Proceedings of the XVII International symposium Symorg 2020

Download Proceedings of the XVII International symposium Symorg 2020 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : FON
ISBN 13 : 8676803854
Total Pages : 751 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (768 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Proceedings of the XVII International symposium Symorg 2020 by : Dušan Starčević

Download or read book Proceedings of the XVII International symposium Symorg 2020 written by Dušan Starčević and published by FON. This book was released on 2020-06-30 with total page 751 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever since 1989, the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade, has been the host of SymOrg, an event that promotes scientific disciplines of organizing and managing a business. Traditionally, the Symposium has been an opportunity for its participants to share and exchange both academic and practical knowledge and experience in a pleasant and creative atmosphere. This time, however, due the challenging situation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided that all the essential activities planned for the International Symposium SymOrg 2020 should be carried out online between the 7th and the 9th of September 2020. We are very pleased that the topic of SymOrg 2020, “Business and Artificial Intelligence”, attracted researchers from different institutions, both in Serbia and abroad. Why is artificial intelligence a disruptive technology? Simply because “it significantly alters the way consumers, industries, or businesses operate.” According to the European Commission document titled Artificial Intelligence for Europe 2018, AI is a key disruptive technology that has just begun to reshape the world. The Government of the Republic of Serbia has also recognized the importance of AI for the further development of its economy and society and has prepared an AI Development Strategy for the period between 2020 and 2025. The first step has already been made: the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, after a public call, has selected and financed twelve AI projects. This year, more than 200 scholars and practitioners authored and co-authored the 94 scientific and research papers that had been accepted for publication in the Proceedings. All the contributions to the Proceedings are classified into the following 11 sections: Information Systems and Technologies in the Era of Digital Transformation Smart Business Models and Processes Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Sustainable Development Smart Environment for Marketing and Communications Digital Human Resource Management Smart E-Business Quality 4.0 and International Standards Application of Artificial Intelligence in Project Management Digital and Lean Operations Management Transformation of Financial Services Methods and Applications of Data Science in Business and Society We are very grateful to our distinguished keynote speakers: Prof. Moshe Vardi, Rice University, USA, Prof. Blaž Zupan, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Prof. Vladan Devedžić, University of Belgrade, Serbia, Milica Đurić-Jovičić, PhD, Director, Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, and Harri Ketamo, PhD, Founder & Chairman of HeadAI ltd., Finland. Also, special thanks to Prof. Dragan Vukmirović, University of Belgrade, Serbia and Prof. Zoran Ševarac, University of Belgrade, Serbia for organizing workshops in fields of Data Science and Machine Learning and to Prof. Rade Matić, Belgrade Business and Arts Academy of Applied Studies and Milan Dobrota, PhD, CEO at Agremo, Serbia, for their valuable contribution in presenting Serbian experiences in the field of AI. The Faculty of Organizational Sciences would to express its gratitude to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and all the individuals who have supported and contributed to the organization of the Symposium. We are particularly grateful to the contributors and reviewers who made this issue possible. But above all, we are especially thankful to the authors and presenters for making the SymOrg 2020 a success!

Data Envelopment Analysis and Effective Performance Assessment

Download Data Envelopment Analysis and Effective Performance Assessment PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : IGI Global
ISBN 13 : 1522505970
Total Pages : 375 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (225 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Data Envelopment Analysis and Effective Performance Assessment by : Lotfi, Farhad Hossein Zadeh

Download or read book Data Envelopment Analysis and Effective Performance Assessment written by Lotfi, Farhad Hossein Zadeh and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2016-09-01 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For any organization, analysis of performance and effectiveness through available data allows for informed decision making. Data envelopment analysis, or DEA, is a popular, effective method that can be used to measure productive efficiency in operations management assessment. Data Envelopment Analysis and Effective Performance Assessment addresses the myriad of practical uses and innovative developments of DEA. Emphasizing the importance of analyzing productivity by measuring inputs, goals, economic growth, and performance, this book covers a wide breadth of innovative knowledge. This book is essential reading for managers, business professionals, students of business and ICT, and computer engineers.

