This paper raises important questions about proposals for empowerment and shared governance in U.S. schools. Holding that consent is the key to understanding power and empowerment, the paper defines these concepts, discusses the purposes of empowerment, describes the types of empowerment being attempted, and outlines some predictable consequences.…

The bases of subunit power and the effects of that power on organizational decisionmaking are examined in a large midwestern State university. Departmental power is found to be most highly correlated with the department's ability to obtain outside grants and contracts. (Author/WM)

Department chairs occupy what is arguably one of the most important administrative spots in a higher education institution. As a group, they set the academic tone of the institution and greatly facilitate or hinder the accomplishment of its mission. The various types of department chairs are described: hopeful, survivors, transient, and…

The school principal must secure maximum performance from teachers to achieve the goals set forth by the district superintendent and the school board. To accomplish this, the principals' authority must be accepted by the faculty. The extent of faculty members' response to orders or directives issued by authority figures is determined by each…

The questioning of hegemonic discourses has become an essential element in many feminist, afro-centric, and literary theories of discourse. Scholars in these areas have explicated various indictments of the phallocentric, eurocentric, and essentialist linguistic strategies defined and perpetuated by dominant population groups, and some have begun…

University administrators must realize that past management styles they used to acquire their positions of campus power often become the future incarnations of their failure as administrators. The conundrum of power is that the less power a leader grants to people, the less powerful the leader becomes in the eyes of the people. Individuals have a…

Mother-child interactions involving power were examined among 240 middle class mother-child dyads in which children were either 8 or 11 years old. Defined as exchanges occurring around decision-making points in which the mother and child had divergent aims, power interactions were classified according to whether they were symmetrical or…

To explore the specific types of power that emerge in the communication messages chief executive officers (CEOs) use when interacting with others--particularly superiors, peers, and subordinates--15 CEOs were asked to respond to three hypothetical situations. During 60-minute tape-recorded interviews, they were asked what they would say to…

Team management became popular during the late 1960s and early 1970s as educators adopted the concept to help solve the increasingly complex problems facing schools. The mere existence of a management team of central office and building administrators does not mean that team management is being practiced. Chapter 1 enumerates the benefits of team…

Although there are many variables that influence conformity, Bickman (1974) found that the apparel of the person making a request had a significant influence on conformity. To evaluate other factorswhicn may influence conformity (gender, age, status of the conforming subject, and altruism in conforming), 150 adult pedestrians (45% female, 71%…

The questions that observers of Congress have posed throughout U.S. history continue to confront citizens: how have the constitutional powers of Congress adapted to new conditions, and how has this affected Congress's relations with the other branches of government. Congress, in its constitutional design, is part of the remedy for the problems of…

The knowledge work of higher education is carried out in every country in a differentiated structure that divides and allocates tasks within and among institutions; Certain features of differentiation are likely to be common among national systems: the basic sectioning of the natural sciences in such fields as physics, chemistry, and biology, and…

Justification is given for paying relatively large salaries to college administrators, specifically the president or chancellor and the chief academic officer. Three administrative task areas are discussed as criteria: management, administration per se, and leadership. It is contended that only leadership can be used as a criterion for…

Some realistic changes in the traditional authority-responsibility organizational concepts, which would recognize creativity, initiative, influence, and potential accomplishments, would involve people in industry who do not have formal authority or status--just talent. (Author/BP)