Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy University of Virginia

Achieving goals in a

social world

We choose, initiate, and pursue goals in a social world. How and when do social relationships facilitate, or hinder, our pursuit of important goals? And how do cooperation and competition affect these relationships?

"Social psychology is at the core of the Batten School approach. It drives us to ask scientifically rigorous questions about decision making, leadership, motivation, and organizational dynamics."

A new model

of policy reform

Why are some members of Congress more effective lawmakers than others? How important is political party affiliation? A new model argues that ideology, not affiliation, drives compromise or gridlock

"Within American federalism, states and localities can serve as policy laboratories, but we don’t really know exactly how it works. How does policy spread or diffuse from one state to the next? There’s a lot of learning going on"

Producing

Good Health

Good health does not just happen. It is "produced" by a combination of genetics, lifestyle and medical care. A major challenge for the United States, and other countries, is to choose policies that promote good health while maintaining freedom of choice and financial viability of government budgets and the health care system.

"Economic concepts central to the formulation of effective public policies include a fundamental understanding of responses to incentives, opportunity costs, and the pervasiveness of tradeoffs."

Preserving access to and affordability of

higher education

As state support for public higher education declines, tuitions increase more rapidly than family incomes and affordability is threatened for many families and students. How do we preserve access, maintain quality, and keep costs under control?

"Higher education, normally a very stable part of the economy, appears to be at a tipping point where the traditional business model is becoming unsustainable. How we reshape the financing of this vital social enterprise will be a key challenge facing society in this decade."

Measuring

social impact

Policymakers and practitioners operate under constraints. How do we evaluate programs and policies to provide the strongest evidence for making decisions? In particular, how can social science research inform policy approaches to addressing early childhood disadvantage?

"Doing rigorous policy analysis—evaluating programs and policies well—is the critical foundation in deciding which interventions and social programs are worth the investment"

Motivate and integrate individuals toward

a common goal

Leaders have to provide structures to direct behavior while establishing conditions that prompt people to find the process rewarding. How can leaders simultaneously motivate and regulate? What are the organizational, social, and psychological forces that regulate individual and group behavior?

a National call to

build Consensus

Building consensus requires an effective toolkit--combined with passionate advocacy. Learning about recent policy-making history and analyzing outcomes equip policy advocates to be effective change agents.

FOR LEADERS, ONE SIZE

DOES NOT FIT ALL

Successful leaders possess a combination of personality traits, values, and skills, that fit the specific context in which they work. Context helps explain why leaders who succeed in some settings encounter far greater difficulties in others – and why leaders who have struggled in one assignment may find their “sweet spot” elsewhere.

"Leadership is the ability to define and articulate a viable strategic vision for an organization, and then mobilize the various resources needed to attain, or at least advance, the objectives contained in that vision."

Bright Lights, Safe Cities

DST and Crime

Doleac conducted the first large-scale analysis of how DST affects crime rates in the U.S., given the well-known correlation between season, temperature and crime rates. She concludes that DST reduced robbery by 51 percent, murder by 43 percent and rape by 56 percent during the “extra” hour of evening daylight.

economic approach to

environmentalism

How is climate change like a noisy dorm? Environmental problems arise from broken ownership and control of important resources. If we can design solutions that mimic markets, we can lower the cost of protecting the planet by making it profitable to be green.