essays on political leadership

The Top Ten Most-Read Essays of 2021

In 2021, democracy’s fortunes were tested, and a tumultuous world became even more turbulent. Democratic setbacks arose in places as far flung as Burma, El Salvador, Tunisia, and Sudan, and a 20-year experiment in Afghanistan collapsed in days. The world’s democracies were beset by rising polarization, and people watched in shock as an insurrection took place in the United States. In a year marked by high political drama, economic unrest, and rising assaults on democracy, we at the  Journal of Democracy  sought to provide insight and analysis of the forces that imperil freedom. Here are our 10 most-read essays of 2021:

Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez Nayib Bukele has developed a blend of political tactics that combines populist appeals and classic autocratic behavior with a polished social-media brand. It poses a dire threat to the country’s democratic institutions.

• Search Menu

Sign in through your institution

• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Numismatics
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Social History
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Emotions
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Acquisition
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Religion
• Music and Media
• Music and Culture
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Politics
• Law and Society
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Legal System - Costs and Funding
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Restitution
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Toxicology
• Medical Oncology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Medical Ethics
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Security
• Computer Games
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business Strategy
• Business Ethics
• Business History
• Business and Government
• Business and Technology
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Social Issues in Business and Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic Systems
• Economic History
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Social Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Sustainability
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• Ethnic Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Political Theory
• Politics and Law
• Politics of Development
• Public Administration
• Public Policy
• Qualitative Political Methodology
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Disability Studies
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

Political Leadership: Themes, Contexts, and Critiques

Professor of International Politics

• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

Political leadership is afflicted by an enduring split between the biographical idiosyncrasies of individual leaders and the specialist contributions from an array of social science disciplines. This new study is designed to establish an improved balance between this confusing duality of approaches. It engages with an expansive range of empirical, theoretical, and interpretive research into the issue of leadership but does so in a way that ensures that the political character of the subject is kept securely in the foreground. There is a clear emphasis upon leaders embedded in their political contexts and viscerally connected to high-level issues of political location and status, political power and legitimacy, and political functions and contingencies. The rationale is to put the subject of political leadership back together. The book engages with leadership’s analytical challenges whilst retaining space for the immediacy, allure, and drama of leadership in action—with a host of illustrations. The cumulative design moves from an in-depth analysis of the core components of political leadership to an examination of a series of key dimensions relating to political psychology, leadership activity, and contextual shifts—including the themes of representation, communication, marketing, followership, rhetoric, business influence, leadership life-cycles, ethics, and the issue of women leaders. It goes on to survey the developmental properties of the international sphere before concluding with a substantive review of the changing ecologies of leadership activity and the different ways that we come to terms with the theme of political leadership in an increasingly complex world.

Personal account

• Sign in with email/username & password
• Get email alerts
• Save searches
• Purchase content
• Activate your purchase/trial code
• Add your ORCID iD

Institutional access

Sign in with a library card.

• Sign in with username/password
• Recommend to your librarian
• Institutional account management
• Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

• Click Sign in through your institution.
• Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
• When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
• Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

• Click Sign in through society site.
• When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

• View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
• View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Rights and permissions
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Programs submenu

Regions submenu, topics submenu, solving the world’s hardest problems with mellody hobson: closing the racial wealth gap, weapons in space: a virtual book talk with dr. aaron bateman, u.s.-australia-japan trilateral cooperation on strategic stability in the taiwan strait report launch.