Preferential Voting and Applications: Approaches Based on Data Envelopment Analysis

Download Preferential Voting and Applications: Approaches Based on Data Envelopment Analysis PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3031304039
Total Pages : 190 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (313 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Preferential Voting and Applications: Approaches Based on Data Envelopment Analysis by : Mehdi Soltanifar

Download or read book Preferential Voting and Applications: Approaches Based on Data Envelopment Analysis written by Mehdi Soltanifar and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-05-19 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents the theory and application of the models presented in this regard and establishes a meaningful relationship between data envelopment analysis and multi-attribute decision making. The issue of "choice" using the aggregation of voters' votes is one of the most important group decision-making issues that are always considered by decision makers in electoral systems. Voting is a method of group decision making in a democratic society that expresses the will of the majority. Voting is perhaps the simplest way to gather the opinions of experts, and this ease of application has made it a multi-attribute decision-making method in group decisions. Preferential voting is a type of voting that may refer to electoral systems or groups of the electoral system. In preferential voting, voters vote for multiple candidates, and how the candidates are arranged on the ballot is important. Researchers have made many efforts to provide models of voter aggregation, and one of the best results of these efforts is the aggregation of votes based on the policy of data envelopment analysis. Thus, in group decisions, the opinions of experts are obtained in a simple structure and consolidated in an interactive and logical structure, and the results can be a powerful tool for decision support. This book provides a complete set of voting models based on data envelopment analysis and expressing its various applications in industry and society. However, most decision-making methods do not use the opinions of experts or reduce the motivation of experts to participate in complex interactions and time, while voting methods do not have this shortcoming. This book is suitable for graduate students in the fields of industrial management, business management, industrial engineering, applied mathematics, and economics. It can also be a good source for researchers in decision science, decision support systems, data envelopment analysis, supply chain management, healthcare management, and others. The methods presented in this book can not only offer a comprehensive framework for solving the problems of these areas but also can inspire researchers to pursue new innovative hybrid methods.

Bioinformatics

Download Bioinformatics PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : IGI Global
ISBN 13 : 146663605X
Total Pages : 1826 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (666 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Bioinformatics by : Information Resources Management Association

Download or read book Bioinformatics written by Information Resources Management Association and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2013-03-31 with total page 1826 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Bioinformatics: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications highlights the area of bioinformatics and its impact over the medical community with its innovations that change how we recognize and care for illnesses"--Provided by publisher.

Information Processing and Management of Uncertainty in Knowledge-Based Systems

Download Information Processing and Management of Uncertainty in Knowledge-Based Systems PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030501469
Total Pages : 779 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (35 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Information Processing and Management of Uncertainty in Knowledge-Based Systems by : Marie-Jeanne Lesot

Download or read book Information Processing and Management of Uncertainty in Knowledge-Based Systems written by Marie-Jeanne Lesot and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-06-05 with total page 779 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This three volume set (CCIS 1237-1239) constitutes the proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Information Processing and Management of Uncertainty in Knowledge-Based Systems, IPMU 2020, in June 2020. The conference was scheduled to take place in Lisbon, Portugal, at University of Lisbon, but due to COVID-19 pandemic it was held virtually. The 173 papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 213 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections: homage to Enrique Ruspini; invited talks; foundations and mathematics; decision making, preferences and votes; optimization and uncertainty; games; real world applications; knowledge processing and creation; machine learning I; machine learning II; XAI; image processing; temporal data processing; text analysis and processing; fuzzy interval analysis; theoretical and applied aspects of imprecise probabilities; similarities in artificial intelligence; belief function theory and its applications; aggregation: theory and practice; aggregation: pre-aggregation functions and other generalizations of monotonicity; aggregation: aggregation of different data structures; fuzzy methods in data mining and knowledge discovery; computational intelligence for logistics and transportation problems; fuzzy implication functions; soft methods in statistics and data analysis; image understanding and explainable AI; fuzzy and generalized quantifier theory; mathematical methods towards dealing with uncertainty in applied sciences; statistical image processing and analysis, with applications in neuroimaging; interval uncertainty; discrete models and computational intelligence; current techniques to model, process and describe time series; mathematical fuzzy logic and graded reasoning models; formal concept analysis, rough sets, general operators and related topics; computational intelligence methods in information modelling, representation and processing.

Systemic Approaches in Bioinformatics and Computational Systems Biology: Recent Advances

Download Systemic Approaches in Bioinformatics and Computational Systems Biology: Recent Advances PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : IGI Global
ISBN 13 : 1613504365
Total Pages : 335 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (135 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Systemic Approaches in Bioinformatics and Computational Systems Biology: Recent Advances by : Lecca, Paola

Download or read book Systemic Approaches in Bioinformatics and Computational Systems Biology: Recent Advances written by Lecca, Paola and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2011-12-31 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The convergence of biology and computer science was initially motivated by the need to organize and process a growing number of biological observations resulting from rapid advances in experimental techniques. Today, however, close collaboration between biologists, biochemists, medical researchers, and computer scientists has also generated remarkable benefits for the field of computer science. Systemic Approaches in Bioinformatics and Computational Systems Biology: Recent Advances presents new techniques that have resulted from the application of computer science methods to the organization and interpretation of biological data. The book covers three subject areas: bioinformatics, computational biology, and computational systems biology. It focuses on recent, systemic approaches in computer science and mathematics that have been used to model, simulate, and more generally, experiment with biological phenomena at any scale.

Knowledge-based Software Engineering

Download Knowledge-based Software Engineering PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : IOS Press
ISBN 13 : 1586039008
Total Pages : 560 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (86 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Knowledge-based Software Engineering by : Maria Virvou

Download or read book Knowledge-based Software Engineering written by Maria Virvou and published by IOS Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Addresses various topics in the context of knowledge-based software engineering, including challenges that have arisen in this area of research. This book includes topics such as knowledge-based requirements engineering, domain analysis and modeling; development processes for knowledge-based applications; and, knowledge acquisition.

Session-Based Recommender Systems Using Deep Learning

Download Session-Based Recommender Systems Using Deep Learning PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3031425596
Total Pages : 314 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (314 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Session-Based Recommender Systems Using Deep Learning by : Reza Ravanmehr

Download or read book Session-Based Recommender Systems Using Deep Learning written by Reza Ravanmehr and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2024-01-21 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on the widespread use of deep neural networks and their various techniques in session-based recommender systems (SBRS). It presents the success of using deep learning techniques in many SBRS applications from different perspectives. For this purpose, the concepts and fundamentals of SBRS are fully elaborated, and different deep learning techniques focusing on the development of SBRS are studied. The book is well-modularized, and each chapter can be read in a stand-alone manner based on individual interests and needs. In the first chapter of the book, definitions and concepts related to SBRS are reviewed, and a taxonomy of different SBRS approaches is presented, where the characteristics and applications of each class are discussed separately. The second chapter starts with the basic concepts of deep learning and the characteristics of each model. Then, each deep learning model, along with its architecture and mathematical foundations, is introduced. Next, chapter 3 analyses different approaches of deep discriminative models in session-based recommender systems. In the fourth chapter, session-based recommender systems that benefit from deep generative neural networks are discussed. Subsequently, chapter 5 discusses session-based recommender systems using advanced/hybrid deep learning models. Eventually, chapter 6 reviews different learning-to-rank methods focusing on information retrieval and recommender system domains. Finally, the results of the investigations and findings from the research review conducted throughout the book are presented in a conclusive summary. This book aims at researchers who intend to use deep learning models to solve the challenges related to SBRS. The target audience includes researchers entering the field, graduate students specializing in recommender systems, web data mining, information retrieval, or machine/deep learning, and advanced industry developers working on recommender systems.

Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery in Databases

Download Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery in Databases PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 354087481X
Total Pages : 721 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (48 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery in Databases by : Walter Daelemans

Download or read book Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery in Databases written by Walter Daelemans and published by Springer. This book was released on 2008-08-17 with total page 721 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the joint conference on Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery in Databases: ECML PKDD 2008, held in Antwerp, Belgium, in September 2008. The 100 papers presented in two volumes, together with 5 invited talks, were carefully reviewed and selected from 521 submissions. In addition to the regular papers the volume contains 14 abstracts of papers appearing in full version in the Machine Learning Journal and the Knowledge Discovery and Databases Journal of Springer. The conference intends to provide an international forum for the discussion of the latest high quality research results in all areas related to machine learning and knowledge discovery in databases. The topics addressed are application of machine learning and data mining methods to real-world problems, particularly exploratory research that describes novel learning and mining tasks and applications requiring non-standard techniques.

Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling and Prediction

Download Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling and Prediction PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3642372104
Total Pages : 550 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (423 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling and Prediction by : Ariel M. Greenberg

Download or read book Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling and Prediction written by Ariel M. Greenberg and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-03-02 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book constitutes the proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling and Prediction, SBP 2013, held in Washington, DC, USA in April 2013. The total of 57 contributions, which consists of papers and posters, included in this volume was carefully reviewed and selected from 137 submissions. This conference is strongly committed to multidisciplinarity, consistent with recent trends in computational social science and related fields. The topics covered are: behavioral science, health sciences, military science and information science. There are also many papers that provide methodological innovation as well as new domain-specific findings.

Software Cost Estimation, Benchmarking, and Risk Assessment

Download Software Cost Estimation, Benchmarking, and Risk Assessment PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 3642307647
Total Pages : 337 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (423 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Software Cost Estimation, Benchmarking, and Risk Assessment by : Adam Trendowicz

Download or read book Software Cost Estimation, Benchmarking, and Risk Assessment written by Adam Trendowicz and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-01-10 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Software effort estimation is a key element of software project planning and management. Yet, in industrial practice, the important role of effort estimation is often underestimated and/or misunderstood. In this book, Adam Trendowicz presents the CoBRA method (an abbreviation for Cost Estimation, Benchmarking, and Risk Assessment) for estimating the effort required to successfully complete a software development project, which uniquely combines human judgment and measurement data in order to systematically create a custom-specific effort estimation model. CoBRA goes far beyond simply predicting the development effort; it supports project decision-makers in negotiating the project scope, managing project risks, benchmarking productivity, and directing improvement activities. To illustrate the method’s practical use, the book reports several real-world cases where CoBRA was applied in various industrial contexts. These cases represent different estimation contexts in terms of software project environment, estimation objectives, and estimation constraints. This book is the result of a successful collaboration between the process management division of Fraunhofer IESE and many software companies in the field of software engineering technology transfer. It mainly addresses software practitioners who deal with planning and managing software development projects as part of their daily work, and is also of interest for students or courses specializing in software engineering or software project management.

Software Product Management

Download Software Product Management PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3662651165
Total Pages : 338 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (626 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Software Product Management by : Hans-Bernd Kittlaus

Download or read book Software Product Management written by Hans-Bernd Kittlaus and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-07-04 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Software Product Management (SPM) is a key success factor for software products and software-intensive products. This book gives a comprehensive overview on SPM for beginners as well as best practices, methodology and in-depth discussions for experienced product managers. This includes product strategy, product planning, participation in strategic management activities and orchestration of the functional units of the company. The book is based on the results of the International Software Product Management Association (ISPMA®, SPM Body of Knowledge V.2) which is led by a group of SPM experts from industry and research with the goal to foster software product management excellence across industries. This book can be used as textbook for ISPMA®-based education and as guide for anybody interested in SPM as one of the most exciting and challenging disciplines in the business of software.

Statistical Methods for Ranking Data

Download Statistical Methods for Ranking Data PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 1493914715
Total Pages : 276 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (939 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Statistical Methods for Ranking Data by : Mayer Alvo

Download or read book Statistical Methods for Ranking Data written by Mayer Alvo and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-09-02 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book introduces advanced undergraduate, graduate students and practitioners to statistical methods for ranking data. An important aspect of nonparametric statistics is oriented towards the use of ranking data. Rank correlation is defined through the notion of distance functions and the notion of compatibility is introduced to deal with incomplete data. Ranking data are also modeled using a variety of modern tools such as CART, MCMC, EM algorithm and factor analysis. This book deals with statistical methods used for analyzing such data and provides a novel and unifying approach for hypotheses testing. The techniques described in the book are illustrated with examples and the statistical software is provided on the authors’ website.

ECAI 2012

Download ECAI 2012 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : IOS Press
ISBN 13 : 1614990980
Total Pages : 1056 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (149 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis ECAI 2012 by : C. Bessiere

Download or read book ECAI 2012 written by C. Bessiere and published by IOS Press. This book was released on 2012-08-15 with total page 1056 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a vital part in the continued development of computer science and informatics. The AI applications employed in fields such as medicine, economics, linguistics, philosophy, psychology and logical analysis, not forgetting industry, are now indispensable for the effective functioning of a multitude of systems. This book presents the papers from the 20th biennial European Conference on Artificial Intelligence, ECAI 2012, held in Montpellier, France, in August 2012. The ECAI conference remains Europe's principal opportunity for researchers and practitioners of Artificial Intelligence to gather and to discuss the latest trends and challenges in all subfields of AI, as well as to demonstrate innovative applications and uses of advanced AI technology. ECAI 2012 featured four keynote speakers, an extensive workshop program, seven invited tutorials and the new Frontiers of Artificial Intelligence track, in which six invited speakers delivered perspective talks on particularly interesting new research results, directions and trends in Artificial Intelligence or in one of its related fields. The proceedings of PAIS 2012 and the System Demonstrations Track are also included in this volume, which will be of interest to all those wishing to keep abreast of the latest developments in the field of AI.

