Michael Johnston

Corruption is a threat to democracy and economic development in many societies. It arises in the ways people pursue, use and exchange wealth and power, and in the strength or weakness of the state, political and social institutions that sustain and restrain those processes. Differences in these factors, Michael Johnston argues, give rise to four major syndromes of corruption: Influence Markets, Elite Cartels, Oligarchs and Clans, and Official Moguls. In this 2005 book, Johnston uses statistical measures to identify societies in each group, and case studies to show that the expected syndromes do arise. Countries studied include the United States, Japan and Germany (Influence Markets); Italy, Korea and Botswana (Elite Cartels); Russia, the Philippines and Mexico (Oligarchs and Clans); and China, Kenya, and Indonesia (Offical Moguls). A concluding chapter explores reform, emphasising the ways familiar measures should be applied - or withheld, lest they do harm - with an emphasis upon the value of 'deep democratisation'.

A Teach for America volunteer recounts his own tenuous education as well as his tenure in the rural Mississippi Delta, one of the poorest districts in the country, during which he encountered fierce racial divisions, drug problems, and gang violence. Reprint.

Everything nonprofits need to boot up, log on, and benefit from theNet Now revised and expanded, this easy-to-use guide is packed with thevital information and advice you need to attain--and maintain--acyberadvantage. Covering everything from computer basics todesigning your own Web site, it shows you how to get connected,conduct research, raise funds, expand your outreach--with bothadults and kids--electronically, and much more. With completedetails on the latest technological advances, market trends, andcutting-edge tools, The Nonprofit Guide to the Internet, SecondEdition. Surveys the most up-to-date hardware and software you needto get online Explores cyberfundraising with examples from recent onlinecampaigns Includes a rare usage policy to help your organization get the mostof the Net at your office Illustrates nonprofit best practices on the Web with case studies,charts, and screen shots Shows how nonprofits can harness the idiosyncratic to develop aunique attention-getting presence on the Web Contains a multimedia bibliography, a glossary of terms, and adirectory of nonprofit-related Web sites and addresses

The companion to Volume 2 of The New Church’s Teaching Series, Roger Ferlo’s Opening the Bible, Michael Johnston’s Engaging the Word teaches us how to use the critical and practical tools for reading the Bible described by Ferlo to interpret the Hebrew and Christian scriptures: what did they mean for their original audience and what do they mean for us today? Johnston introduces us to the key terms and concepts of biblical criticism that show us how to read Scripture on three key levels: the literal, historical, and prophetic. He explores with us passages that touch on questions of ethics, the nature of God, the teachings of Jesus, and eschatology, and offers vivid insights into the physical setting and geography of the Bible. Above all, the purpose of Engaging the Word is to help us become people who can read and interpret the Bible intelligently and perceptively. It offers the fundamental questions that we must ask of any biblical text in order to enter fully into its meaning for us and for our worshiping community: Who wrote the passage? When was it written? What does it actually say? For what community or group was it written? What was its message for that community? What is its message for us today?