• Abshire-Inamori Leadership Academy
• Aerospace Security Project
• Africa Program
• Americas Program
• Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy
• Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative
• Asia Program
• Australia Chair
• Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy
• Brzezinski Institute on Geostrategy
• Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies
• China Power Project
• Chinese Business and Economics
• Defending Democratic Institutions
• Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group
• Defense 360
• Defense Budget Analysis
• Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs Project
• Economics Program
• Emeritus Chair in Strategy
• Energy Security and Climate Change Program
• Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program
• Freeman Chair in China Studies
• Futures Lab
• Geoeconomic Council of Advisers
• Global Food and Water Security Program
• Global Health Policy Center
• Hess Center for New Frontiers
• Human Rights Initiative
• Humanitarian Agenda
• Intelligence, National Security, and Technology Program
• International Security Program
• Japan Chair
• Kissinger Chair
• Korea Chair
• Langone Chair in American Leadership
• Middle East Program
• Missile Defense Project
• Project on Critical Minerals Security
• Project on Fragility and Mobility
• Project on Nuclear Issues
• Project on Prosperity and Development
• Project on Trade and Technology
• Renewing American Innovation
• Scholl Chair in International Business
• Smart Women, Smart Power
• Southeast Asia Program
• Stephenson Ocean Security Project
• Strategic Technologies Program
• Sustainable Development and Resilience Initiative
• Wadhwani Center for AI and Advanced Technologies
• Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program
• All Regions
• Australia, New Zealand & Pacific
• Middle East
• Russia and Eurasia
• American Innovation
• Civic Education
• Climate Change
• Cybersecurity
• Defense Budget and Acquisition
• Defense and Security
• Energy and Sustainability
• Food Security
• Gender and International Security
• Geopolitics
• Global Health
• Human Rights
• Humanitarian Assistance
• Intelligence
• International Development
• Maritime Issues and Oceans
• Missile Defense
• Nuclear Issues
• Transnational Threats
• Water Security

A New Political Leadership for the Twenty-First Century

Photo: RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images

Table of Contents

Report by Marcos Peña

Published December 8, 2021

Available Downloads

• Download the Full Report 121kb
• Download the Spanish Report 154kb

Rethinking the Personal Dimension of Politics

This work comes from a personal search. In December 2019, after 16 years in public office, I finished my job as chief of cabinet of ministers for President Mauricio Macri’s administration in Argentina. At 42 years old, and after many years of being at the political forefront, I was drained and decided to step back a bit to be able to have perspective and process the lived experience.

I had the invaluable collaboration of Alberto Lederman, an Argentine consultant on leadership and organizations, for that process. He is a wise man who taught me a lot on the importance of the human and personal dimension of leadership. I learned many of the ideas that I write in this paper from him, his experience, his perspective, and from the many conversations we have had in the past three years. He also helped me understand that in order to help others you must take care of yourself.  

At first, I organized the task by writing about and reviewing the political process that had taken us from the creation of a new local party in 2003 in the city of Buenos Aires to governing the country. What had we learned? What had gone well and what hadn’t? What were the innovations that we were able to implement and what were the changes that were not achieved? Finally, I wanted to try to understand clearly why we could not win the reelection, frustrating a transformation process that had generated great hope in the country and in the region.

As I progressed with that task, I did more personal work, trying to better understand what I had felt and lived in those years. I wanted to avoid remaining trapped in the intensity of what I had experienced, as I saw it happen many times to those who held an important position and remained stuck in that experience.

One of the lessons learned took place when I asked people I had worked with to help me take a closer look at things I had to work on or that stood out. I had nearly 50 conversations asking feedback on a more personal level, and what struck me was how emotional issues and interpersonal bonding always came up. What each one took away from the shared experience were hopes, enthusiasm, frustrations, disagreements, joy, and sadness. Of course, political, managerial, or ideological discussions also arose, but they were always within the framework of what they experienced on a personal level.

What I learned confirmed that there was something worth exploring further. I began to work more systematically to understand the personal and human dimensions of leadership. I was finding valuable people and tools that could be useful for other leaders who would face challenges like those I had faced. And I saw that there was a different perspective of the world of leadership to explore—different from the more rational one in which I had been trained, first as a graduate student in political science, then as a politician. That process outlined the path that led to this paper.

The Personal Dimension of Politics

In general, the formation of a politician is rational, and he tends to omit his personhood as his career progresses. This omission takes him away from a more comprehensive look at himself, generating potential mental, physical, and emotional health problems that end up amplifying self-reliance and the difficulty of making emotional connections.

As you grow in your political career and assume more tasks, a defense mechanism is triggered that takes you to survival mode, a state that each person lives differently, but that generally puts you on the defensive—more disconnected from emotions, less able to empathize with other people. Living in permanent conflict, defending positions, making decisions, and receiving criticism and attacks leads to an addictive model where tactical operations become the habitual drug.

In general, the formation of a politician is rational, and he tends to omit his personhood as his career progresses.

