Funder: National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Technology Centers (STC)
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Term: 2025-2026
Value: $105,000
Our Project
Our project investigates how Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) vary in their capacity to influance environemtnal, economic, and social outcomes. While SWCDs represent a potentially important forum where citizens and government actors can co-influence the balance between agricultural productivity and environmental impact, their diversity in structure and process, as well as concomitant outputs and outcomes are poorly understood and under evaluated in academia. The insights of this research would not only (1) inform practice in SWCD fora linking concepts of collaborative partnerships to those of internal affairs, but also (2) complement and expand contemporary special district research, (3) engage emerging questions regarding state oversight in intergovernmental affairs, and (4) address substantial gaps in policy process theory which links fora structure to their efficacy.
More specifically our work explores:
- Where is existing academic research into how SWCDs perform public administration functions? (lead: Jay Rickabaugh). We answer this using a systematic literature review of two pertinent journals: Journal of Soil and Water Conservation and State and Local Government Review.
- How do statutes vary for SWCDs across states and what explains that variation? (lead: Graham Ambrose) We answer this using a novel statute-based coding scheme based on the State-Reinforced Self-Governance framework exploring which entities hold decision-making, implementation, and resource authority.
- How do SWCDs enact state-reinforced self-governance? (lead: Ritwick Ghosh, Shwetha Delanthamajalu) We answer this through qualitative research including interviews, participant observation, and content analysis.
Links
🌐 STEPS Center Website: https://steps-center.org/
Associated Products
In Preparation