Wednesday, Aug 11, 2021
Andrew Ziegler '20 researches resource allocation and homeland security
Homeland security graduate student Andrew Christopher Ziegler '20 recently published an article in the academic journal The Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs. The article, Security Concerns vs. Monied Interests?: The Role of Agenda Setting in Homeland Security, examines the allocation of resources among the U.S. federal government’s five broad homeland security priorities during the fiscal years of 2012-17.
"I’m humbled by the opportunity to share my research in a peer-reviewed academic journal," he says.
Submitting a paper for publication to an academic journal is not an easy feat. Ziegler spent a total of nine months researching, editing and finalizing his paper for publication, while taking four graduate courses per semester.
The paper underwent a double-blind peer review, meaning the identity of the author and the reviewer is kept hidden. All identifying information about himself was removed from the paper and sent to three experts in the field of public policy, who recommended his paper for publication based solely on his research. During each round of peer review, Ziegler had to apply various changes provided by the reviewers; in total, more than a dozen iterations were produced before final publication.
Ziegler was inspired to research the concepts of agenda setting and resource allocation in more detail during the coronavirus pandemic.
"After conducting research, I discovered that those concepts were very much responsible for the U.S. federal government’s slow and uncoordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic," he says. "Putting two and two together, I decided to write a paper that applied the concepts of agenda setting and resource allocation to the field of homeland security."
Already making his mark in the academic world, Ziegler hopes to earn a doctorate in the future and teach at the collegiate level after gaining experience in the field of homeland security.
The Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs is a graduate student-led academic journal of the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government in the College of Urban and Public Affairs at Portland State University. The journal features faculty, practitioner and graduate student submissions that explore a range of public affairs issues.