Added to this complicated dynamic are the trappings of fame and public exposure. Being well known in a hyper-communication society like the one we live in is something that has an impact on the individual and their family. It is neither neutral nor natural. It restricts your freedom, it has an impact on the people around you, and it redefines relationships. In short, it increases loneliness and unleashes those defense mechanisms. But nobody prepares you for that. It is an omitted phenomenon, even though it would seem to be quite obvious that by dedicating oneself to politics, one ends up becoming well known.

Political science in general does not focus on understanding fame and how it impacts a person. It is also something that has changed significantly in recent years with the advancement of digital communication. Let’s think about how smartphones have become widespread in the last 10 years, giving rise to platforms such as YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram or platforms such as Netflix and Spotify that did not exist until relatively recently. That led me to try to better understand other worlds where similar phenomena occur, such as the worlds of sports and entertainment. I found many parallels, many similar situations, and many metaphors that could help me better understand the challenges I had experienced. But it also allowed me to see how the new communications reality is impacting these worlds, since today’s artists and athletes also receive demands from society that they have not been prepared for.

Understanding the world of sports provides insight into what it takes to perform at the highest levels, even in other fields. Looking at the political experience from the person’s perspective—the individual’s perspective—and not just from the ideological, intellectual, or institutional perspective allowed me to see that there were many tools available that were not being leveraged and that could be very useful. I also saw that there were new realities that required new approaches.

I also looked for experiences in the business world, where there are many biographies and a large amount of content dedicated to rethinking how human capital is organized and how it is developed. It is clearly seen there how the old vertical and pyramidal corporate model is being overcome by a more horizontal and collaborative leadership. Today’s most dynamic companies invest time and resources thinking about these issues, something very difficult to find in the world of politics.

Another Pandemic: A Crisis of Leadership and Representation

In parallel, I was fortunate to be able to work with political leaders from several Latin American countries, generally helping them on issues of strategic communication and electoral campaign management—issues that I have been working on for many years.

That regional perspective allowed me to see firsthand the loneliness and lack of tools that many young and emerging leaders experience across the continent. The muscles that end up being overdeveloped are narcissism and self-sufficiency—not as a defect, but as a survival tool. They are all overwhelmed, trying to lead with a very weak political institutional framework, like boats in the middle of a rough sea.

There was little point in asking them to think strategically, to design a more horizontal and empathetic leadership, to allow for team building, or to think long term, because they were basically trying to survive from day to day.

In moments of euphoria when they had been doing well in their circumstances, their self-sufficiency increased; in moments of decline and crisis, depression and paralysis were enhanced. But this is not an individual problem; it is more structural in nature. Often, this goes unnoticed because the problem of leadership is not usually looked at from a broader perspective, amplifying the feeling that it is something that only affects one’s own country.

The Covid-19 pandemic acted as an accelerator for this trend, exponentially increasing complexity and uncertainty and making the task much trickier due to the difficulty of drawing a roadmap and due to the impact on the individual’s day-to-day life. In addition, the explosion of the virtual world strengthened the trend toward a life without intermediation and with fewer meeting spaces, where it is more difficult for us to find ourselves.

This also exposed how limited our national and international institutions have become in tackling global issues. As Yuval Noah Harari suggests in his book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century , we must think of institutional solutions that can face global issues more effectively than our current solutions. Think of “the connection between the great revolutions of our era and the inner life of individuals.” That is why he recommends meditation. Think of the global and the personal as two scales for the twenty-first century.

Updating Political Leadership

Barbara Tuchman asked how good human beings are at leading us in her book March of Folly , telling us: “A remarkable phenomenon throughout history beyond place or period is the execution of policies from governments that are contrary to their own interests. Humanity, it would seem, performs worse on government than on almost any other human activity. In this realm, wisdom, defined as the exercise of judgment based on experience, common sense, and available information, is less operative and more thwarted than it should be.”

Historically, political leadership was embodied by people who based their power on not being equal to the rest of human beings. Kings, emperors, and chiefs alike were characterized by being superhuman—beings who bordered on the divine or who were chosen by the deities. The architecture of power reflects that distance, which hid and alienated the leader from his subjects. It was a vertical and highly personalistic power.

