Month: January 2019

Hanna Kassab’s New Book: Corruption, Institutions, and Fragile States, co-authored with Jonathan D. Rosen and published by Palgrave Macmillan, is out. The book examines the relationship between state fragility and corruption. It analyzes a variety of regions throughout the world, including Latin America, Central Asia and the Middle East, Africa, Central America and Mexico, South America, and Russia. States that are plagued by high levels of state fragility and corruption facilitate illicit activities and other criminal enterprises.

See: https://www.amazon.com/Corruption-Institutions-Fragile-States-Kassab-ebook/dp/B07L9QJRHJ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1547150302&sr=8-2&keywords=hanna+kassab

Congratulations to Hugh Lee, whose Alabama Elder Law is now in it’s 11th Edition! The 1906 page book (!) answers some of the most common questions facing elder law attorneys, Alabama Elder Law provides a concise, comprehensive resource for practitioners who represent elderly clients. This treatise covers all aspects of elder law, including:

• Powers of attorney
• Financial decision making
• Healthcare decision making
• Guardianship and conservatorship
• Adult protective services
• Civil commitment
• Representative payees
• Long-term care insurance
• Medicaid and Medicare
• Nursing home care and regulation
• Alternatives to nursing homes
• Social Security retirement and disability benefits
• Supplemental Security Income
• Government retirement systems
• Private retirement plans
• Veterans’ benefits
• State and local taxation
• Estate planning
• And more

The text provides references to underlying primary law, which elder law attorneys must consult on a daily basis. It also offers substantive knowledge as well as advice about the process of founding and developing an elder law practice. Editorial features save attorneys research time.

See https://store.legal.thomsonreuters.com/law-products/Treatises/Alabama-Elder-Law-2018-2019-ed-Alabama-Practice-Series/p/105879946

Dr. Kassab’s Grand Strategies of Weak States and Great Powers has recently been published by Palgrave. The book examines the idea that “grand strategies” can be thought of as overall survival strategies of all states. Great powers seek survival against other great powers seeking to undermine their power and position, determining prestige-seeking behavior as psychotic and destructive. Weak states suffer from systemic vulnerabilities and trade whatever political power they have to a great power for economic assistance. If enough weak states support a particular great power, then that great power will become more powerful relative to competitors. This forms an international system fashioned by these transactions.

See the book at https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319704036.

Congratulations Dr. Kassab!

Dr. Sharon Paynter received a $100,000 grant from the State Employees’ Credit Union Foundation for the Public Fellows Internship program for 2019.

In 2004, the SECU Board of Directors chartered the SECU Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization funded by the contributions of SECU members, to help identify and address community issues and promote local and community development in North Carolina primarily through high impact projects in the areas of education, housing, healthcare and human services. From the beginning, SECU Foundation initiatives have allowed the Credit Union and its members to demonstrate the cooperative’s “People Helping People®” philosophy in a powerful and profound way.

Peter Francia, on behalf of the Center for Survey Research, co-authored a new report with Ann Rafferty (Dept. of Public Health) and Joseph Lee (Dept. of Health Education and Promotion) on gun safety practices in the United States. The report generated press attention from outlets including the Associated Press, Public Radio East, The Daily Reflector, and WITN television.

Dr. Jody Baumgartner recently published a book chapter which provides a comprehensive review of the effects of viewing political humor on various forms of political engagement. “Political Humor and its Effects: A Review Essay” can be found in Jacqueline Benavides, Editor, Humor y Política: Una Perspectiva Transcultural [Humur and Politics: A Cross-cultural Perspective] (Bogotá: Ediciones Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia), pp. 3-39.

Dr. Jonathan Morris recently had students complete a new and innovative project in the course, POLS 3031: “Research Design for Political Science.” Students developed an original questionnaire about issues of concern in Greeneville, NC, and then utilized the call center in the Center for Survey Research to conduct a phone survey of Greenville residents. Students were able to gain first-hand experience with survey design and original data collection.

Sharon Paynter and Willow Jacobson recently published an article that in the Public Personnel Management titled “Verdict Pending: Understanding Leadership Role Identity for North Carolina Judges and Lawyers.”

The article “examines precursors to leadership practice, specifically through the lens of role identity. The assumption explored is that people are unlikely to engage in the hard work of leadership if they do not see that challenge as part of who they are and what they do, especially collaborative or system-level leadership. Role identity is, then, a critical building block in developing a deeper understanding of leadership intentions and actions especially in collaborative settings. Multiple judicial players, termed here “public service lawyers,” are investigated in this single-state case study that examines individuals’ view of their role and primary focus. Factors are examined that contribute to the construction of role perception. Results reveal that leadership training, the position one holds, and motivational orientation all influence the extent to which public service lawyers develop a view of their role that includes a broader system or collaborative orientation.”

See https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0091026018814566.

Drs. Baumgartner and Francia have been asked to revise their Conventional Wisdom and American Elections: Exploding Myths, Exploring Misconceptions (Third Edition, Rowman & Littlefield) for a 4th edition. The book, set to come out in the fall of 2019, has received positive reviews for its accessibility and coverage of a variety of issues related to campaigns and elections.