Richard Davis – författare

Power Shift? Political Leadership and Social Media examines how political leaders have adapted to the challenges of social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and memes, among other means of persuasion. Established political leaders now use social media to grab headlines, respond to opponents, fundraise, contact voters directly, and organize their election campaigns. Leaders of protest movements have used social media to organize and galvanize grassroots support and to popularize new narratives: narratives that challenge and sometimes overturn conventional thinking. Yet each social media platform provides different affordances and different attributes, and each is used differently by political leaders.

In this book, leading international experts provide an unprecedented look at the role of social media in leadership today. Through a series of case studies dealing with topics ranging from Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump''s use of Twitter, to Justin Trudeau''s use of selfies and Instagram, to how feminist leaders mobilize against stereotypes and injustices, the authors argue that many leaders have found additional avenues to communicate with the public and use power. This raises the question of whether this is causing a power shift in the relationship between leaders and followers. Together the chapters in this book suggest new rules of engagement that leaders ignore at their peril.

The lack of systematic theoretically informed and empirically supported analyses makes Power Shift? Political Leadership and Social Media an indispensable read for students and scholars wishing to gain new understanding on what social media means for leadership.

Power Shift? Political Leadership and Social Media examines how political leaders have adapted to the challenges of social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and memes, among other means of persuasion. Established political leaders now use social media to grab headlines, respond to opponents, fundraise, contact voters directly, and organize their election campaigns. Leaders of protest movements have used social media to organize and galvanize grassroots support and to popularize new narratives: narratives that challenge and sometimes overturn conventional thinking. Yet each social media platform provides different affordances and different attributes, and each is used differently by political leaders.

In this book, leading international experts provide an unprecedented look at the role of social media in leadership today. Through a series of case studies dealing with topics ranging from Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump''s use of Twitter, to Justin Trudeau''s use of selfies and Instagram, to how feminist leaders mobilize against stereotypes and injustices, the authors argue that many leaders have found additional avenues to communicate with the public and use power. This raises the question of whether this is causing a power shift in the relationship between leaders and followers. Together the chapters in this book suggest new rules of engagement that leaders ignore at their peril.

The lack of systematic theoretically informed and empirically supported analyses makes Power Shift? Political Leadership and Social Media an indispensable read for students and scholars wishing to gain new understanding on what social media means for leadership.

While academics often treat their subject matter with a posture of detached objectivity, some have moved beyond the ivory tower of academia toward a more personal and active engagement with their area of research. The field of political science lends itself particularly well to this kind of activity given the relevance, impact, and importance of civic engagement and the political landscape of our daily lives. Early in the discipline, Woodrow Wilson, Charles Merriam, and other leaders of the American Political Science Association were civically engaged as well as active scholars and teachers. However, discipline and institutional barriers have discouraged contemporary engagement.

In Beyond the Ivory Tower: The Case for Civically Engaged Political Scientists, Richard Davis tells the stories of past and present academics who have ventured beyond the academy. He frames his own story of political activism in Utah within the context of the need for political scientists to step away from the cloistered affairs of academia toward more public and political engagement. Davis discusses different ways to remain both active in academic life while also becoming more publicly engaged in one''s community and state. This book shows how political scientists may find alternative ways to explore their passion for politics and not only advocate civic engagement but also become actively engaged citizens themselves.

Beyond the Ivory Tower skillfully discusses the institutional and cultural barriers to academic civic engagement and proposes solutions to overcome them while offering examples of political scientists who have been active citizens in a variety of forums, including running for office, serving in government, and founding and leading non-profit organizations.