Drawing on the political theology of Reinhold Niebuhr, described by Barack Obama as 'one of my favourite philosophers', this book assesses the challenges facing the President during his first term. It evaluates his success in adhering to Niebuhr's path of 'Christian realism' when faced with the pragmatic demands of domestic and foreign affairs. In 2008 Candidate Obama used the ideas of 'Hope' and 'Change' to inspire voters and secure the presidency. Obama promised change not only regarding America's policies, but even more fundamentally in the nation's political culture. Holder and Josephson describe the foundations of President Obama's Christian faith and the extent to which it has shaped his approach to politics. Their book explores Obama's journey of faith in the context of a broadly Augustinian understanding of faith and politics, examines the tensions between Christian realism and pragmatic progressivism, explains why a Christian realist interpretation is essential to understanding Obama's presidency, and applies this model of understanding to considerations of foreign and domestic policy. By combining this theological and political analysis the book offers a special opportunity to reflect on the relationship between Christian faith and statesmanship, reflections that are missing from current popular discussions of the Obama presidency. Through consideration of Niebuhr's models of the prophet and the statesman, and the more popular alternative of the political evangelist, Holder and Josephson are better able to explain the president's successes and his failures, and to unveil the Augustinian limits of the political life.

Authoritarianism research has evolved into one of the fastest growing research fields in comparative politics. The newly awakened interest in autocratic regimes goes hand in hand with a lack of systematic research on the results of the political and substantive policy performance of variants of autocratic regimes. The contributions in this second volume of Comparing Autocracies are united by the assumption that the performance of political regimes and their persistence are related. Furthermore, autocratic institutions and the specific configurations of elite actors within authoritarian regime coalitions induce dictators to undertake certain policies, and that different authoritarian institutions are therefore an important piece of the puzzle of government performance in dictatorships. Based on these two prepositions, the contributions explore the differences between autocracies and democracies, as well as between different forms of non-democratic regimes, in regard to their outcome performance in selected policy fields; how political institutions affect autocratic performance and persistence; whether policy performance matter for the persistence of authoritarian rule; and what happens to dictators once autocratic regimes fall. This book is an amalgam of articles from the journals Democratization, Contemporary Politics and Politische Vierteljahresschrift.

This edited collection compares and analyses the most prominent political communicative responses to the outbreak and global spread of the COVID-19 strain of coronavirus within 27 nations across five continents and two supranational organisations: the EU and the WHO. The book encompasses the various governments' communication of the crisis, the role played by opposition and the vibrancy of the information environment within each nation. The chapters analyse the communication drawing on theoretical perspectives drawn from the fields of crisis communication, political communication and political psychology. In doing so the book develops a framework to assess the extent to which state communication followed the key indicators of effective communication encapsulated in the principles of: being first; being right; being credible; expressing empathy; promoting action; and showing respect. The book also examines how communication circulated within the mass and social media environments and what impact differences in spokespersons, messages and the broader context has on the success of implementing measures likely to reduce the spread of the virus. Cumulatively, the authors develop a global analysis of the responses and how these are shaped by their specific contexts and by the flow of information, while offering lessons for future political crisis communication. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of politics, communication and public relations, specifically on courses and modules relating to current affairs, crisis communication and strategic communication, as well as practitioners working in the field of health crisis communication.

That Broader Definition of Liberty synthesizes a political theory of the New Deal from the writings of Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Henry Wallace, and Thurman Arnold. The resultant theory highlights the need for the public accountability of private economic power, arguing that when the private economic realm is unable to adequately guarantee the rights of citizens, the state must intervene to protect those rights. The New Deal created a new American social contract that accorded our right to the pursuit of happiness a status equal to liberty, and grounded both in an expansive idea of security as the necessary precondition for the exercise of either. This was connected to a theory of the common good that privileged the consumer as the central category while simultaneously working to limit the worst excesses of consumption-oriented individualism. This theory of ends was supplemented by a theory of practice that focused on ways to institutionalize progressive politics in a conservative institutional context. Brian Stipelman, drawing upon a mixture of history, American political development, and political theory, offers a comprehensive theory of the New Deal, covering both the ends it hoped to achieve and the means it used to achieve them.