Over time, that type of leadership was questioned, and a more rational—and, in some parts of the world, more democratic—leadership was sought, although we still see personalist and populist charismatic leaders persist today. We also see leaders who are deified and who did not have this characteristic but who, after their death, are taken to the cult of personality, distancing them from their human condition.

In the book In Sickness and in Power , David Owen shows us the reality behind this deification, narrating in medical-professional detail the mental and physical health problems that the great leaders of the twentieth century had, especially the so-called Hubris Syndrome . He defines it as a temporary disorder suffered by people with power, characterized by the exaltation of the ego, excessiveness, contempt for the opinions of others, loss of contact with reality, and other problems that lead to self-destruction.

This conception of leadership also has another very complex side effect: it scares many people away from the possibility of becoming leaders. If you think that to be a leader you must be a chosen one, somebody superior from the rest, then it’s probable you will exclude yourself from that category. Understanding that the heroes, the founding fathers, and the great leaders of humanity were and are as human as everyone else is key.

In Latin America, this vertical tradition was combined with the culture of the caudillo, which combines religious elements with a power based on being the incarnation of the people. That leadership style always had dramatic aspects of sacrifice and of express omission of oneself for the “love of the people.” The leader never retires; he is always willing to sacrifice longer for the people. It does not occur to him to train new people and he can justify corruption or any abuse of power in his redemptive mission.

This tradition coexisted with a more liberal political culture, which promoted a leadership more attuned with that of the Saxon countries: institutional and republican. The difficulty many of these leaders have is that they tend to have a technocratic or bureaucratic background, but little capacity to connect emotionally with the population. A leader’s training may be intellectual, and his experience may come from management, but that does not necessarily give him the tools for emotional bonding.

In Latin America, this vertical tradition was combined with the culture of the caudillo, which combines religious elements with a power based on being the incarnation of the people. That leadership style always had dramatic aspects of sacrifice and of express omission of oneself for the “love of the people.”

Both are vertical models, and if we look at the last decades in the region, we will see them competing with different levels of success depending on the country. But over time, a crisis of representation has grown in much of the continent. Societies that have radically changed the way they connect, consume, and inform themselves must choose between political leaders who continue to try to replicate outdated formulas and emerging leaders who are unprepared or opportunistic, building on people’s resentment and disenchantment.

Resentment and disenchantment exacerbate the problem, since many see political leaders at best as a privileged group unable to solve problems and at worst as corrupt individuals who take advantage of and abuse power. So, any remuneration is going to be too high, any leisure is going to be seen as superfluous, any weakness as inability. It is a model destined to fail because nothing good can come out of that dynamic.

The crisis of political representation is not a problem of demand—understood as what citizens expect from leaders—but rather a problem stemming from the difficulties of the leaders. That is why we should rethink the leadership model. We need to prepare our politicians not only in ethical and moral values and in management capabilities, but also in understanding the world. We must also help them to fully know themselves; take care of themselves; and prepare mentally, emotionally, and physically for the hyper-demanding task of ruling without losing touch with their humanity, thus reducing the risk of Hubris Syndrome.

In this context of volatility, uncertainty, and complexity, we should look at the human dimension, seeing empathy and an emotional bond with the population as a basic and necessary condition. That requires moving away from caudillista, messianic, charismatic, or technocratic leadership models. Awareness of your humanity and connection with others is a path that helps prevent the evils of abuse of power or bad rulers. In ancient Rome, the Caesars had a slave whose task was to whisper in their ear that they were mortal. Since the existence of man, there has been insight into how power impacts the individual, how to prevent the madness of power, and how to ensure good rulers.

We should also think of a more collective and group dimension to leadership, understanding that we should not expect a single person to effectively manage so much complexity. We should look at the models of groups, teams, and orchestras, where there is someone who leads more like a coordinator of a team of peers, not as a messianic leader. This leadership model can lead us to a breakthrough in thinking of ways for the electoral political supply to rest not on a single person, but rather on teams that put shared work as a value before society.

Political leadership should be designed in such a way as to reduce the risks of self-sufficiency, of the group mentality that usually surrounds personalistic leadership, and of unsustainability due to the concentration of risks assumed by those who excessively become the decisionmakers. This will make room for the emotional component that reduces the dehumanization produced by the wear and tear of the exercise of power.

