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THE AUTHOR REVIEWS SCHOLARSHIP REGARDING THE CONTINUING DEBATE OF THE PARTY-IN-DECLINE VERSUS THE PARTY-RESURGENT-SCHOOL OF THOUGHT ON THE STATUS OF AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTIES.

Three studies address the role of personal risk-taking in effective leadership. The first study analyzed questionnaire data which detailed behavior of both effective and ineffective military combat leaders. This study indicates that effective combat leaders were judged to demonstrate more personally endangering acts than were ineffective combat leaders. The second study investigated personal risk-taking in leadership within a large urban fire department. Using interview techniques similar to those used in the first study, results obtained indicate that-effective leaders in fire combat were judged to show more personal bravery (i.e., physical risk-taking) than ineffective leaders. Thus, results for fire combat leaders were nearly identical to the results for military combat leaders. The third study included a separate set of data for current fire service leaders' judged fire combat leadership performance and their rated personal risk-taking. Results obtained in this study indicate that leaders judged by their superiors as personally accepting physical risks were also judged as more effective combat leaders. The personal risk-taking factor made a significant contribution towards explaining the variance in leadership effectiveness even when other leadership factors were controlled for statistically. A second analysis, using data collected from the leaders themselves, indicates that time in the role and job satisfaction are significant predictors of personal risk-taking behavior in fire service leaders. It was concluded that the willingness to expose onself to danger is associated with effective leadership in potentially life-threatening situations and that factors found in studies of motivation in organizations may account for such acts of personal bravery by leaders.

1. What is spatial planning? -- 2. The local governance context of the English spatial planning system -- 3. The English spatial planning system -- 4. The evidence base of spatial planning -- 5. Community involvement in spatial planning -- 6. Making places : delivery through spatial planning -- 7. Taking an integrated approach to local spatial delivery -- 8. Managing spatial planning -- 9. Regional and sub-regional spatial planning -- 10. Spatial planning in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland -- 11. Spatial planning in Europe, North America and Australia -- 12. Spatial planning : what does it all add up to?

▪ Abstract  In recent years, volatility in the electoral fortunes of major political parties in Western democracies has invigorated scholarly debate over the roles that parties play in the political process and the positions that they occupy in the public mind. Data from national election surveys and inter-election public opinion polls reveal that parties have declined in the minds of citizens in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain over the past 40 years. Varying combinations of decreasing percentages of strong party identifiers, increasing percentages of independents and nonidentifiers, and increasing individual-level instability in party identifications indicate that the electorates of all three countries have experienced significant "dealignments of degree." The three cases are not atypical; survey evidence indicates that partisan attachments have weakened in a wide variety of mature democracies.

The effective management of differences between groups within democracies means moving beyond the examination of individual rights. In the field of national minorities conflict prevention diplomacy, promoting the effective participation of national minorities in public life is a primary objective. Enhancing participation encourages a sense of belonging, contributes to societal integration, and even, with consistent and careful application, nurtures loyalty to the multi-ethnic state. The Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Life directly address these challenges, and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities works with states and national minority groups to advance functional solutions that reduce tensions and foster stability.00This volume analyses the components of a balanced legal and policy framework related to effective participation of national minorities, with a view to preventing conflict, and reviews the related work of the OSCE and other international organisations

1. Introduction : explaining the policy success of regionalist parties in Western Europe / Oscar Mazzoleni and Sean Mueller -- 2. The Scottish national party : nationalism for the many / Lynn Bennie -- 3. The Christlich-Soziale Union : more than one double role / Claudius Wagemann -- 4. Moderate regionalist parties in Spain : Convergencia i Unio and Partido Nacionalista Vasco / Oscar Barbera and Astrid Barrio -- 5. Regionalist parties in Belgium (N-VA, FDF) : a renewed success? / Emilie van Haute -- 6. The Sudtiroler Volkspartei : Success through conflict, failure through consensus / Gunther Pallaver -- 7. The norther league / Roberto Biorcio -- 8. A regionalist league in Southern Switzerland / Oscar Mazzoleni -- 9. Conclusion / Oscar Mazzoleni, Sean Mueller and Emilie van Haute.

Saudi Arabia has witnessed a high percentage of immigration in the past few decades as the influx of workers from different parts of the world has significantly increased during this time. This movement has caused an interaction between people having diverse languages, customs, and cultural backgrounds. Diversity has in turn led to a number of benefits, including enhanced employee creativity and competence. Due to the nature of the Saudi Arabian workplace; which is dominated by a foreign workforce, communication at workplace holds prime importance. A questionnaire was administered to 127 branch managers. This study aimed at demonstrating the effects of communication; particularly language used by the managers at the workplace, on organizational effectiveness and how it is used to leverage the existing diversity and set a vibrant workplace environment.