Anxious times call for steady leadership. When tensions emerge in a congregation, its leaders cannot be as anxious as the people they serve. To remain... effective, congregational leaders must control their own uneasiness. This takes self-awareness and confidence to manage relationships and influence behaviors. Knowing how to deal with anxiety and how to work throug complex challenges can lead a congregation to new insights, growth, and vitality. Anxious times hold not only the potential for loss but also for creation, important lernings, and changes that will strengthen the congregation. With this new book, internationally respected consultant Peter Steinke goes deeper into the requirements of effective congregational leadership. Born from the wisdom of Steinke's distinguished career, this new volume will both enlighten and embolden leaders. Steinke inspires courage in leaders to maintain the course, unearth secrets, resist sabotage, withstand fury, and overcome timidity or doubts. His insights, illustrations, and provocations will carry leaders through rough times, porvide clarity during confusing times, and uplift them in joyous times.

Davidson, Oleszek, and Lee s focus on Congress as both a legislative institution and as a group of reelection-minded politicians has proven to be an... extraordinarily effective and accessible way for thousands of students to understand the institution and the law-making process. A proven classic, the twelfth edition of Congress and Its Members features careful revising, new scholarship, and crucial updating.

Incorporating the crucial updates and new research you expect, the thirteenth edition of Congress and Its Members remains a trusted resource for... introducing students to the legislative branch. As thousands of undergraduates have learned, focusing on Congress as not only a legislative body, but also as a group of reelection-minded politicians, is an extraordinarily effective way to understand the institution and the law-making process.In addition to featuring new examples and cases drawn from recent congressional politics including the battles over health care reform, financial regulations, economic stimulus, fiscal management, and tax policy the authors also integrate new scholarship on representation, congressional elections, lobbying influence, and the relationship between Congress and the Court.The thirteenth edition also features analysis of the 2010 congressional campaigns and elections, party and leadership changes for the 112th Congress, executive-legislative relations under President Obama, new procedures in the House and Senate, budgeting in an era of huge deficits, the heightened importance of lobbyists in legislative policymaking, public attitudes about Congress as dysfunctional, even corrupt, and the courts and their impact on the interpretation of congressional statutes, the scope of congressional power, and the reach of statutory campaign finance regulations.

In an increasingly complex and unpredictable world, a growing number of observers and practitioners have called for a reexamination of our national... security system. Central to any such reform effort is an evaluation of Congress. Is Congress adequately organized to deal with national security issues in an integrated and coordinated manner? How have developments in Congress over the past few decades, such as heightened partisanship, message politics, party-committee relationships, and bicameral relations, affected topical security issues? This volume examines variation in the ways Congress has engaged federal agencies overseeing our nation's national security as well as various domestic political determinants of security policy.

However much politicians are demeaned and denounced in modern American society, our democracy could not work without them. For this reason, says Richard... Fenno, their activities warrant our attention. In his pioneering book, Home Style, Fenno demonstrated that a close look at politicians at work in their districts can tell us a great deal about the process of representation. Here, Fenno employs a similarly revealing grassroots approach to explore how patterns of representation have changed in recent decades.Fenno focuses on two members of the U.S. House of Representatives who represented the same west-central Georgia district at different times: Jack Flynt, who served from the 1950s to the 1970s, and Mac Collins, who has held the seat in the 1990s. His on-the-scene observation of their differing representational styles—Flynt focuses on people, Collins on policy—reveals the ways in which social and demographic changes inspire shifts in representational strategies.More than a study of representational change in one district, Congress at the Grassroots also helps illuminate the larger subject of political change in the South and in the nation as a whole.

Partisan rancor and the public exchange of incivilities among members of Congress have become rampant on Capitol Hill and in the media studios since the... 1980s. Polarization between mutually repugnant congressional factions has reached the point that the legislative process is paralyzed and democracy is hobbled. Ahuja documents the rise of incivility and partisan shrillness in Congress, traces its complex causes, identifies its adverse consequences for the functioning of democratic government, and prescribes remedies to curb destructive partisanship and restore dignity and efficiency to the workings of Congress.Partisan rancor and the public exchange of incivilities between members of Congress have become rampant on Capitol Hill and in the media studios since the 1980s. Polarization between mutually repugnant congressional factions has reached the point that the legislative process is paralyzed and democracy is hobbled. Ahuja documents the rise of incivility and the partisan shrillness in Congress, traces its complex causes, identifies its adverse consequences for the functioning of democratic government, and prescribes remedies to curb destructive partisanship and restore dignity and efficiency to the workings of Congress.Ahuja catalogs the most shocking examples of the abrasive new confrontational style as practiced by the likes of Gingrich, Burton, and Pelosi in the House, and by Boxer, Santorum, and Lott in the Senate. He contrasts this new style of congressional comportment with the decorum and pragmatism of the old style exemplified by such leaders as Foley, Hamilton, and Michel in the House, and by Dirksen, Mansfield, and Moynihan in the Senate. Ahuja identifies six causes of the rise of partisanship and incivility among congressional members: *Political redistricting and imposition of party discipline. *rising influence of adversarial special-interest groups. *adversarial format fostered by the 24-hour news cycle. *rising use of short-term consultants. *increasing insertion of wedge issues. *avoidance of social interaction among opposing members. The author prescribes measures for restoring civility and moderating partisanship in Congress: reapportioning legislative districts; restricting the influence of consultants, media, and interest groups; and regularizing social interaction among congressional opponents.

