-wide initiative to deepen and share our innovative approach to democratic engagement.

In a time of widespread skepticism about the capacity of our democracy to respond to society’s needs, UMBC’s work is demonstrating the power of individuals and collaborative groups as agents of meaningful change and renewal. This work is deeply embedded in a campus culture that builds community from diversity and celebrates ingenuity and resourcefulness.

BreakingGround features courses developed to promote civic agency; incentives to link community service projects with opportunities for deep learning and engagement; opportunities for students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners to collaborate on campus and community change projects; and a blog for sharing stories and launching community discussions.

Visit the BreakingGround website to learn how you can get involved and follow/share the initiative on Twitter through #digUMBC.

The Baltimore Sun reports that the state of Maryland has secured $123 million of federal funding to launch its health insurance exchange, the Maryland Health Connection, where hundreds of thousands of uninsured Marylanders will buy coverage. The Hilltop Institute at UMBC suggests this could cut the number of uninsured Maryland residents by half.

The Sun cites a Hilltop report in noting that “up to 150,000 individuals are expected to sign up for insurance through the Maryland exchange in the first year, and up to 275,000 by 2020.” The article continues, “[the Hilltop] review also found that approximately 101,000 will enroll in Medicaid in the first year and up to 187,275 will receive such coverage by 2020.”

An aggressive campaign to educate uninsured residents about the Maryland Health Connection will launch in January 2013.

The impulse small children have towards creating pictures and stories lies at the center of several new children’s books reviewed by Ellen Handler Spitz, honors college professor of visual arts, in a story entitled “Drawn Out” in the August 23rd edition of The New York Times.

I Gotta Draw, by Bruce Degen, and Dog Loves Drawing by Louise Yates deal with the visual side of children’s imagination, while Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills deals with the written word, with all featuring canine protagonists as they go about letting their imaginations run free, even if it causes them trouble.

Spitz praised all three stories in her review, writing that the books “by example and by counsel, empower young children to engage their fertile imaginations: to mark, to match, to make and to record — to become ever more active constructors of their own inner and outer worlds.”

Political science professor Tom Schaller’s latest column on Salon dealt with the run-up to the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa Bay.

“Republican National Convention: The heart of whiteness” was published on August 27th, and discussed what Schaller characterizes as the Republican Party’s efforts to present itself as a party of diversity to the American public while simultaneously having difficulty earning the votes of women and minorities.

Schaller described the approach as “window dressing,” and noted that such actions were unlikely to translate into a “winning coalition” this November. To Schaller, Mitt Romney’s choice of ultra-conservative Paul Ryan as a running mate and the party’s controversial support of voter ID initiatives which could adversely affect the voting rights of low-income and minority voters demonstrate the superficiality of the convention’s public face.

Schaller concluded the piece by writing that “[l]est a moving speech by Marco Rubio or Susana Martinez fool anyone, understand that Mitt Romney and the Republicans are not trying to unify America, broaden their coalition very much, move to the middle, or traffic in anything like the electoral kumbaya practiced by George W. Bush or Barack Obama in their first bids for the White House. Rather, in these anxious economic times, and despite a new cohort of female and minority politicians, Romney and the GOP hope to grind out a narrow win by building outward from their older, white male voter base. Any window dressing you see at this week’s truncated convention is just that.”

Based on his experiences studying and researching abroad in Morocco during the 2011-2012 academic year, Interdisciplinary Studies major Asif Majid ’13 published his first book at the end of the summer.

Written in two parts, This Moroccan Life pairs an original Brechtian play providing social commentary on Morocco with an extended analysis that connects the play to the academic research and personal experiences that influenced the writing of the play. Taken together, the two parts address issues related to Morocco including migration, transnational identity, human rights, gender, harassment, and the Arab Spring.

Supported by two Undergraduate Research Awards, Majid aims to produce the play on campus in concert with URCAD 2013. Paperback copies of the work can be purchased by clicking here while hardcover copies can be purchased by clicking here. Any inquiries should be addressed to publishers Bisaouraha Books at bisaourahabooks@gmail.com.