Offering a systematic analysis of texts produced at the courts of Burgundy and Austrian Habsburg over a period reaching from the 1470s until the early 1700s, this book traces the development of the idea of successful and competent political behaviour as seen through the eyes of court historians between the fifteenth and the eighteenth centuries. The official chronicles and histories studied in this work not only reveal a growing influence of secular political thinking on the evolving model of political competence, but also present in detail the close relationship between the nascent state ideology and secular political theory. More broadly, following the development of official history-writing, Models of Political Competence highlights the importance of historiography for the research on political thinking and its relevance for our understanding of the modern state in Europe and its origins.

Using decades of public opinion data from the US, UK, Australia, Germany and Canada, and distinguishing between three concepts - issue ownership, performance and generalised competence - Green and Jennings show how political parties come to gain or lose 'ownership' of issues, how they are judged on their performance in government across policy issues and how they develop a reputation for competence (or incompetence) over a period in office. Their analysis tracks the major events causing people to re-evaluate party reputations and the costs of governing which cause electorates to punish parties in power. They reveal why, when and how these movements in public opinion matter to elections. The implications are important for long-standing debates about performance and partisanship, and reveal that public opinion about party and governing competence is, to a great extent, the product of major shocks and predictable dynamics.

As the leadership field continues to evolve, there are many reasons to be optimistic about the various theoretical and empirical contributions in better understanding leadership from a scholarly and scientific perspective. The Oxford Handbook of Leadership and Organizations brings together a collection of comprehensive, state-of-the-science reviews and perspectives on the most pressing historical and contemporary leadership issues - with a particular focus on theory and research - and looks to the future of the field. It provides a broad picture of the leadership field as well as detailed reviews and perspectives within the respective areas. Each chapter, authored by leading international authorities in the various leadership sub-disciplines, explores the history and background of leadership in organizations, examines important research issues in leadership from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives, and forges new directions in leadership research, practice, and education.

Ortwin Renn Thomas Wehler Peter Wiedemann In late July of 1992 the small and remote mountain resort of Morschach in the Swiss Alps became a lively place of discussion, debate, and discourse. Over a three-day period twenty-two analysts and practitioners of public participation from the United States and Europe came together to address one of the most pressing issues in contemporary environmental politics: How can environmental policies be designed in a way that achieves both effective protection of nature and an adequate representation of public values? In other words, how can we make the environmental decision process competent and fair? All the invited scholars from academia, international research institutes, and governmental agencies agreed on one fundamental principle: For environmental policies to be effective and legitimate, we need to involve the people who are or will be affected by the outcomes of these policies. There is no technocratic solution to this problem. Without public involvement, environmental policies are doomed to fail. The workshop was preceded by a joint effort by the three editors to develop a framework for evaluating different models of public participation in the environmental policy arena. During a preliminary review of the literature we made four major observations. These came to serve as the primary motivation for this book. First, the last decade has witnessed only a fair amount of interest within the sociological or political science communities in issues of public participation.

In today's organizations, career success depends more on political skill - the ability to influence, motivate, and win support from others-than on almost any other characteristic. Political Skill at Work delivers the "how" to influence at work, not just the "what." The authors of this innovative study explore how people high in political skill are more successful at getting hired, building a reputation, and establishing leadership. From the worlds of business, politics, education, and sports, they offer compelling examples of political skill in action. And, for the first time, they provide ways to measure and enhance this powerful ability. Anyone interested in personal or professional development will find this book worthwhile.

A new Council of Europe reference framework of competences for democratic culture! Contemporary societies within Europe face many challenges, including declining levels of voter turnout in elections, increased distrust of politicians, high levels of hate crime, intolerance and prejudice towards minority ethnic and religious groups, and increasing levels of support for violent extremism. These challenges threaten the legitimacy of democratic institutions and peaceful co-existence within Europe. Formal education is a vital tool that can be used to tackle these challenges. Appropriate educational input and practices can boost democratic engagement, reduce intolerance and prejudice, and decrease support for violent extremism. However, to achieve these goals, educationists need a clear understanding of the democratic competences that should be targeted by the curriculum. This book presents a new conceptual model of the competences which citizens require to participate in democratic culture and live peacefully together with others in culturally diverse societies. The model is the product of intensive work over a two-year period, and has been strongly endorsed in an international consultation with leading educational experts. The book describes the competence model in detail, together with the methods used to develop it. The model provides a robust conceptual foundation for the future development of curricula, pedagogies and assessments in democratic citizenship and human rights education. Its application will enable educational systems to be harnessed effectively for the preparation of students for life as engaged and tolerant democratic citizens. The book forms the first component of a new Council of Europe reference framework of competences for democratic culture. It is vital reading for all educational policy makers and practitioners who work in the fields of education for democratic citizenship, human rights education and intercultural education.

This edited volume in the SIOP Frontiers series is one of the first to look at the psychological factors behind politics and power in organizations. Noted contributors from schools of management, psychology, sociology and political science look at the theory, research, methodology and ethical issues related to organizational politics and climates. The book is divided into three parts: Part 1 looks at the historical evolution of the field; Part 2 integrates organizational politics with important organizational behavior constructs and/or areas of inquiry, for example in the chapter by Lisa Leslie and Michele Gelfand which discusses the implications of cross-cultural politics on expatriates and within cross-national mergers; and Part 3 focuses on individual differences and organizational politics, focusing on the nature of political relationships.