Kirjahaku

In spite of all that has been written on the U.S. presidency, no book before this has come forth in the 20th century on the president as party leader. A respected senior scholar, James W. Davis has studied the presidency for more than 40 years and has been on the campaign trail with candidates and incumbents and at national party meetings. He has written a lively text that is tailor-made for courses on the presidency, political parties, and elections. This is good reading for everyone who is interested in American government and politics and who wants to understand what makes a president a strong leader. This history and political analysis shows how presidents and political parties need each other and demonstrates why presidents must understand and be immersed in the political process to be effective. The text examines the emergence of the party leader through nominating and general election campaigns, presidential and congressional party interaction, eras of divided government, as well as the relationship between the president and the party's national committee. It also presents the role of the presidential party and of the president in his public roles and then discusses reforms that may strengthen the president as an executive and as a party leader.

This is a thoroughly revised, in-depth analysis of the American presidency by a major scholar in the field. The main goal of the text is to explain how the president's ability to implement policy is circumscribed by several major factors: *the Madisonian separation of powers; *the decentralized power structure in Congress; *the number of cross-party coalitions needed to pass legislation; *a slow-moving federal bureaucracy; and *the powerful influence of special interest groups opposed to many presidential initiatives.Included in this second edition is coverage of the first two years of the Clinton presidency and a special chapter on the emergence of the presidential branch—the White House staff—and its displacement of the cabinet and the executive departments as the foremost decision-making agents in the federal government (a unique chapter not found in other texts). Since highly unstable relations between the president and congress have become the hallmark of our national government, especially in this era of divided government, a new chapter on the president and congress has been added to the text. The growing role of the vice president, an original chapter in the first edition, has been expanded and updated to include the Gore vice presidency. The chapter on proposed reforms of the presidency received wide approval in the first edition. In the second edition special attention is devoted to the proposal to abolish the Electoral College and replace it with direct election of the president. This edition focuses heavily on the activist presidential leadership of the modern presidency, but notes its perishable nature. High presidential approval ratings, as George Bush demonstrated, cannot be stockpiled or deposited in the bank, to be drawn upon later.Along the way the author makes several major points: 1. the excessive demands that the American public imposes on its presidents threaten to turn the nation's highest office into a series of one-term presidents; 2. the decline of political parties as vehicles for mobilizing presidential support has forced the nation's chief executive to go over the heads of congress and directly to the public to solicit support for his policies; and 3. the emerging dangers of electronic democracy and national referenda and the potential rise of a plebiscitary president all pose more imminent threats to our shared powers system than most presidential-watchers have been willing to concede.

This is a thoroughly revised, in-depth analysis of the American presidency by a major scholar in the field. The main goal of the text is to explain how the president's ability to implement policy is circumscribed by several major factors: *the Madisonian separation of powers; *the decentralized power structure in Congress; *the number of cross-party coalitions needed to pass legislation; *a slow-moving federal bureaucracy; and *the powerful influence of special interest groups opposed to many presidential initiatives.Included in this second edition is coverage of the first two years of the Clinton presidency and a special chapter on the emergence of the presidential branch—the White House staff—and its displacement of the cabinet and the executive departments as the foremost decision-making agents in the federal government (a unique chapter not found in other texts). Since highly unstable relations between the president and congress have become the hallmark of our national government, especially in this era of divided government, a new chapter on the president and congress has been added to the text. The growing role of the vice president, an original chapter in the first edition, has been expanded and updated to include the Gore vice presidency. The chapter on proposed reforms of the presidency received wide approval in the first edition. In the second edition special attention is devoted to the proposal to abolish the Electoral College and replace it with direct election of the president. This edition focuses heavily on the activist presidential leadership of the modern presidency, but notes its perishable nature. High presidential approval ratings, as George Bush demonstrated, cannot be stockpiled or deposited in the bank, to be drawn upon later.Along the way the author makes several major points: 1. the excessive demands that the American public imposes on its presidents threaten to turn the nation's highest office into a series of one-term presidents; 2. the decline of political parties as vehicles for mobilizing presidential support has forced the nation's chief executive to go over the heads of congress and directly to the public to solicit support for his policies; and 3. the emerging dangers of electronic democracy and national referenda and the potential rise of a plebiscitary president all pose more imminent threats to our shared powers system than most presidential-watchers have been willing to concede.