The institutional design of the state and political organizations is old and obsolete, making it difficult to think about this different type of leadership. The very architecture of government buildings reflects a culture not even from the twentieth century, but often from the nineteenth century or earlier. All the symbols of power that continue to be used, especially in the international relations protocol, are in dissonance with a world that has advanced to another place. The current leadership model is pompous, vertical, cold, and distant. Presidents spend many hours and days in ceremonies that are often seen by citizens as archaic and somewhat ridiculous dances.

That is why it becomes so important to think about how to help leaders get out of that model. Otherwise, it is very difficult to maintain a connection from that place to a society that lives in another time and in another world.

Who Takes Care of Political Leaders?

As the crisis in representation and political parties escalates, there is no institution today that is well positioned to work on the training, development, and care of the human capital dedicated to political leadership.

Civil society organizations, academic institutions, foundations, and think tanks that work to support political training have a specific approach, which is important in that it provides tools, but it cannot replace day-to-day or long-term strategies.

It would not be enough for a player of any elite sport to take a clinic for a couple of weeks a year to train and educate himself, nor would it help him if his training only took place during his four years at a university. There’s no question in worlds such as high-performance sports that for a person to perform at their maximum potential, certain things are required in addition to their talent and will: training, taking care of their physical body, working on their mental health, having a team that accompanies the athlete, and using technology that allows for performance evaluation. The team is led by a coach who is accompanied by specialists in various disciplines, such as nutrition, physical preparation, psychological support, and technology.

There is none of that in politics today because we do not conceive of it as a high-performance activity and because there are no institutions prepared to carry out this task.

That leads one to wonder why the health of leaders is still a taboo subject. In all countries, there has been a push to request affidavits of candidates’ net worth and assets, but the need to have affidavits of their mental and physical health is rarely considered. A soccer player must have a medical checkup before joining a club, but a minister joins a government without anyone knowing if he is healthy or has any illnesses. A leader’s health is thought to be a matter of privacy, but all other areas of his life are expected to be transparent and public. What does that tell us about how we conceive of leadership? What impact would it have for a politician to acknowledge that he suffers from problems with alcoholism, anxiety, eating disorders, insomnia, or panic attacks? Would it distance him from the general public, or would it connect him with the reality that a large part of society experiences?

If we do not prepare and support our leaders, we cannot expect to have good results. One must wonder why there is so much investment, technology, and science devoted to training and caring for people who are dedicated to other tasks that have much less impact on our society, but we do not do the same with the people who take on the task of political leadership.

Some may argue that this training task is the responsibility of each person who wants to run for a leadership position, and that this selection will be done through elections. But I contend that it is a serious mistake to think that coming to power is sufficient evidence of one’s ability and preparation.

The citizen chooses among people who are willing to enter politics and who combine virtues and abilities, but who will never be able to embody all of them. In addition, each citizen prioritizes different criteria when choosing. For some, the most important thing is that a political leader be a person of integrity; for others, that they have management skills; for others, that they be a person sensitive to their problems; or perhaps, simply, that they channel a citizen’s anger or resentment.

But even if one assumes that the selection method is effective for choosing the most suitable people to lead, leaders come to power through elections with weak political parties, rules and institutions riddled with political struggles, and a skeptical citizenry with unresolved high demands. They will take their public position with lower salaries than the ones they could have in the private sector, with high personal and family exposure, with the certainty of having legal problems in the future—sometimes even running the risk of going to jail—and with too few tools to meet the demands made upon them. It is natural, then, that in this context the leader does not perform at his best and that defense mechanisms are built to survive.

Therefore, it is an issue of efficiency, which leads us to think that politicians should be trained and supported in a different way. It does not make sense to think that we can have good results in our societies without it. It is like thinking that we will win a soccer world cup or a gold medal in the Olympic games without all the preparation and the coaching and training of these athletes.

The intention of this work is not to close the debate by proposing a comprehensive solution. It seeks to alert us to the problem so that we become aware and work creatively, thinking of possible solutions. We cannot think that we will have healthy leadership with leaders who are not healthy themselves, and it is impossible to think that they will be if they do not have the tools and the help to go through the experience of handling power.