This text examines the rise to power of William Pitt, the Younger (1759-1806), Britain's youngest head of government, and explores how he achieved this.

In crisis situations, such as terror attacks or societal tensions caused by migration, people tend to look for explicit moral and spiritual leadership and are often inclined to vote for so-called 'strong leaders'. Is there a way to resist the temptation of the simplistic solutions that these 'strong leader' offer, and instead encourage constructive engagement with the complex demands of our times? This volume utilises relational and dialogical perspectives to examine and address many of the issues surrounding the moral and spiritual guidance articulated in globalizing Western societies. The essays in this collection focus on the concept of plural moralities, understood as divergent visions on what is a 'good life', both in an ethical, aesthetical, existential, and spiritual sense. They explore the political-cultural context and consequences of plural moralities as well as discussing challenges, possibilities, risks, and dangers from the perspective of two promising relational theories: social constructionism and dialogical self theory. The overarching argument is that it is possible to constructively put in nuanced moral and spiritual guidance into complex, plural societies. By choosing a clear theoretical focus on relational approaches to societal challenges, this interdisciplinary book provides both a broad scope and a coherent argument. It will be of great interest to scholars of social and political psychology, leadership and organization, religious studies, and pedagogy.

This book reflects on the role and task perception as well as the behaviour of councillors in the changing context of local democracy. Political leadership at the local level has attracted growing attention in recent years in parallel with reforms of local government and of the municipal administration as well as the debate on a shift from government to governance. But this debate is mainly focused on single leaders, i.e. mayors or executive officers. Considering the power triangle of (i) the mayor, (ii) the municipal administration (executive officers) and (iii) the council, it is surprising that councillors have gained little interest so far. The chapters start from a common conceptual framework. They start from the hypothesis that the role perception as well as the behaviour of councillors cannot be conceived of being determined directly by (i) both formal and informal institutional structures as well as by (ii) personal characteristics. Instead, this collection argues that the perceptions and behaviour of councillors are depending on their notion of democracy. Whilst the understanding of democracy can be affected by institutional structures, it also depends on the personal characteristics of the councillors. This book was published as a special issue of Local Government Studies.

"Nearly forty years after I first got involved, I remain captivated by the possibilities of politics and public service. In fact, I believe that my chosen profession is a noble calling. That's why I wanted to be a part of it."
-Joe Biden
As a United States senator from Delaware since 1973, Joe Biden has been an intimate witness to the major events of the past four decades and a relentless actor in trying to shape recent American history. He has seen up close the tragic mistake of the Vietnam War, the Watergate and Iran-contra scandals, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the reunification of Germany, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, a presidential impeachment, a presidential resignation, and a presidential election decided by the Supreme Court. He's observed Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and two Bushes wrestling with the presidency; he's traveled to war zones in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and seen firsthand the devastation of genocide. He played a vital role by standing up to Ronald Reagan's effort to seat Judge Robert Bork on the Supreme Court, fighting for legislation that protects women against domestic violence, and galvanizing America's response (and the world's) to Slobodan Milosevic's genocidal march in the Balkans. In "Promises to Keep," Biden reveals what these experiences taught him about himself, his colleagues, and the institutions of government.
With his customary candor, Biden movingly recounts growing up in a staunchly Catholic multigenerational household in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware; overcoming a demoralizing stutter; marriage, fatherhood, and the tragic death of his wife Neilia and infant daughter Naomi; remarriage and re-forming a family with his second wife, Jill; success and failure in the Senate and on the campaign trail; two life-threatening aneurysms; his relations with fellow lawmakers on both sides of the aisle; and his leadership of powerful Senate committees.
Through these and other recollections, Biden shows us how the guiding principles he learned early in life-the obligation to work to make people's lives better, to honor family and faith, to get up and do the right thing no matter how hard you've been knocked down, to be honest and straightforward, and, above all, to keep your promises-are the foundations on which he has based his life's work as husband, father, and public servant.
"Promises to Keep" is the story of a man who faced down personal challenges and tragedy to become one of our most effective leaders. It is also an intimate series of reflections from a public servant who refuses to be cynical about political leadership, and a testament to the promise of the United States.

