Mark C . Hand | Southern Methodist University (original) (raw)
Uploads
Papers by Mark C . Hand
Since the 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court has frustrated efforts at campaign finance reform by main... more Since the 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court has frustrated efforts at campaign finance reform by maintaining that nearly all limits on political spending violate the first amendment's protection of free speech. In its 1976 Buckley v. Valeo decision, the Court laid out only two justifications for limiting political speech in the form of campaign donations: To prevent corruption or the appearance of corruption. But do campaign finance limits actually prevent corruption or its appearance? Using state-level data from 1990-2012 on contribution limits, corruption arrests, and media mentions of corruption, this paper employs a linear panel regression and a difference-indifferences analysis to test whether campaign contribution limits are associated with lower levels of corruption convictions or media mentions of corruption. These methods find no relationship between the presence or level of campaign finance laws and quid pro quo corruption. As current challenges to contribution limits wind their way through federal courts, the answer to this question will inform the Supreme Court's decision to uphold or strike down remaining limits on political campaign contributions.
What role do individual agents play in the policy process? Theories of the policy process either ... more What role do individual agents play in the policy process? Theories of the policy process either specify or leave room for a special class of individuals that drive the policy process. These individuals are often vaguely described as policy entrepreneurs. This paper uses pragmatist method to examine the claims of scholars about what policy entrepreneurs do—what actions they take, as opposed to their characteristics or positions. Using immigration enforcement law in the US states in the 2010s as a case, the paper lays out a plan for using interview-based process tracing and network analysis of news media to test scholars' claims against the actions of political actors viewed as instrumental to passing or blocking those laws. Such a study would explore (1) who took actions that determined policy outcomes; (2) which theories of public entrepreneurship prove most predictive of that behavior; and (3) whether public entrepreneurship is the most useful metaphor for describing those actions. This paper aims to contribute to conversations about the role of individual agency in the policy process.
A literature review of research on social entrepreneurship reveals that academics and practitione... more A literature review of research on social entrepreneurship reveals that academics and practitioners seem to be operating in separate spheres. A look at why this is happening and what to do about it.
Impact investing is a new and growing field in which financial institutions and individuals inves... more Impact investing is a new and growing field in which financial institutions and individuals invest their money not only for financial return, but also for social and environmental impact. The field is in such a state of rapid growth that Antony Bugg-Levine and Jed Emerson, two central players in this arena, recently described impact investing as a “dark wood” whose boundaries are in flux and definitions are contested. Using the commerical software neo4j, we built a graph database and visualizations of the network of investors funding food and agriculture ventures.
Since the 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court has frustrated efforts at campaign finance reform by main... more Since the 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court has frustrated efforts at campaign finance reform by maintaining that nearly all limits on political spending violate the first amendment's protection of free speech. In its 1976 Buckley v. Valeo decision, the Court laid out only two justifications for limiting political speech in the form of campaign donations: To prevent corruption or the appearance of corruption. But do campaign finance limits actually prevent corruption or its appearance? Using state-level data from 1990-2012 on contribution limits, corruption arrests, and media mentions of corruption, this paper employs a linear panel regression and a difference-indifferences analysis to test whether campaign contribution limits are associated with lower levels of corruption convictions or media mentions of corruption. These methods find no relationship between the presence or level of campaign finance laws and quid pro quo corruption. As current challenges to contribution limits wind their way through federal courts, the answer to this question will inform the Supreme Court's decision to uphold or strike down remaining limits on political campaign contributions.
What role do individual agents play in the policy process? Theories of the policy process either ... more What role do individual agents play in the policy process? Theories of the policy process either specify or leave room for a special class of individuals that drive the policy process. These individuals are often vaguely described as policy entrepreneurs. This paper uses pragmatist method to examine the claims of scholars about what policy entrepreneurs do—what actions they take, as opposed to their characteristics or positions. Using immigration enforcement law in the US states in the 2010s as a case, the paper lays out a plan for using interview-based process tracing and network analysis of news media to test scholars' claims against the actions of political actors viewed as instrumental to passing or blocking those laws. Such a study would explore (1) who took actions that determined policy outcomes; (2) which theories of public entrepreneurship prove most predictive of that behavior; and (3) whether public entrepreneurship is the most useful metaphor for describing those actions. This paper aims to contribute to conversations about the role of individual agency in the policy process.
A literature review of research on social entrepreneurship reveals that academics and practitione... more A literature review of research on social entrepreneurship reveals that academics and practitioners seem to be operating in separate spheres. A look at why this is happening and what to do about it.
Impact investing is a new and growing field in which financial institutions and individuals inves... more Impact investing is a new and growing field in which financial institutions and individuals invest their money not only for financial return, but also for social and environmental impact. The field is in such a state of rapid growth that Antony Bugg-Levine and Jed Emerson, two central players in this arena, recently described impact investing as a “dark wood” whose boundaries are in flux and definitions are contested. Using the commerical software neo4j, we built a graph database and visualizations of the network of investors funding food and agriculture ventures.