Digital Commons Network^™

Group Dynamics, Donelson R. Forsyth

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Offering the most comprehensive treatment of groups available, Group Dynamics, sixth edition, combines an emphasis on research, empirical studies supporting theoretical understanding of groups, and extended case studies to illustrate the application of concepts to actual groups. This best-selling book builds each chapter around a real-life case, drawing on examples from a range of disciplines including psychology, law, education, sociology, and political science. Tightly weaving concepts and familiar ideas together, the text takes students beyond simple exposure to basic principles and research findings to a deeper understanding of each topic.

[Introduction To] More Than Shelter: Activism And Community In San Francisco Public Housing, Amy L. Howard

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In the popular imagination, public housing tenants are considered, at best, victims of intractable poverty and, at worst, criminals. More Than Shelter makes clear that such limited perspectives do not capture the rich reality of tenants’ active engagement in shaping public housing into communities. By looking closely at three public housing projects in San Francisco, Amy L. Howard brings to light the dramatic measures tenants have taken to create—and sustain and strengthen—communities that mattered to them.

More Than Shelter opens with the tumultuous institutional history of the San Francisco Housing Authority, from its inception during the New Deal era, through …

[Introduction To] Identity And Leadership In Virtual Communities: Establishing Credibility And Influence, Dona J. Hickey, Joe Essid

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The presence and ubiquity of the internet continues to transform the way in which we identify ourselves and others both online and offline. The development of virtual communities permits users to create an online identity to interact with and influence one another in ways that vary greatly from face-to-face interaction.

Identity and Leadership in Virtual Communities: Establishing Credibility and Influence explores the notion of establishing an identity online, managing it like a brand, and using it with particular members of a community. Bringing together a range of voices exemplifying how participants in online communities influence one another, this book serves …

[Introduction To] The View From The Bench And Chambers: Examining Judicial Process And Decision Making On The U.S. Courts Of Appeals, Jennifer Barnes Bowie, Donald R. Songer, John Szmer

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For most of their history, the U.S. courts of appeals have toiled in obscurity, well out of the limelight of political controversy. But as the number of appeals has increased dramatically, while the number of cases heard by the Supreme Court has remained the same, the courts of appeals have become the court of last resort for the vast majority of litigants. This enhanced status has been recognized by important political actors, and as a result, appointments to the courts of appeals have become more and more contentious since the 1990s. This combination of increasing political salience and increasing political …

[Introduction To] Anti-Americanism And The Rise Of World Opinion, Monti Narayan Datta

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In recent years, the US has seen its public popularity ratings around the world plummet under the presidency of George W. Bush, and subsequently soar upon the election of Barack Obama. The issue of anti-Americanism has received considerable attention from policy-makers, pundits and scholars alike. It is perhaps surprising then that systematic empirical studies of its consequences are still few and far between. Drawing from a wealth of research data, interviews and surveys of social media, this book directly examines pro- and anti-American views and asks what we can learn about the nature and impact of world opinion. By treating …

[Introduction To] Universal Rights And The Constitution, Stephen A. Simon

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Are constitutional rights based exclusively in uniquely American considerations, or are they based at least in part on principles that transcend the boundaries of any particular country, such as the requirements of freedom or dignity? By viewing constitutional law through the prism of this fundamental question, Universal Rights and the Constitution exposes an overlooked difficulty with opinions rendered by the Supreme Court, namely, an inherent ambiguity about the kinds of arguments that count in constitutional interpretation, which weakens the foundations of our most cherished rights.

Rejecting current debates over constitutional interpretation as flawed, Stephen A. Simon offers an innovative framework …

[Introduction To] Ideals And Ideologies: A Reader, Terence Ball, Richard Dagger, Daniel O'Neill

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Ideals and Ideologies: A Reader is a comprehensive compilation of original readings representing all of the major 'isms". It offers students a generous sampling of key thinkers in different ideological traditions and places them in their historical and political contexts. Used on its own or with Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal, the title accounts for the different ways people use ideology and conveys the ongoing importance of ideas in politics.

[Introduction To] Ethics, The Heart Of Leadership, Joanne B. Ciulla

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If leaders were defined by their influence on history, Hitler would be on par with Gandhi, Lincoln, and Mother Theresa. Yet most of us believe that our superiors have a responsibility to exercise power with a purpose far greater than any political agenda and a motive more noble than personal gain. This thought-provoking collection of essays explores the ethical challenges that leaders face in their relationships with followers, the choices they make, and the ways in which they influence others.

Joanne B. Ciulla and her contributors examine the traits and characteristics of top-tier leaders. She questions the assumption that moral …

[Introduction To] Conceptions Of Leadership: Enduring Ideas And Emerging Insights, George R. Goethals, Scott T. Allison, Roderick M. Kramer, David M. Messick

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Conceptions of Leadership gathers together the latest work by distinguished leadership scholars in social psychology and related disciplines to explore classic conceptions of leadership, such as interpersonal influence, charisma, personality, and power, as well as recent perspectives on those enduring concerns. It includes contemporary departures from traditional approaches to leadership in considering gender, trust, narratives, and the complex relationships between leaders and followers. Together the chapters provide a wide-ranging and coherent account of how human beings get along and the ways they engage and work together to accomplish their goals.