"From the Hardcover edition."

The larger-than-life image Abraham Lincoln projects across the screen of American history owes much to his role as the Great Emancipator during the Civil War. Yet this noble aspect of Lincoln's identity is precisely the dimension that some historians have cast into doubt. In a vigorous defense of America's sixteenth president, award-winning historian and Lincoln scholar Allen Guelzo refutes accusations of Lincoln's racism and political opportunism, while candidly probing the follies of contemporary cynicism and the constraints of today's unexamined faith in the liberating powers of individual autonomy. Redeeming the Great Emancipator enumerates Lincoln's anti-slavery credentials, showing that a deeply held belief in the God-given rights of all people steeled the president in his commitment to emancipation and his hope for racial reconciliation. Emancipation did not achieve complete freedom for American slaves, nor was Lincoln entirely above some of the racial prejudices of his time. Nevertheless, his conscience and moral convictions far outweighed political calculations in ultimately securing freedom for black Americans. Guelzo clarifies the historical record concerning what the Emancipation Proclamation did and did not accomplish. As a policy it was imperfect, but it was far from ineffectual, as some accounts of African American self-emancipation imply. To achieve liberation required interdependence across barriers of race and status. If we fail to recognize our debt to the sacrifices and ingenuity of all the brave men and women of the past, Guelzo says, then we deny a precious part of the American and, indeed, the human community.

A woman of intelligence and energy, Lou Henry Hoover's talents benefited a large number of cultural and philanthropic organizations, but her distaste for publicity obscured her many achievements until now. By the time her husband reached the White House in 1929, she had already established herself as a woman with high goals. The first woman to earn a university degree in geology, she collaborated with her husband in the translation of a classic book on mining methods. During World War I, she organized assistance for American travelers stranded in Europe, campaigned on behalf of the Commission for the Relief of Belgium, and set up a boarding house in Washington D.C. for young women working in war-related agencies.

Lou Hoover served as president of the Girl Scouts during its formative years, organized the Women's Division of the National Amateur Athletic Federation to encourage public participation in sports, and raised money for a number of cultural and philanthropic organizations. As First Lady, she redecorated the White House to make it a suitable residence for a head of state, cataloging its furnishings for posterity. She founded a school for underprivileged Appalachian children and ran a private, unpublicized relief network for Americans suffering under the Great Depression. After leaving the White House, she resumed the volunteer work that remained such a treasured part of her life.

This volume presents elite conflicts and political controversies in China from 1895 to 1978 as rooted in two diametrically opposed visions of leadership and political authority: a radical, charismatic model that instills absolute authority in the single leader whose "will" guides the polity and whose "word" is the basis of policy formulation, versus an institutional model in which authority inheres in organization and where "collective" leadership and decision-making govern the political realm. The former model in modern Chinese history entailed a "leader principle" and personality cult that began with Sun Yatsen and Chiang Kaishek in the Nationalist Party (KMT) and reached its peak with the leadership cult of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Mao Zedong, especially during the 1966-1976 Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The latter model with its emphasis on "collective leadership" (jiti lingdao) and "administrative rationalism" began as a reaction among early members of the CCP against the promotion of the Sun and Chiang leadership cults and became a central governing principle in the Communist Party that served as official leadership doctrine beginning with the formation of the Party in 1921. While tensions over leadership issues were relatively muted in the pre-1949 period and early 1950s of CCP history as an apparent "compromise" was reached in which from 1943 onward a cult of the leader was promoted for propaganda purposes but with collegial decision-making governing inner Party decision-making, the mid-to-late 1950s saw this "compromise" among the top leadership come under increasing strain and finally break down. Devoted to a fundamentally different vision of a "socialist" China from other top leaders on a number of economic, social, and political fronts, Mao Zedong pushed his domination of the policy process that ultimately provoked a wholesale assault on the CCP apparatus throughout the country while the leader cult reached mythic proportions during the Cultural Revolution. Confronted by the possibility of civil war and generally opposed to the takeover of the polity by the radical Gang of Four led by his wife Jiang Qing, by the mid-1970s the aging great leader acquiesced to the rebuilding of the CCP along traditional, "institutional" lines.

