Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: I will be evaluating the Public Heath Care Systems in the United States, Canada and Great Britain from the perspective of Esping-Anderson’s model of Capitalist Welfare States. In his research, Esping-Anderson groups countries under three models of the capitalist state: The Liberal Regime Model, the Social Democratic Regime Model and the Corporatist Regime Model. Although the United States, Britain and Canada are all ‘anglo-saxon’ or, ‘Liberal’ regimes, I found that their public health systems do not correlate with this. When is comes to health care, Britain and Canada maintain universal systems, which associate better with the Social Democrat Model of Capitalist Regime while the US in fact, identifies with Esping-Andersons’ description of a ‘liberal’ means-tested program. I have selected these three nations because I wanted to understand if Esping-Anderson was correct when he clustered these three nations together although they have distinctive differences in social policy. I will begin by defining the concepts of the ‘welfare state’ and the ‘liberal regime’ capitalist welfare model. I will then discuss Health Care in the United States, Canada and Britain which, will illustrate why I have concluded that the ‘liberal regime’ cluster is inaccurate when applied to the delivery and coverage of health care.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Since the publication of Gøsta Esping-Andersen’s The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism in 1990, much comparative literature on the welfare state has centered on the notion of welfare state regimes. Although some scholars (most notably feminists) have questioned his tripartite typology, Esping-Andersen’s categorization of liberal, conservative, and social democratic welfare state regimes has become the conventional approach to the study of welfare states in advanced capitalistic democracies. What is striking is that few systematic attempts have been made to validate the three-fold typology. Esping-Andersen himself fails to utilize any systematic and objective methodology to establish his regime clusters. Although he stresses the “analytical necessity of shifting from a linear to an interactive approach with regard to both welfare states and their causes” (1990: 32) and contends that welfare states are not unidimentional, but rather multidimentional, Esping-Andersen turns to regression analysis to substantiate his claims. This leads to a fundamental disjuncture between his stated theoretical objectives and his methodology. The primary purpose of this paper is two-fold: 1) to reanalyze the data in Esping-Andersen’s Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism using what I argue is a more appropriate methodology – cluster analysis – and to consider claims put forth by other scholars that the distinctive feature of the social democratic state is the provision of social services; 2) in light of recent discussions regarding the so-called “new social risks” plaguing contemporary welfare states and the literature on gender and the welfare state, to evaluate the existence of a fourth “Mediterranean” or “Southern” regime type. Results from the cluster analyses broadly support Esping-Andersen’s three worlds of welfare states; however, a few anomalies do surface. The analyses also suggest that consideration of the social services is key when distinguishing social democratic and conservative welfare states. Furthermore, when alternative variables incorporating gender, the family, and policies associated with the new social risks are used in the cluster analyses, strong evidence emerges suggesting the existence of a distinctive Southern European regime. Methodologically, my analysis illustrates the utility of cluster analysis in establishing
homogeneous welfare state regimes.

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: How can student learning be efficiently amplified in cross-discipline and topically broad classes? Political scientists increasingly teach in inter, cross or extra-disciplinary courses, placing added pedagogical challenges and opportunities in front of the political science instructor. In environmental politics courses, students ranging from field or laboratory oriented natural scientists through to outdoor recreation; social science and humanities trained students can join the political science student cohort, making for a dynamic student group. And the student mores that tend towards application and activism strongly suggests that a traditional "chalk and talk" lecture-laden and writing course would be a lost opportunity for both student and instructor. How can a political science instructor acheive balance between presentation of content and the implementation of enhanced student participation (or praxis) activities in cross-disciplinary classes?

Combining project-based learning and portfolio development, the Environmental Service Project (ESP) in the ENV 345 Environmental Politics course at Maryville College has helped to bridge the pedagogy-application issues seen in cross-discipline political science courses. Completed student ESPs must document and analyze multiple ecological, natural resource policy and socio-cultural issues encountered during the design and implementation of real-time, "real-world" eco-friendly campus projects. Exemplary student ESP projects include native plants installation in and around campus buildings; college building and grounds sustainable design, construction and maintenance analyses. This presentation would review the design and implementation of the ESP in an Environmental Politics class, provide examples of student projects, review assessments of the ESP and provide guided questions for discussion about the implications of such an activity in the extra-disciplinary courses political scientists encounter in their career.

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: Urbanization causes habitat loss and fragmentation, leading to local extinctions and frequently eliminating native species. The effects of urbanization on bats are poorly understood, but scant evidence suggests declines in diversity and abundance. In urban landscapes, wooded streets may be regarded as corridors, improving connectivity among forest remnants (urban parks) embedded in the urban matrix. In order to test the hypothesis that wooded streets function as habitat corridors for bats, during one year we monthly mist-netted urban parks, wooded streets and non-wooded streets in the city of Vitória, southeastern Brazil. We captured a total of 10 bat species (174 captures of 172 individuals). Eight species were captured only in parks, two in wooded streets and only one in non-wooded streets. Abundance results are similar, with non-wooded streets accounting for only 3 captures. Jaccard’s similarity index shows that wooded streets are more similar to non-wooded streets than to parks. Our results suggest that urbanization isolated most bat species in the remaining habitat patches (urban parks) and that only very few species are able to use wooded streets to move through the landscape and minimize isolation. Wooded streets have already been reported as potential corridors for birds in urban landscapes. However our results suggest that for bats, such streets are not providing the same degree of connectivity as observed for birds.