In spite of all that has been written on the U.S. presidency, no book before this has come forth in the 20th century on the president as party leader. A respected senior scholar, James W. Davis has studied the presidency for more than 40 years and has been on the campaign trail with candidates and incumbents and at national party meetings. He has written a lively text that is tailor-made for courses on the presidency, political parties, and elections. This is good reading for everyone who is interested in American government and politics and who wants to understand what makes a president a strong leader.This history and political analysis shows how presidents and political parties need each other and demonstrates why presidents must understand and be immersed in the political process to be effective. The text examines the emergence of the party leader through nominating and general election campaigns, presidential and congressional party interaction, eras of divided government, as well as the relationship between the president and the party's national committee. It also presents the role of the presidential party and of the president in his public roles and then discusses reforms that may strengthen the president as an executive and as a party leader.

A comparative survey which discusses how national leaders in six Western democracies, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, are nominated for the highest office in their country. The combinations of methods each country utilizes to nominate their leaders are described. The text emphasizes that most national leaders have served a long apprenticeship in various public offices—sometimes having made several attempts—before actually being nominated to the nation's highest public office. Increasingly, the text shows that opinion polls, television, and professional campaign management are playing a greater role in the leadership selection process in all six countries. This book will be of interest to upper-level college and graduate students and faculty in comparative government, political parties, and public affairs and academic as well as public libraries.

Conventional wisdom dictates that the conditions of international politics require states to pursue "tough" strategies based on threats, ruling out "soft" strategies such as reassurances or appeasement. In Threats and Promises, James W. Davis, Jr., works toward a theory of influence in international politics that recognizes the power of promises and assurances as tools of statecraft. Davis offers an analytic treatment of promises and assurances, drawing on relevant strands of international relations theory and deterrence theory, as well as cognitive and social psychology. Building on prospect theory (from cognitive psychology), he develops a testable theory of influence that suggests promises are most effective when potential aggressors are motivated by a desire to avoid loss. Davis then considers a series of case studies drawn principally from German diplomatic relations in the later nineteenth and early twentieth century. From the case studies-which focus on such issues as European stability, colonial competition, and the outbreak of the First World War-Davis shows how a blending of threats and promises according to reasoned principles can lead to a new system of more creative statecraft. While many critical analyses exist on the use of threats, there are relatively few on the use of promises. Davis argues that promises have been central to outcomes that were previously attributed to the successful use of deterrent threats, as well as the resolution of many crises where threats failed to deter aggression. Threats and Promises challenges the conventional wisdom and is an original contribution to the field of international politics.

Following World War II, American social science research became increasingly characterized by its adherence to the scientific method. The application of the scientific method and efforts to achieve precision in the social sciences opened the doors to large research programs, particularly in political science and international relations. However, as research became less accessible to the general public, policymakers began to ignore the findings and advice given to them by political scientists. The disconnect between policy and academic debates was exacerbated by the failure of empirical research to predict important developments, such as the fall of the Soviet Union and the peaceful resolution of the Cold War. James W. Davis engages with the widespread dissatisfaction within the social sciences applying the scientific method to the study of social outcomes. Terms of Inquiry critically examines central claims and assumptions made by proponents of the scientific method in general, as well as the specific problems confronting the social sciences in particular. Davis seeks to develop a middle ground between the uncritical application of the scientific method in pursuit of empirical truths and the postmodernist assertion that there is no foundation upon which to build an edifice of social science. Although interested in fundamental questions of scientific inquiry, Davis is nonetheless concerned by the increasing irrelevance of the field of political science to the actual practice of politics. In an effort to re-link empirical research to pressing questions of public policy, Terms of Inquiry provides a much needed discussion of practical research methods in a critically important discipline.

"Sacred Leadership" provides a pathway through a world in which Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA) reign. It connects both the hard analytical side of leadership with the spiritual core that lies within the heart of every leader. "Sacred Leadership" weaves the power of sacred mission, shared and enduring values and foresight into a leadership paradigm that is powerful, inclusive, sustainable and actionable in any organization."Sacred Leadership" is not about religion but rather about connecting to deep purpose in our work and in our lives. It is that deeper purpose that is sacred and that will sustain us in this increasingly chaotic world. Join the journey and leave with a blueprint for your own leadership practice.