Expanding the Toolbox

The following are nine dimensions that should be included in a political leader’s toolbox. Not intended to be exhaustive academic research on each topic, the objectives of this section are: (1) that it serves as a foundation on which to build a syllabus, whose objective is to create awareness and provide concrete tools that can become habits; (2) that it provides a self-examination reference tool for those in a leadership role to use; and (3) that it becomes the basis of a permanent initiative, thinking about the design of support teams that can support the leaders at each stage of their career.

All these issues feed and complement each other and offer different ways to help leaders be more connected with their humanity and with their emotions and, thus, be more effective in their role and more sustainable in the long term.

• The Emotional Side: Mental Health

It is essential to work on self-awareness, mental health care, connection with emotions, and psychological support in an activity as demanding as politics. Without this work, the chances of being a healthy and sustainable person after many years in leadership tasks are almost nil. Exhaustion and burnout, depression, panic attacks, or more complex disorders haunt anyone who is exposed to so much stress.

Interestingly, though the way power sickens has been studied throughout history, there are not many cases of political leaders who have recognized that they suffer or suffered from mental health problems. This is an anachronism in a time where there is a growing awareness of the importance of mental health among the general population and where it is no longer a taboo, but something that everyone must take care of.

But beyond the possible diseases or disorders that a politician can live with, it is necessary to work on self-awareness to understand those things that impacted, shaped, and conditioned their lives.

According to Alberto Lederman, an Argentine business management expert: “All leaders have some trauma. I don’t know one that doesn’t. My theory, in short, is that lust for power is a trauma response. Because, just as not everyone needs to get high, not everyone is interested in power. You must have a biographical trauma to do certain things. You must have motive, compelling reasons to aspire to power, to want to make history, to seek prominence. If there is no conflict, there are no demands for redress.”

As discussed before, preventing the effects of Hubris Syndrome is key, and for that, awareness and professional help are required. Working with a mental health professional is a basic necessity for someone who is in a context of permanent stress.

In addition, there are other factors to consider, such as the impact of stress on our capacity for emotional bonding. Aggravated by permanent conflict, exposure, and personal attacks, the mind acts in self-defense by closing itself off. This decreases empathy just when it is needed most—when one is exercising a political leadership role in a government or in some other political office.

There is also abundant evidence on the usefulness of meditation as a practice that helps in self-knowledge, connection with the present, mental health, and reduction of stress and anxiety, among many other benefits.

Neuroscience has advanced in recent decades, and it can provide us with important self-awareness tools to know how our brain works, how it interacts with the rest of our body, and how it is affected by the stress context in which we move.

The spiritual and religious dimension also constitutes an important element to consider. It is important to understand how it shapes our beliefs and values, our thought process, our self-knowledge practices, and our relationship with transcendence. Although it is a more private dimension, omitting it from the analysis implies leaving out a dimension that occupies an important part of people’s lives.

• The Body: High Performance

It is known that the body needs to breathe, sleep, eat, and train in order to perform at its best. However, most of us don’t know how to do these things well, and what we do know is often put aside in times of high demand.

The case of political leaders is more dramatic, as Pepe Sánchez— former NBA basketball player and Olympic medalist, who is today dedicated to thinking about well-being and high performance—says, “The human body is not prepared to make so many decisions and be in a context of persistent stress.” 1

There is even the myth that the best politician is the one who sacrifices himself by sleeping little and eating poorly for the well-being of the people. It goes along the same lines that a good leader is one who totally neglects himself—even a premature death consecrates him in his sacrifice for the people.

The view of political leaders taking care of their bodies becomes even more necessary when you consider that the athlete has a career limited by age, but the political leader has a much longer career. There is enormous opportunity for improvement in strengthening the entire training system, as the political experience is a longer one and therefore provides more time for learning and training. Today, we can learn from the many experiences of high-performance athletes who have prolonged their competitive lives.

