Practicing a Virtuous Politics
Bill Bolling and the Atlanta Community Food Bank
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6364306 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John Clayton Thomas (Georgia State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 77 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 933-941 |
| Publication date | 2017-07-07 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Public Administration Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0033-3352 • E-ISSN: 1540-6210 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/puar.12810 |
| OpenAlex | W2732619121 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 14 |
Bill Bolling created the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) in 1979 and, as its executive director from then until 2015, transformed a fledgling effort in a church basement into the “equivalent of a $100 million company.” This article tells the story of how Bolling built the ACFB from scratch, arguing that his accomplishments can be traced to his effectiveness as a political leader. The article explains how Bolling practiced a virtuous politics in building informal sources of power and in developing and applying political skills on behalf of the ACFB. In the process, the article challenges the traditional critical scholarly view of political leadership, offering Bolling as a case illustration of an emerging theory of a benevolent and effective form of political leadership
Archaeology · Atlanta · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · History · Law · Management and Organizational Studies · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Public Policy and Administration Research
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |