The functioning of the U.S. government is a bit messier than Americans would like to think. The general understanding of policymaking has Congress making the laws, executive agencies implementing them, and the courts applying the laws as written—as long as those laws are constitutional. Making Policy, Making Law fundamentally challenges this conventional wisdom, arguing that no dominant institution—or even a roughly consistent pattern of relationships—exists among the various play...

The fourth edition of Community Organizing and Community Building for Health and Social Equity provides both classic and recent contributions to the field, with a special accent on how these approaches can contribute to health and social equity. The 23 chapters offer conceptual frameworks, skill- building and case studies in areas like coalition building, organizing by and with women of color, community assessment, and the power of the arts, the Internet, social media, and policy ...

Rising costs and increasing global competition press institutions to do more with less. At the same time, deep budget cuts and a general social and political impatience have revived calls for reform in educational affordability, curriculum, and outcome measurement. Yet within this environment, a myriad of success stories are being forged among educational institutions, supporting industries, and educational consortia that are embracing innovative approaches to all aspects of the higher edu...

New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver delivers a raw and heart-pounding story, perfect for fans of E. Lockhart's We Were Liars or Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects.Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged.When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes...

What motivates judges as decision makers? Political scientist Lawrence Baum offers a new perspective on this crucial question, a perspective based on judges' interest in the approval of audiences important to them.The conventional scholarly wisdom holds that judges on higher courts seek only to make good law, good policy, or both. In these theories, judges are influenced by other people only in limited ways, in consequence of their legal and policy goals. In contrast, Baum argues t...

More than 250,000 public sector managers in the United States take on new positions each year and many more aspire to leadership. Each will confront special challenges-from higher public profiles to a greater number of stakeholders to volatile political environments-that will make their transitions even more challenging than in the business world.Now Michael Watkins, author of the bestselling book The First 90 Days, applies his proven leadership transition framework to the...

This book is an invaluable desk reference for facilitators, leaders, coaches and anyone who wants to engage in more effective learning and decision-making conversations. It offers over 1700 rich questions that you can borrow or adapt to improve your inquiry skills, and provides clear frameworks that point to when, where, and why particular questions are most useful.

There are three general models of Supreme Court decision making: the legal model, the attitudinal model and the strategic model. But each is somewhat incomplete. This book advances an integrated model of Supreme Court decision making that incorporates variables from each of the three models. In examining the modern Supreme Court, since Brown v. Board of Education, the book argues that decisions are a function of the sincere preferences of the justices, the nature of precedent, and the deve...

The current global economic environment is defined by unprecedented uncertainty, a premium placed on knowledge, and the threat of future talent scarcity. Key to an organization's success under these conditions is its ability to strengthen the links between people and performance. Creating Healthy Organizations provides executives, managers, human resource professionals, and employees an action-oriented approach to forging these connections by creating and sustaining vibrant and pr...

"This body of research not only passes academic muster but is the best guidepost in existence for activists who are trying to use the ballot initiative process for larger policy and political objectives."--Kristina Wilfore, Executive Director, Ballot Initiative Strategy Center and FoundationEducated by Initiative moves beyond previous evaluations of public policy to emphasize the educational importance of the initiative process itself. Since a majority of ballots ul...

In Judging Democracy, Christopher Manfredi and Mark Rush challenge assertions that the Canadian and American Supreme Courts have taken radically different approaches to constitutional interpretation regarding general and democratic rights. Three case studies compare Canadian and American law concerning prisoners' voting rights, the scope and definition of voting rights, and campaign spending. These examples demonstrate that the two Supreme Courts have engaged in essentially the sa...

This book provides college students with all the information and advice they need to apply successfully to graduate school. In chapters 1 – 4 several misconceptions about graduate school are revealed and dispelled, including the most common myth – that one must have excellent grades to get in, and that excellent grades are all that one needs. Certain factors that can play an even bigger role than GPA in determining the fate of an application are discussed, and the reader discovers how the ...