Weighting Methods and their Effects on Multi-Criteria Decision Making Model Outcomes in Water Resources Management

Download Weighting Methods and their Effects on Multi-Criteria Decision Making Model Outcomes in Water Resources Management PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319125869
Total Pages : 173 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (191 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Weighting Methods and their Effects on Multi-Criteria Decision Making Model Outcomes in Water Resources Management by : Noorul Hassan Zardari

Download or read book Weighting Methods and their Effects on Multi-Criteria Decision Making Model Outcomes in Water Resources Management written by Noorul Hassan Zardari and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-10-30 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a systematic way of how to make better decisions in water resources management. The applications of three weighting methods namely rating, ranking, and ratio are discussed in this book. Additionally, data mining on keywords is presented using three popular scholarly databases: Science Direct, Scopus, and SciVerse. Four abbreviated keywords (MCDM, MCDA, MCA, MADM) representing multi-criteria decision-making were used and these three databases were searched for different popular weighting methods for a period of 13 years (2000-2012). The book provides also a review of weighting methods applied in various multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods and also presents survey results on priority ranking of watershed management criteria undertaken by 30 undergraduate and postgraduate students from the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

Cognitive Aspects of Human-Computer Interaction for GIS

Download Cognitive Aspects of Human-Computer Interaction for GIS PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MDPI
ISBN 13 : 303921568X
Total Pages : 196 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (392 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cognitive Aspects of Human-Computer Interaction for GIS by : Dieter Fritsch

Download or read book Cognitive Aspects of Human-Computer Interaction for GIS written by Dieter Fritsch and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2019-10-04 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book is dealing with recent progress in human–computer interaction (HCI) related to geographic information science (GIS). The Editorial starts with an overview about the evolution of the Internet and first HCI concepts and stimulates recent HCI developments using 3D and 4D apps, running on all mobile devices with OS Android, iOS, Linus, and Windows. Eight research articles present the state-of-the-art in HCI–GIS-related issues, starting with gender and age differences in using indoor maps via the estimation of building heights from space to an efficient visualization method for polygonal data with dynamic simplification. The review article deals with progress and challenges on entity alignment of geographic knowledge bases.

The Democracy Sourcebook

Download The Democracy Sourcebook PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262541473
Total Pages : 580 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (414 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Democracy Sourcebook by : Robert A. Dahl

Download or read book The Democracy Sourcebook written by Robert A. Dahl and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2003-08-15 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Democracy Sourcebook offers a collection of classic writings and contemporary scholarship on democracy, creating a book that can be used by undergraduate and graduate students in a wide variety of courses, including American politics, international relations, comparative politics, and political philosophy. The editors have chosen substantial excerpts from the essential theorists of the past, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Stuart Mill, Alexis de Tocqueville, and the authors of The Federalist Papers; they place them side by side with the work of such influential modern scholars as Joseph Schumpeter, Adam Przeworski, Seymour Martin Lipset, Samuel P. Huntington, Ronald Dworkin, and Amartya Sen. The book is divided into nine self-contained chapters: "Defining Democracy," which discusses procedural, deliberative, and substantive democracy; "Sources of Democracy," on why democracy exists in some countries and not in others; "Democracy, Culture, and Society," about cultural and sociological preconditions for democracy; "Democracy and Constitutionalism," which focuses on the importance of independent courts and a bill of rights; "Presidentialism versus Parliamentarianism"; "Representation," discussing which is the fairest system of democratic accountability; "Interest Groups"; "Democracy's Effects," an examination of the effect of democracy on economic growth and social inequality; and finally, "Democracy and the Global Order" discusses the effects of democracy on international relations, including the propensity for war and the erosion of national sovereignty by transnational forces.