Citizen Action and Policy Process: The Case of Disney’s America and Prince William County, Virginia
Introduction
Regardless of point-of-view, the events surrounding Disney’s America theme-park provide compelling lessons to policy makers, business interests and citizen activist groups. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Disney’s America controversy through the lens of public policy process. I first analyze the core issues of the case. Second, I identify predominant actors and stakeholders. Third, I point out policy instruments and processes germane to the case. Finally, I discuss the outcome and lessons to be gleaned from the case.
Issues
Haymarket, a community with a population of 375, is located approximately 30 miles southwest of Washington D.C., in Prince William County, Virginia. It is situated in an area characterized by farmland in view of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west. Nearby is a Civil War battlefield site, now a National Battlefield Park administered by the National Park Service, where 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died during two battles fought at Bull Run: the first land battle of the Civil War in 1861, and in 1862, when Robert E. Lee defeated Union forces as he led the Confederate toward the Potomac River.
In the early 1990s, Chairman Michael Eisner of Disney, envisioned an American history theme-park to be called Disney’s America. Colonial Williamsburg in southeastern Virginia initially provided inspiration for Disney executives. Prior to 1993, Disney officials surreptitiously acquired land-options in Prince William county using false names in order to avoid increases in land prices in anticipation of the project. The theme-park, estimated to cost $650 million, would be con...
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...on’t sugarcoat history." Washington Post, The 12 Nov. 1993: A-1
Spayd, Liz, and Paul Farhi. "Eisner ended Disney plan; chairman saw park fight harming company’s image." Washington Post, The 30 Sept. 1994: A-1
Tolme, Paul. "Five years after Disney fight, sprawl still creeps toward Civil War sites." Associated Press State and Local Wire 29 Sept. 1999
Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk) "Virginia not the place for Disney’s America." Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk) 26 Feb. 1994: A-13
Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk). "Disney’s second site: retreat from Manassas." Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk) 30 Sept. 1994: A-18
Washington Post, The. "Disney foes take protest to airwaves." Roanoke Times and World News 15 April 1994: B-1
Washington Post, The. "Feds warn against plan to widen battlefield roads for Disney park." Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk) 10 Sept. 1994: B-7
In 1347, a Tartar army under Kipchak khan Janibeg had been besieging the Genoese cathedral city and trading ports of Caffa on the Black Sea for a year. A deadly, ruthless plague hit the besieging army and was killing off soldiers at an unstoppable rate. It was plain to Janibeg Khan that he must call off the siege. But before he decided to retreat, he wanted to give the defenders a taste of what his army was suffering. So Janibeg used giant catapults to hurl the rotting corpses of the plagued victims over the walls of the town. By this means the infection spread among the Genoese defenders. Before long the Genoese were dying from the plague as fast as the Tartars on the outside. A few who thought themselves free of plague took to their ships and headed for the Mediterranean. The deathly disease was unleashed at every port the ship and its crew set foot on. The trading routes contributed to the spread of the disease throughout the continent. In October of 1347, several Italian merchant ships returned from a trip to the Black Sea. These ships carried a cargo of flea infested rats, which had guts full of the bacillus Yersinia pestis (the bacteria which causes the plague). Inspectors attempted to quarantine the fleet, but it was too late. Realizing what a deadly disaster had come to them, the people quickly drove the Italians from their city. But the disease remained, and soon death was everywhere. (The Black Death)
prosecuted; persons; attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. (p1, Twain)
...nce of the streets sent the message out that there was no authority and crime rate increased significantly. (Kelly 206)
In communication, Disney is most vulnerable in public and government relationships. Eisner developed in proposal of a new theme land near the national capital; however the ideal property was on historical and important property within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Destroying history in order to make potential profit did not stick with citizen and land effect of the idea.
Considered one of the worst natural disasters in world history, the Black Death came through Europe in 1347 A.D. It ravaged cities and town, causing a death to the masses, and no one was considered safe. The Plague is any epidemic scourge or calamity for which remedies are difficult to find, and according to the encyclopedia, plague is a common term for a disease of rodents that occasionally cause severe human infection. Named for the black spots that appeared on the victims’ skin, the original disease originated from Oriental Rat Fleas and black rats. It first infected Mongol armies and traders in Asia, and then began moving west with them as they traveled. There was no natural immunity to the disease, and standards of public health and personal hygiene were nearly nonexistent. It is believed that if people had not fled to nearby cities in hopes of escaping the plague, it might not have ever spread like it did. In the end, it passed through Italy, France, England, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Finland, and even up to the island of Greenland. City dwellers were hit the hardest due to the fact of crowded streets and the lack of sanitation. Up until the mid-15th century, recurrent epidemics prevented the recovery of Europe’s population to pre-plague levels. The Black Death was an important turning point for the history of Europe. This time was “the beginning of the end of the medieval period and the start of a social transformation of the continent.” The social and economic impacts of the plague were so huge, economics, politics and the European society would never be the same again.