A timely and interactive text on the U.S. Congress which combines contemporary scholarship with up to date information. Congress uses an analogy with... which we are familiar - games - to help students understand the workings of Congress. In portraying Congress as a game or sport in which players and chosen, trained, find their ways onto teams, and battle in an arena not unlike that of football or basketball, the authors explain Congress in a way many students will find accessible and understandable without belittling the workings of Congress.

The symbolic importance of Barack Obama's election is without question. But beyond symbolism, does the election of African-American politicians matter?... Grose argues that it does and presents a unified theory of representation. Electing African-American legislators yields more federal dollars and congressional attention directed toward African-American voters. However, race and affirmative action gerrymandering have no impact on public policy passed in Congress. Grose is the first to examine a natural experiment and exceptional moment in history in which black legislators - especially in the U.S. South - represented districts with a majority of white constituents. This is the first systematic examination of the effect of a legislator's race above and beyond the effect of constituency racial characteristics. Grose offers policy prescriptions, including the suggestion that voting rights advocates, the courts, and redistricters draw "black decisive districts," electorally competitive districts that are likely to elect African Americans.

The U.S. Congress is by far the least popular branch of the federal government. It is also probably the least understood. It is not uncommon for... high-ranking government officials to be confused about the workings of the institution and how it exercises its power. This book aims to demystify the institution-to give readers a succinct yet sophisticated overview of Congress and the policymaking process. Instead of treating Congress as an entity isolated from the rest of government, Congress in Context introduces readers to Congress’s critical role as part of an interdependent system. Using the metaphor of Congress as a board of directors, author John Haskell explains the three key roles of Congress within the federal government-authorizing what government does, funding its activities, and, when it sees fit, supervising or “conducting oversight” on those activities. Grounded in current political science literature and packed with real-life examples, Congress in Context offers readers an informed and practical understanding of policymaking in the legislative branch.

The Congressional Deskbook, now in its Sixth Edition, explains the legislative and congressional budget processes along with all aspects of Congress.... Many of the sections are expanded online at CongressProfile.com And an expanded legislative and budget glossary is available online at TCNLG.com This comprehensive guide to Congress is ideal for anyone who wants to know how Congress really works, including federal executives, attorneys, lobbyists, media and public affairs staff, government affairs, policy and budget analysts, congressional office staff and students. Complete Table of Contents with links to other material at CongressionalDeskbook.com

Combining top-notch research with real-world politics, this sixth edition provides a thorough and evenhanded assessment of congressional campaigns and... elections. Herrnson s popular book argues that successful candidates run two campaigns: one for votes, the other for resources. Using campaign finance data, original survey research, and hundreds of interviews with candidates and political insiders, Herrnson looks at how this dual strategy affects who wins and ultimately the entire electoral system. New coverage includes: cases studies from the 2010 midterm elections; the impact of the Tea Party on fundraising and election outcomes; the effect of the Citizens United and other recent cases on corporate, trade association, and labor union spending; the fundraising advantages, strategies, and spending practices of different interest group entities PACs, Super PACs, 527s, and 501(C)s; the pervasive use of social media and Internet campaigns to raise money, communicate with voters, and recruit volunteers at low cost.

This remarkable work of scholarship addresses the difficulties inherent in the American Constitution's separation of legislative and executive powers.... In his first book, Wilson argues that in the years following the Civil War, the legislature received unfair advantages from the system of checks and balances, threatening the effectiveness of the constitutionally mandated separation of powers.

This book examines the legal and policy issues surrounding congressional investigations through a series of case studies, with an emphasis on the period... from the second half of the twentieth century to date. It is organized by case study topic, with each chapter using one or two case studies to introduce and analyze a discrete area of legal authorities and policy issues. The central thesis and organizing principle of this book is to highlight the importance of effective congressional oversight and investigative activities in our American democratic system of government, as well as the constitutional and parliamentary bases for this legislative power. In addition to collecting legal authorities, the book includes relevant historical information and structural analysis of government functions, with an emphasis on separation of powers issues. The use of a case study format, rather than a traditional law school casebook format, is intended to present the subject matter in a way that will appeal to the undergraduate and graduate school textbook market as well as the law school market. The authors combine original congressional and judicial source materials with book excerpts and explanatory text to make the subject matter accessible to graduate and upper level undergraduate students in government and political science, as well as law students.

The definitive work on how congressional rules, procedures, and traditions affect the course and content of legislation, the fundamentals of lawmaking... are made clear in Oleszeks straight talking, informative book. Updates to this new edition spotlight the use of innovative procedural devices by both parties to achieve their goals, a reassessment of the role of conference committees in reconciling bicameral differences, and heightened use of old and new oversight mechanisms to check and balance executive actions and activities.