Excerpt from Tva and the Grass Roots: A Study in the Sociology of Formal Organization The files and the personnel Of the Tennessee Valley Authority were the primary sources Of research data. The unpublished record has been accorded the same status as personal interview materials, so that sources and quotations cannot always be given specific reference. I have en deavored to protect the anonymity of those in and out of the Authority who have helped me to an understanding of the tva's methods and pro gram. At the same time, informants on questions Of detail have been restricted to those within tva who have worked on the programs dis cussed. A check with the written record was made wherever possible. Interviews with Officials in Washington and in the Tennessee Valley states were also of assistance. It is hoped that a contribution has been made here toward the evolu tion of a theory of organization. In that sense, the study is not practical or programmatic. It is believed, however, that a practical relevance will be discerned by those involved in action who must take into account such general relations within and among organizations as are studied here. It must also be emphasized that what is presented here is only one aspect Of the total tva picture. For more general presentations of the Author ity's program, the reader is referred to such volumes as David E. Lilien thal's tva: Democracy on the March, C. Herman Pritchett's The Tennessee Valley Authority: A Study in Public Administration, and Herman Finer's tva: Lessons for International Application. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Famous and influential study of politics in action at all levels in the creation and expansion of the Tennessee Valley Authority with all its land use, agricultural, political and human effects. Landmark application of political and social theory coupled with prodigious research and insightful analysis made this a legendary work. Newly republished in print and digital formats in the Classics of the Social Sciences Series from Quid Pro Books, this acclaimed book is presented to a new generation of social scientists and historians with a substantive new Foreword by Berkeley law professor Jonathan Simon. Digital formats feature active TOC, linked notes and tables, and even a fully-linked subject matter index. All formats include embedded page numbers from prior editions for continuity of reference and citation. They are reproduced in modern format with hyperaccurate proofreading of text and notes, and properly formatted tables.

Prisoners of Myth is the first comprehensive history of the Tennessee Valley Authority from its creation to the present day. It is also a telling case study of organizational evolution and decline. Building on Philip Selznick's classic work TVA and the Grass Roots (1949), a seminal text in the theoretical study of bureaucracy, Erwin Hargrove analyzes the organizational culture of the TVA by looking at the actions of its leaders over six decades--from the heroic years of the New Deal and World War II through the postwar period of consolidation and growth to the time of troubles from 1970 onward, when the TVA ran afoul of environmental legislation, built a massive nuclear power program that it could not control, and sought new missions for which there were no constituencies. The founding myth of multipurpose regional development was inappropriately pursued in the 1970s and '80s by leaders who became "prisoners of myth" in their attempt to keep the TVA heroic. A decentralized organization, which had worked well at the grass roots, was difficult to redirect as the nuclear genii spun out of control. TVA autonomy from Washington, once a virtue, obscured political accountability. This study develops an important new theory about institutional performance in the face of historical change.

Foundational study of how institutions work and how leadership promotes them. Often cited in many fields and consistently assigned to classes in a variety of departments -- including sociology and business, and executive training in management and military leadership -- this book is considered to have virtually created the modern field of institutional-leadership management. It is still recognized as a lively and accessible presentation of the institutionalist school's answer to traditional "rationalist" approaches. Selznick's analysis goes beyond efficiency and traditional loyalty: he examines the more nuanced variables of effective leadership of organizations in business, education, government, the military, and labor. Quality, authorized ebook format includes linked notes and Contents and embedded pagination from print editions for continuity of referencing and classroom adoptions across all platforms.

Abers (political science, Center for Public Policy Research, U. of Brasília, Brazil) provides a close study of innovative city government in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Led by the Workers' Party, the city implemented a participatory budget program in which residents meet in their neighborhoods to determine budget priorities. Taking place in a city long dominated by patronage politics and elite rule, the story is both a sociopolitical study of the impact that state- sponsored participatory forums can have on civil society and a contribution to the theory and practical possibilities of participatory democracy.--

The Anthem Companion to Philip Selznick is a collection of essays by renowned authors on the preeminent sociologist.

