In this article, the authors discuss a recent study they carried out at a mid-sized state university that used a polling method called deliberative polling. This type of polling differs from conventional polling in that respondents are polled before and after a deliberative session in which they discuss issues based on pertinent and empirically-grounded information. This method, it is argued, uncovers observations and insights that could prove valuable to improving university retention and graduation rates.
This article reviews an important new monograph on evolutionary leadership theory by Mark van Vugt and Anjana Ahuja (Naturally Selected: The Evolutionary Science of Leadership. New York: HarperBusiness, 2011, 272 pp. ISBN 978‐0‐06196‐383‐4, $25.99, Hardcover). I summarize the main arguments of this work, which draws on evolutionary psychology and Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection to explain why and under what circumstances leadership and followership traits emerged in human societies. In so doing, I assess the extent to which it succeeds, as intended, in providing a scientifically rigorous framework for our understanding of leadership in the 21st century.
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