Case Studies
- Page ID
- 184435
\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)
- 1: Implementing Ethnic Studies Courses- Who Decides?
- This case study examines the conflict between education professionals and parental rights advocates over implementation of California's Ethnic Studies curriculum. The case asks the reader to consider how we balance the classic divide between professional public administrators—school district superintendents, principals, and teachers— and our representative democracy in which voters elect representatives at the state and local levels.
- 2: Power to the People- Recalls and Referendums
- This case describes two tools of direct democracy: the referendum and recall. It highlights California's reaction to a 2014 measles outbreak at Disneyland. Although the outbreak led to increased public support for vaccinations, and facilitated legislation that strengthened California’s childhood vaccination requirements, not everyone was happy with these new public health mandates. Opponents used the tools of the recall and referendum to make their voices heard.
- 3: We Can’t Change the Past- Government Lessons in Making Amends
- This case study considers what it means for governments to make amends for historic injustice, including who should be responsible, what actions are required, and to whom amends are due. In particular, it highlights the story of Bruce’s Beach, a plot of land along the Pacific Ocean in Los Angeles County which was unjustly taken, and eventually returned to the family of its rightful owners.
- 4: Government and Wicked Problems - The Death of Kelly Thomas
- This case study recounts the story of Kelly Thomas, an unhoused man with schizophrenia, for whom an interaction with police ended in death. The incident ignited a firestorm of protest in Fullerton, California that ended political careers and changed police department policy. It provides an opportunity to consider how government addresses the wicked problem of homelessness, particularly when it intersects with mental illness and criminality.
- 5: In this Together? Pandemics, Politics, and the Public Interest
- This case study uses the Covid-19 pandemic as the backdrop to consider the difficulties of providing public health services in the U.S. It provides an opportunity to consider what it means for public health agencies and their employees to serve the public interest during the outbreak of a new contagious illness like Covid-19 and asks what role political parties and elected officials should play in protecting the public health.