LAW, SOCIETY, AND INDUSTRIAL JUSTICE is a foundational study of workplace justice, still engaging and referenced a half-century after its original publication. The 50th Anniversary Edition adds an extensive, substantive Foreword by Berkeley’s Lauren Edelman. She writes that the book “remains important for how it conceptualizes law, for how it conceptualizes organizations, and for the theory Selznick offers regarding the moral evolution of organizations as they become ‘institutions,’ or living entities infused with values.” It is “a profound book for many reasons,” as she critically examines. Norms and values still matter in organizational governance — even in what amounts to “private government” — as this classic work reminds us. “Selznick’s classic text invites the reader to understand the interplay of formal and informal structures that produce new organizational norms, which, at their best, would replace workplace arbitrariness with due process protections like those embodied in the Rule of Law. It is not just an extraordinary contribution to the fields of sociology and jurisprudence, it is the theoretically foundational precursor to entire subfields in sociology and law.” — Laura Beth Nielsen, Chair, Department of Sociology, Northwestern University; Research Professor, ABF “Philip Selznick laid the foundation for one of law and society’s most vibrant areas of inquiry: law and organizations. Although this book has often been underappreciated, its 50th anniversary is a good opportunity to reassess its significance. Indeed, the current #MeToo movement lends more urgency to Selznick’s highly relevant ideas about conceptualizing organizations as legal orders, the importance of changing norms and values, the role of law within organizations, and organizations’ influence on the law.” — Ashley T. Rubin, Sociology, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa “Selznick’s study is undoubtedly the most erudite and imaginative example of the natural-law approach to appear. ... It is a very fine, even extraordinary piece of legal scholarship. It displays much craftsmanship, depth of learning, and creativity. It is elegant in style and graceful in presentation. Every legal sociologist should read it.” — Donald J. Black, American Journal of Sociology “A contribution, brilliant and substantial, to the literature on private government.” — Winston M. Fisk, American Political Science Review “Very enlightening and reminiscent of a good lecturer able to pull all the strings together chapter by chapter. ... The volume can be recommended to all students of law, industrial organization, and industrial relations.” — Industrial and Labor Relations Review

The Organizational Weapon is a classic study of the methods, propaganda, and institutions which create infiltration and eventually cooptation of organizations from within. The study applies its theory to communist techniques but its analysis and insights have, over the years, become extremely useful in perceiving and combating such methods in jihadist cells, terrorist organizations, and political groups of many varieties, not only from the Left. The book's continuing relevance and utility have been exemplified in how it has influenced, and been cited by, many current writers on how extremist and politically astute groups recruit and infiltrate more benign organizations and make them tools of further expansion of power and action. The book is also considered excellent social science and history, analyzing an important moment in U.S. history when trade organizations, community groups, and the like became affected by Soviet encroachment and Marxist influence. Its insights, from one of the country's most recognized social scientists, have stood the test of time. The new digital reprint edition from Quid Pro Books features an extensive and substantive 2014 Foreword by Martin Krygier, a senior professor of law and social theory at the law school of the University of New South Wales, in Australia, and adjunct professor at Australian National University.

DIVEven today, thirty years after the legal battles to save the endangered snail darter, the little fish that blocked completion of a TVA dam is still invoked as an icon of leftist extremism and governmental foolishness. In this eye-opening book, the lawyer who with his students fought and won the Supreme Court case—known officially as Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill—tells the hidden story behind one of the nation’s most significant environmental law battles. /divDIV The realities of the darter’s case, Plater asserts, have been consistently mischaracterized in politics and the media. This book offers a detailed account of the six-year crusade against a pork-barrel project that made no economic sense and was flawed from the start. In reality TVA’s project was designed for recreation and real estate development. And at the heart of the little group fighting the project in the courts and Congress were family farmers trying to save their homes and farms, most of which were to be resold in a corporate land development scheme. Plater’s gripping tale of citizens navigating the tangled corridors of national power stimulates important questions about our nation’s governance, and at last sets the snail darter’s record straight. /div