Using bloodhounds was an efficient way of finding escapees. When found, their masters would whip the slaves brutally to the brink of death. To circumvent these problems, this song would instruct slaves on what to do when past the “break out” part and would help navigate them to the North.
[1] Information was mainly taken from the Harvard Business Case Study “The Walt Disney Company: The Entertainment King”
The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were two grand empires that rose out of preexisting territories and provided relative peace over wide areas. The collapse of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), which was the first great land-based empire in East Asia, came after a period of war, confusion, and tyrannical rule. Due to the political disorder that stemmed from the early dynastic activity, the emergence of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE- 228 CE) sprung to focus on restoring order. On the other hand, the rise of the Roman Empire (44 BCE- 476 CE) originated from consolidating authority over aristocratic landlords and overriding the democratic elements of the earlier Republic. Instead, the Roman Empire redefined the concept of “citizen” as subjects to the Roman emperor. Both empires shared similar agendas to exploit their vast territories and resources, which helped them expand their political dominance; however, despite having similar political goals and foundations, their government system, cultural ideologies and imperial expansionist natures diverged.
Younger, C. (2010). Dissecting Disney's lands: Main Street USA. Disneyology. Retrieved May 4, 2014 from http://disneyology.blogspot.ca/2010/06/dissecting-disneys-lands-main-street.html
Han China and Ancient shared bureaucratic governments. This means that they had a government ruled by unelected officials, giving the people little to no say in government. In Rome the ruler was once a king but then their government transitioned to an oligarchy, which would put the rich people in the highest place in society. On the other hand in Han China, which was an imperial dynasty, and emperors were decided by the Mandate of Heaven. The Mandate gave the common man a chance to become a major ruler during the Han period. The Han government was mainly influenced by confucian government while Romes was based on Roman law and the classics. The Han government spread Confucianism since that was the basis for their government. Rome also relied on local rulers to make sure that their many lands were following rules and not plotting against them. Both the Han and Rome shared a bureaucratic government which affected their social structures in different ways.
Presently, Disney known for its mass media entertainment and amusement parks technically bring warm feelings to many children and some adults. Personally, Disney elicits magical fantasies that children enjoy and further encourages imagination and creativity. For decades Disney has exist as an unavoidable entity with its famous global sensation and reach. Furthermore, Disney is a multibillion dollar empire with an unlimited grasp on individuals and territories. An empire per se, since they own many media outlets, markets, shops, etc., you name it they got it. However, the film Mickey Mouse Monopoly presents an entirely new perspective on the presumed innocence projected in Disney films. This film exposes certain traits Disney employs and exclusively portrays through its media productions, specifically cartoons for directing and nurturing influence beginning with children. Mickey Mouse Monopoly points out camouflaged messages of class, race, and gender issues in Disney films that occur behind the scenes intended to sway viewers towards adopting Disney values.
This case provides a brief history of management conflict and change at Walt Disney Company. Former CEO Michael Eisner was considered to be controversial because of his abrasive style and tendencies toward micromanagement. It was this style that strained several important relationships to the Disney Company. Though his reign as CEO during the 80’s and 90’s helped advance Disney Company, it was his conflicting management style that led to his demise and the beginning of Robert Iger’s epoch at Disney. Since Iger has taken the helm as CEO Disney was ranked 67th in the Fortune 500 list for largest companies, it has become the largest media conglomerate in the world, and relationships and disputes stemming from Eisner have been reconciled.
This pandemic first appeared in the city-states of Italy and spread across Europe culminating in the deaths of 25,000,000 people. It is now known that the plague originated in China and inner Asia and that one of the reasons it was so devastating was because of the famine that Europe had just started to recover from.It is also now known that the Black Death was the result of the bacteria yerinia pestis, a bacteria that can cause swelling of the lymph glands in the armpits, the groin, and the neck of people infected with the virus. No particular social class station faith or age group escaped the ravages and people became hungry for answers from the Church. This plague was so devastating Europe’s population did not reach its pre-1347 level until the 16th century.
Walt Disney and the American government had one dream in common: to provide a land that had people with different abilities and achievements. The land they sought would be rich in opportunities for different people as per their skills and expertise. They wanted to build a country that had equal distribution of resources and incomes and a land where everyone contributed to the growth of the economy despite how small their talents and skills were (Cullen, 2004). This essay discusses whether Walt Disney had the ideals of the American dream in mind and how he served as an example of the American dream. The essay focuses on his upbringing and how it shaped his attitude towards various opportunities. The essay considers Disney’s life and how it influenced
Since the introduction of Disney films into our society, there has been a sea change