How many times have the opinions of the smack-talking, ethnic-clothes-wearing, angry politicians on screen infuriated you? How many times have you told yourself that you could do much better in politics than most of our leaders? Have you ever wondered what makes our leaders competent enough to be elected and lead? Well, the fact is that even the most unseemly and 'incompetent' politician has a set of characteristics which makes them very capable.That said, to be a good politician, you must know what it takes to make one. We are in the midst of a quickly evolving political environment, and politics needs young and talented people like you - a fact all major parties now know. So, if you're someone considering joining politics or a party worker wanting to rise through the ranks and get a ticket, this book is where you should start.What Makes a Politician provides insights into how to enter and thrive in politics, ethically and effectively. The book walks you through the basic responsibilities of a political leader and proceeds to help you prepare for the political world.

How many times have the opinions of the smack-talking, ethnic-clothes-wearing, angry politicians on screen infuriated you? How many times have you told yourself that you could do much better in politics than most of our leaders? Have you ever wondered what makes our leaders competent enough to be elected and lead? Well, the fact is that even the most unseemly and 'incompetent' politician has a set of characteristics which makes them very capable.That said, to be a good politician, you must know what it takes to make one. We are in the midst of a quickly evolving political environment, and politics needs young and talented people like you - a fact all major parties now know. So, if you're someone considering joining politics or a party worker wanting to rise through the ranks and get a ticket, this book is where you should start.What Makes a Politician provides insights into how to enter and thrive in politics, ethically and effectively. The book walks you through the basic responsibilities of a political leader and proceeds to help you prepare for the political world.

Governments fail to provide the public goods needed for development when its leaders knowingly and deliberately ignore sound technical advice or are unable to follow it, despite the best of intentions, because of political constraints. This report focuses on two forces—citizen engagement and transparency—that hold the key to solving government failures by shaping how political markets function. Citizens are not only queueing at voting booths, but are also taking to the streets and using diverse media to pressure, sanction and select the leaders who wield power within government, including by entering as contenders for leadership. This political engagement can function in highly nuanced ways within the same formal institutional context and across the political spectrum, from autocracies to democracies. Unhealthy political engagement, when leaders are selected and sanctioned on the basis of their provision of private benefits rather than public goods, gives rise to government failures. The solutions to these failures lie in fostering healthy political engagement within any institutional context, and not in circumventing or suppressing it. Transparency, which is citizen access to publicly available information about the actions of those in government, and the consequences of these actions, can play a crucial role by nourishing political engagement.

Asks how and why anti-political sentiment has grown among British citizens over the last half-century.

The Psychology of Politicians explores a topic which fuels public and media debate yet is under-researched and has potentially far-reaching consequences for the success of our political systems. Focusing on research with democratically elected representatives from the UK, Poland and Italy, and on the political behaviour of a former US President and voters' perceptions in the emerging democracy of Ukraine, this book is packed with psychological insights. Using quantitative and qualitative methodologies, the contributors chart the progress of the individual politician from selection as a candidate to becoming established in Parliament examining their qualities as communicators, thinkers and leaders. The impact of work and non-work pressures on their mental well-being and capacity to handle a crisis are probed and the roles of personality traits in politicians' values and in public perceptions of our elected representatives are highlighted.

In this groundbreaking book on one of the world's greatest economic crises, Hacker and Pierson explain why the richest of the rich are getting richer while the rest of the world isn't.

Accomplished political leaders have a clear strategy for turning political visions into reality. Through well-honed analytical, political, and emotional intelligence, leaders chart paths to promising futures that include economic growth, material prosperity, and human well-being. Alas, such leaders are rare in the developing world, where often institutions are weak and greed and corruption strong—and where responsible leadership therefore has the potential to effect the greatest change. In Transformative Political Leadership, Robert I. Rotberg focuses on the role of leadership in politics and argues that accomplished leaders demonstrate a particular set of skills. Through illustrative case studies of leaders who have performed ably in the developing world—among them Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Seretse Khama in Botswana, Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore, and Kemal Ataturk in Turkey—Rotberg examines how these leaders transformed their respective countries. The importance of capable leadership is woefully understudied in political science, and this book will be an important tool in exploring how leaders lead and how nations and institutions are built.

Pearls, Politics, and Power is a call to action for new political engagement and leadership from the women of America. Informed by conversations with elected women leaders from all levels, former three-term Vermont Governor and Ambassador to Switzerland Madeleine M. Kunin asks: What difference do women make? What is the worst part of politics, and what is the best part? What inspired these women to run, and how did they prepare themselves for public life? How did they raise money, protect their families' privacy, deal with criticism and attack ads, and work with the good old boys? Kunin's core message is that America needs an infusion of new leadership to better address the major problems of our time. To see how women can achieve that goal, she combines her personal experience in politics; the lessons of past women's movements; the stories of young women today who have new ideas about their role in society; and interviews with a wide range of women in positions of power, looking for clues to their leadership, as well as the effects of gender stereotyping. She interviews Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, analyzes her campaign, and addresses the question: "Is the country ready?" Other interviewees include U.S. Representatives Loretta Sanchez, Linda Sanchez, Deborah Pryce, and Tammy Baldwin, and U.S. Senators Susan Collins, Amy Klobuchar, and Carol Moseley Braun, and Governors Kathleen Sibelius and Janet Napolitano. The next generation of women will be inspired to lead by seeing women like Nancy Pelosi wielding the gavel, and seeing themselves reflected in the portraits in statehouses, courthouses, corporate and university boardrooms, and the White House. Pearls, Politics, and Power will help ensure that this inspiration is not soured or deflected, but channeled into successful candidacies by America's leaders of tomorrow. What will it take for women to assume their rightful places in the political corridors of power?

Schweizer, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, discusses the state of government and the depths of its political corruption.