There is a growing realization that many of the problems afflicting American elections can be traced to the electoral system itself, in particular to our winner-take-all approach to electing officials. Douglas Amy demonstrates that switching to proportional representation elections--the voting system used in most other Western democracies, by which officials are elected in large, multimember districts according to the proportion of the vote won by their parties--would enliven democratic political debate, increase voter choice and voter turnout, ensure fair representation for third parties and minorities, eliminate wasted votes and "spoliers," and ultimately produce policies that better reflect the public will. Looking beyond new voting machines and other quick fixes for our electoral predicament, this new edition of Real Choices/New Voices offers a timely and imaginative way out of the frustrations of our current system of choosing leaders.

Local Voices, Local Choices: The Tacare Approach to Community-Led Conservation chronicles the stories behind Jane Goodall's holistic approach to conservation in Africa.

How to win the battle to bring opportunity scholarships to your state, based on the dramatic story and ultimately successful campaign of D.C. Parents for School Choice: Get the inside story on this grassroots effort and empower parents for your own campaign. This book teaches parents how to fight to free children from failing schools. It equips you to speak out and secure school choice so that the right learning environment can be given to each child. You get both instruction and inspiration in this compelling, candid book.

Women have experienced significant changes in various spheres of their lives during the last decades as Bangladesh made economic progress. Yet women’s economic engagement and empowerment are subdued, as they cannot make sufficient choices for themselves. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the economic developments in gender equality in Bangladesh. Through examining women’s participation in the labour force, ownership and control of household assets, use and control of financial assets, and opportunities for entrepreneurship, the authors have made concrete recommendations to overcome challenges that lie ahead for women’s economic empowerment. This book is an important contribution to the knowledge on interventions required by the policy makers and broader stakeholders towards narrowing gender gaps. --Fahmida Khatun, PhD, Executive Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh The women’s story is central to Bangladesh’s economic and social transformation. There is an urgent need to deepen researched understanding of the multidimensional pathways of women’s economic empowerment and extent of real progress made. Voices to Choices is an important contribution to this story. Surely, the journey of women’s economic empowerment remains a long and challenging one. Realizing the full benefits of new opportunities is often hampered by both new and entrenched insecurities. The task is as much one of empowering women’s agency as of dismantling barriers. The responsibility is as much women’s as society’s. --Hossain Zillur Rahman, PhD, Executive Chairman, Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) This book provides critical insights and is timely, as it outlines how girls and women in Bangladesh have gained more opportunities in labor force participation, control over household and financial assets, as well as greater prospects for entrepreneurship. The findings will greatly contribute to future policy and planning for government and key stakeholders working to advance women’s economic empowerment in the country. --Sabina Faiz Rashid, PhD, Dean and Professor, BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health BRAC University

Make the right decisions about your products and services by listening effectively to the people that matter – your customers Key Features Understand the core components, processes and technologies available for a VOC initiative Structure effective VOC programs and turn VOC into actionable product success A handy guide to help you identify the hidden needs of your customers and strengthen your relationship with them Book Description Voice of Customer (VoC) is one of the most popular forms of market research that combines both quantitative and qualitative methods. This book is about developing a deeper knowledge of your customers and understanding their articulated and unarticulated needs. Doing so requires engaging with customers in a meaningful and substantive way – something that is becoming more and more important with the rise of the increasingly connected world. This book gives you a framework to understand what products and features your customers need, or will need in the future. It provides the tools to conduct a VoC program and suggests how to take the customer input and turn it into successful products. This book also explains how to position and price your products in the market, and demonstrates ROI to the management team to get your product development funded. By the end of this book, you will have a thorough understanding of the relevant stages of a VoC project. It will show you how to devise an effective plan, direct the project to their objectives, and then how to collect the voice of the customer, with examples and templates for interviewing and surveying them. What you will learn Learn why customer input is so critical for the product's success Discover the articulated and unarticulated needs of your customers Deploy an effective VoC program in your organization Learn which tools and methods you need to set up a successful VoC program Interview customers – where, how many, and who Create an interview guide and roles in the interview process Translate the customer input into your product specifications Integrate VoC into your marketing campaigns and pricing process Who this book is for The book is for anyone who needs to get to know their customer, how they feel and what they think about a certain subject. If you are a stakeholder in any project responsible for customer relationships, this book will help you immensely. An awareness of VOC as a topic would be useful, although not essential.

Are you tired of seeking and searching for answers and acceptance and always coming up empty? Are you losing hope? Have you stopped dreaming? Are you living a discouraged, defeated life, focused on your failures and seemingly endless sources of discontent? Regardless of the reason, your disappointment plays right into the plans and purposes of your enemy: to keep you down and depressed, pathetic and unproductive, to poison your potential and corrupt your calling. Let Sierra Kinsley share lessons learned from her own riveting, heartrending journey away from rejection and abuse, destructive choices, and the relentless pursuit of more to the powerful, life-changing truths that offered her true freedom and forgivenessthe same truths that will set you free and guide you to your own personal victory. Your Choices Matter is filled with principles, proofs, and promises as well as extraordinary stories to guide, encourage, and inspire you to pull out of your pit and into your potentialto transform you into the person you were created to be so you can begin living the life you were meant to live. You dont have to remain a victim of your trying and troubled past or a prisoner of your present circumstances. This time really can be different. You can break free from your condemning voices and crummy choices, even the unfair circumstances that have beaten you down and bruised or broken your spirit. You can overcome the pain of the past and live a richer, fuller, more productive lifeYour Choices Matter shows you howone right choice at a time.