Beyond Duality and Polarization explores an experience-based learning model, the Phenomenal Patterning approach for personal transformation. Rather than traditional prescriptive learning, methods of personal discovery help us understand how the human mind actually functions. Dr. Koziey introduces two modern Zen skills, watching and catharsis, to increase self-awareness. This frees us from habitual patterns we learned in childhood. We identify the patterns of our own thinking and behaving and see that many of the problems we face are self-created. Repressions are revealed in the shadow psyche and we are able to dissolve our negativity. The overriding message is that when we stop fighting, life starts flowing again.

This book provides an innovative theoretical and empirical exploration of the political participation and democratic capability of people living in authoritarian states. Merging perspectives from sociology and political science, the book demonstrates that despite autocratic restrictions on opposition, there is often still leeway for people to express themselves as political agents and to develop democratic capability. The first two chapters problematise political participation and develop an interdisciplinary three-domain framework that allows for critical engagement with and appreciation of the contexts and varied ways in which participatory activities occur. This framework is applied to analyse six country case studies: Singapore, Jordan, Belarus, Cuba, Nigeria, and Vietnam. Drawing on a range of data sources and different analytical entry points, the book investigates the substantive opportunities people have in exercising political agency and the implications for democratic capability. The book concludes by summarising the emergent themes and examining the potential of applying this method of inquiry in other political contexts. Encompassing both governmental and societal practices, the book offers insights into state-society relations and their role in constructing political values and goals for participation, which people negotiate and mediate to inform their choices, modes, and forms of civic engagement. These insights present a broad approach towards the study of participation, with relevance for understanding political participation in various societies under non-democratic and democratic rule alike. This book will be useful for researchers and students interested in political dynamics and intersections with economic, cultural, and social aspects of development. It will also be beneficial for practitioners interested in participatory actions and social change.

Historians have paid surprisingly little attention to state-level political leaders and judges. Edward Kent (1802-77) was both. He served three terms as a state legislator, two as mayor of Bangor, two as governor, and two as a judge of the state supreme court. He represented Maine in the negotiations that resolved the long-running northeastern border dispute between the United States and Great Britain and served for four years as the American consul in Rio de Janeiro. The foremost Whig in Maine state politics and later a Republican judge, Kent articulated classic Whig political views and carried them forward into his Whig-Republican jurisprudence. In examining Kent's career as Maine's quintessential Whig, An Exemplary Whig reveals his characteristically conservative Whig outlook, including an aversion toward disorder and a deep respect for law, for existing institutions, and for the wisdom of experience. Kent brought his conservative disposition into the Republican Party. He had no use for radical abolitionism, preferring moderation and compromise to measures that endangered social order or the integrity of the Union. Kent saw the "slave power," not abolitionism, as the disrupter of the Union, and he urged the "fusion" of all antislavery elements into a new Republican party. In 1859, Maine's Republican governor appointed Kent to the state supreme court. During his fourteen-year tenure, Kent adopted a Whiggish jurisprudence, pragmatic and commonsensical, and displayed a reverence for the common law and a distrust of "theoretic speculation." After his retirement, he chaired a constitutional revision commission, admonishing his fellow commissioners to bear in mind the "practical wisdom" that kept dangerous innovation in check. As a politician during the Jacksonian era, Kent exemplified Whig leadership at the local and state levels. In his jurisprudence, he carried the Whig persuasion into the Republican ascendancy and the beginnings of the Gilded Age.

