The Politics Of Herding Cats

In The Politics of Herding Cats, John Lovett looks at the relationship between media, Congress, and public policy, showing that leaders in Congress under normal circumstances control public policy on issue areas due to their status both within Congress and in the media by and large. When issue coverage on topics increases in media, however, other members seize on the opportunities to engage in the issue and shift public policy away from leader desires. As more members engage and more groups become involved, leaders lose the ability to control the process and are more likely to have problems actually getting public policy enacted. Lovett look at this phenomenon using newspaper coverage in the Washington Post over a 40-year period, both in terms of general analysis as well as individual case studies exploring agricultural subsidies (a low coverage topic), immigration (a changing coverage topic), and health care (a high coverage topic). As coverage increases, the amount leaders can control in the process decreases. Only under extreme circumstances, as seen in the Affordable Care Act, can leaders get anything done at all. The Politics of Herding Cats would be useful for those who wish to better understand the relationship between the media and Congress. It will also be useful to those who want to understand the relationship between actors in government and how the media has influenced American politics, as well as how individual members of Congress can go against party leaders on major issues.

The senior senator from Mississippi recounts his political career, from his efforts to broaden Republican influence to his differences of opinion with the Bush administration and the scandal that preceded his resignation as House majority leader.

It is well known that in their professional lives most academics and researchers will - like cats - seek to exercise as much independence as possible.In Herding Cats, Geoff Garrett and Graeme Davies combine their top-level experience of leading/managing international academic and research institutions with wisdom gleaned from 50 senior colleagues around the world. They deal with common leadership and management themes, like making tough strategic choices, leading change effectively, dealing with bureaucracy, allocating resources, managing budgets and ensuring effective implementation.Garrett, Davies and their friends paint a picture of the culture of a typical 'cats' environment - replete with remarkable intellects, passion, arguments, politics and prejudice, and where trying to push people to a destination is usually doomed to failure. Herding Cats guides leaders and aspiring leaders in academic and research institutions through the process of learning to accept and embrace the qualities of their 'cats' so they can tempt them to an outcome with agility and success.

In each of the 24 cases examined in this volume, mediation was a multiparty effort, involving actors working simultaneously or sequentially. These accounts attest to the crucial importance of coordinating and building upon the efforts of other players.

Carrying readers within the walls of Congress, and the administrations of six presidents, this unsparingly candid and engaging memoir is written by one of the dominant political figures of the last half-century. 16-page photo insert.

This self-help guide is for programmers who need to improve their management and leadership skills.

Herding Professional Cats offers advice and insights to leaders in the professions who find themselves facing the classic ‘cats’ dilemma – how to manage intelligent, opinionated, independent and frequently difficult people without losing the competitive edge a professionalised workforce can bring.

Cats of course, won't be herded. And the most successful organizations in the 21st Century won't be managed -- they'll be led. The answer to America's current leadership crisis is leaders (not managers) who recognize that "the only capital that really counts is human capital" And whether readers are looking for a leader or looking to be a better one, Warren knows what it takes. In answer to the leadership crisis, Bennis offers insight into developing leaders and their competencies, by explaining ten traits of dynamic leaders, and how these leaders constantly reinvent themselves. The 21st century will require leaders who can inspire and orchestrate change rather than impose it or simply react to it. The section on "Leading Change" will, in itself, make this a must-have book.