Many analysts now believe that the growth of presidential war power relative to Congress is irreversible. This book was written to contest that view. Its purpose is to identify what would be required to restore presidential war power to constitutional specifications while leaving the president powerful enough to do what is truly necessary in the face of any emergency. Buchanan focuses mainly on diagnosing the origins of the problem and devising practical ways to work toward restoration of the constitutional balance of power between Congress and the president.

The work begins by showing the lack of clear, widely shared standards whose enforcement is needed to sustain the balance of power and draws on the thinking of the founders and political theorists to crystallize such standards. Next it details how, in the absence of standards, agents such as Congress and the Supreme Court with formal influence on presidents and informal agents such as media and public opinion have unwittingly enabled unnecessary power expansion, such as the presidential 'wars of choice'.

Of course change of this magnitude cannot be expected to happen quickly. Remedies necessarily involve a reform architecture intended to unfold gradually, with the first step being simply to start a focused conversation (another purpose of this book). Buchanan moves toward specific remedies by identifying the structure and strategy for a new think tank designed to nudge the political system toward the kind of change the book recommends. Lastly, the book shows how a fictional policy trial could take a practical step toward in rebalancing the war power.

This is a crucial examination of presidential power and the U.S. separation of powers system, with a focused effort on making a course correction toward the kind of power sharing envisioned in the Constitution.

Many analysts now believe that the growth of presidential war power relative to Congress is irreversible. This book was written to contest that view. Its purpose is to identify what would be required to restore presidential war power to constitutional specifications while leaving the president powerful enough to do what is truly necessary in the face of any emergency. Buchanan focuses mainly on diagnosing the origins of the problem and devising practical ways to work toward restoration of the constitutional balance of power between Congress and the president.

The work begins by showing the lack of clear, widely shared standards whose enforcement is needed to sustain the balance of power and draws on the thinking of the founders and political theorists to crystallize such standards. Next it details how, in the absence of standards, agents such as Congress and the Supreme Court with formal influence on presidents and informal agents such as media and public opinion have unwittingly enabled unnecessary power expansion, such as the presidential 'wars of choice'.

Of course change of this magnitude cannot be expected to happen quickly. Remedies necessarily involve a reform architecture intended to unfold gradually, with the first step being simply to start a focused conversation (another purpose of this book). Buchanan moves toward specific remedies by identifying the structure and strategy for a new think tank designed to nudge the political system toward the kind of change the book recommends. Lastly, the book shows how a fictional policy trial could take a practical step toward in rebalancing the war power.

This is a crucial examination of presidential power and the U.S. separation of powers system, with a focused effort on making a course correction toward the kind of power sharing envisioned in the Constitution.

The vice presidency is the second highest office to which an American can be elected. This office should be an ideal place to launch a campaign to capture the presidency, yet only two incumbent vice presidents have thus far been able to win the ultimate prize. Vance Kincade analyzes this dilemma and offers some answers to why vice presidents have difficulties gaining credibility to pursue the presidency and why Vice Presidents John C. Breckinridge, Richard Nixon, and Hubert Humphrey each failed in their campaigns for the presidency.

Kincade's primary focus is on the two vice presidents who ascended to the presidency, Martin Van Buren and George Bush. He explores how these two were able to avoid the dilemma that baffled the others. Was it something in their backgrounds that brought success? Was it serving as vice president under Andrew Jackson and Ronald Reagan that helped turn the trick? Could their successes be seen as fulfilling an historical cycle that found Van Buren and Bush in the right place at the right time? In the last section of this intriguing study, Kincade uses political science models to explain their victories and offers a guide to future vice presidents who attempt to join the exclusive club of vice presidents to reach the presidency. Scholars, students, and the general public interested in American political history and the presidency will find this study of particular value.

The Premiership of Tony Blair has not only reaffirmed previous trends towards leader-centered parties and governments, it has provided a decisive change in the development of a British presidency. The strategies and techniques designed to secure and expand Blair’s public outreach, together with the priority attached to the prime minister’s personal pledges and individual vision have propelled the office into new dimensions of independence. Michael Foley argues that the ascendancy of Blair is not an aberration, but rather a culmination of trends that have established vigorous leadership as a key criterion of political evaluation and governing competence. This edition is completely up-to-date, including the first convincing analysis of Tony Blair's leadership style.

Since World War II, American vice presidents have played an ever-increasing role in the nation's foreign policy. This study of the foreign-policy activities of five key vice presidents--Richard Nixon, Walter Mondale, George Bush, Dan Quayle, and Al Gore--provides the first comprehensive analysis of the role of the vice president in foreign-policy affairs. In order to bring readers to a better understanding of this role, Paul Kengor asks incisive questions: Did the vice presidents' involvement in foreign policy actually benefit the administration? If so, what useful lessons can be drawn from their experiences? Is there good reason to approve or reject an enhanced role in foreign policy for future vice presidents? How, specifically, might the vice president be used in conducting the nation's international affairs? The answers to these questions are crucial reading for scholars of the presidency and foreign policy, for policy makers, and for all of us assessing vice presidents past and future.

This A–Z biographical sourcebook provides information about the life and times of Adolf Hitler, along with insight into the political movement and world conflict he created. The Hitler regime warns us of the destruction that ensues when a perverted ideology and a cult of leadership are combined with a polity where power is divorced from morality. This illustrated A–Z biographical companion provides easily accessible information about the key events in Hitler's life, his most important collaborators and opponents, his domestic and foreign policies, the use of propaganda and the forging of the Hitler cult, racial persecution and the Holocaust, and Hitler as a war leader. Adolf Hitler also includes an introduction, a chronology, maps, primary source documents, a general bibliography, and index.

Through the current day, only forty-three men have held the office of the President of the United States, and some have been sanctified and some reviled. This historical work addresses the careers of the first ten presidents, men who made vital contributions not only to the office of the presidency, but to the course of the fledgling nation. From Washington through Tyler, every term is recounted in detail and each presidential profile provides as many as a hundred quotations by the president, his friends, family, historians, and others. Each profile ends with an extensive bibliography of books about the president, his principles and policies and also provides suggestion for further reading. Rigorously non-partisan in approach, this detail-rich text describes the early years of what may well be one of the most demanding jobs in the world.

This groundbreaking book provides a refreshing introduction to the field of leadership and is jam-packed with theoretical and practical insights derived from a wealth of applied scientific research conducted by the authors and their colleagues around the world over the last three decades. It starts from the premise that leadership is never just about leaders. Instead it is about leaders and followers who are joined together as members of a social group that provides them with a sense of shared social identity - a sense of "us-ness". In these terms, leadership is understood as the process through which leaders work with followers to create, represent, advance, and embed this sense of shared social identity. The new edition of this award-winning book presents a wealth of evidence from historical, organizational, political and sporting contexts to provide an expanded exploration of these processes of identity leadership in action. In particular, it builds upon the success of the first edition by examining the operation of identity leadership in contemporary society and fleshing out practical answers to key organizational and institutional challenges. Drawing on real-world examples and rich data sources, this book will appeal to academics, researchers, and students of psychology, business, and management, as well as to practitioners, policy makers, and anyone interested in the workings of leadership, influence, and power.

This is a revision and updating of the first edition, published in 2000. Presidents from Washington to Obama are rated in the categories of Foreign Relations; Domestic Programs; Administration and Governmental Relations; Leadership and Decision-Making; and Comportment. Each president is evaluated on his effectiveness in each area and a final analysis is provided for the scores combined. The presidents are then ranked overall. The most overrated and underrated chief executives are identified. Each entry includes biographical and political information, as well as an analysis of their overall behavior and status.

How is Barack Obama represented in popular culture? He is more than the United States' 44th president, but is also a lens through which we can examine politics, art, comics, and music in local, national, and international contexts. The all-new essays in this collection focus on the buildup to the 2008 election as well as Obama's first year as president, a brief historical moment in which ""Obama"" was synonymous with possibility. The contributors represent a variety of scholarly standpoints, each adding a unique perspective on Obama's relationship to popular culture.