Sánchez explains:

In sports we not only compete against rivals, but we also compete with stressors. My experience was that once I achieved all my sporting goals, I felt a great void. The big question is why am I doing this? You block your emotions and your vulnerability. And that happens to many high achievers, from different disciplines. They also block what happens in their bodies and their emotions; they only rely on their brain. We must train them to take a more comprehensive look at themselves. In addition, every leader should have a toolbox that includes breathing techniques, daily movement, rehydration, how to eat out, and the subject of sleep. 2

Technology today has made it more accessible than ever to have permanent measuring instruments that keep us in touch with our physical performance. Even so, it is interesting to think that it is not only about leaders doing physical activity occasionally, but also about understanding that they must be in their best shape for what is an activity of enormous physical exhaustion. Relying on professionals for support in this process is also key, because as with the mental and emotional elements, self-sufficiency can lead us to want to solve it ourselves.

The support of doctors, nutritionists, physical trainers, kinesiologists, and other specialties is important if one wants to avoid voluntarism and wants to take advantage of scientific knowledge and advances that continue to develop.

This is a subject that knows no age, gender, or physical condition limits. We all have a body, and it needs to be at its best to be effective in leadership.

• Expression: Presence and Communication

Politicians often receive specific training on expression or rhetorical techniques for going up on stage to give a speech or going on a television interview. This is based on the premise that a leader goes on stage a few times a day or a week, and then “turns off” the communication mode to continue with their rational tasks. But today, the political leader is in permanent communication mode—always exposed—and for that, he needs to prepare differently.

We can learn a lot about the emotional dimension of communication from the knowledge that has developed in the artistic world. Isabelle Anderson, a specialist in training leaders in performance, says: “You have to acquire skills to handle your expressions and your body. Many just imitate what they think is right since they did not receive any tools. This generates something disingenuous that threatens connection.” 3 It is also known that a large part of communication is transmitted through vocal and physical expression, not just words.

Anderson continues:

By analyzing human behavior, I understood that authentic presence is what resonates with any audience. But presence needs energy to reach that audience. We must teach leaders that we communicate not only with words but with the energy of presence, and this can be trained. The problem is that many people climb up the ladder without the proper training and mental preparation to communicate; so, they end up appearing either contracted and less than their best selves, or imitating others and seeming fake. All this sadly prevents sincere, authentic communication. 4

This approach envisions that there must be an alignment between what one is, what one does, and what one says. It is no use thinking that one can dissociate and act out a character with the level of exposure we see today. This also requires training techniques practiced daily, as is done in physical training.

• Back to Nature: Rewilding

The day-to-day life of contemporary leaders takes place in an urban context, generally within government buildings or offices; while traveling by car, helicopter, or airplane; in brief outdoor activities; or in event rooms—in most contexts, often surrounded by security agents.

This greatly limits the contact leaders can have with nature, and therefore the connection with their own natural dimension. As much as we forget, human beings are part of the animal kingdom, and we need to be in contact with nature.

Nature helps a leader in many ways: contact with animals boosts empathy, spending time in nature gives us perspective and makes us humbler, and it connects us with something greater than ourselves.

Tomás Ceppi, a high mountain guide, says: “You don’t get the sense of security that nature gives you anywhere else. It is a pure and transparent relationship.” 5 This interesting mountaineering metaphor can teach us a lot about leadership—from the need to have a guide who has already made the journey and can help us through it, to the extreme teamwork in which your life depends on what your partner does, to the need to prepare yourself in lower experiences before climbing high peaks, to the challenge of going down once you have reached the top, among many others. Ceppi also highlights the need to understand what your motivation is when facing such a challenge.

Everyone can find the way they best like to connect with nature. Some will choose to garden or raise pets; others will seek to climb Aconcagua’s summit or other extreme adventures. In between, there are endless options. But the important thing is to be able to reflect on the need to have systematic contact with nature, not only as a place to relax or to take vacations, but also as a place to develop empathy, humility, and perspective.

• The Avatar: Managing Character and Fame

Being famous does not come naturally and generates various impacts one should try to prepare for. The separation between the person and the character one projects is one of the greatest challenges that someone faces when they become well known. How you handle that separation will depend a lot on how you can handle criticism and attacks, but also praise and idolatry.

The more national the figure one projects, the more their experience resembles that of the most well-known celebrities, be they artists, athletes, or other popular figures. However, there is little awareness that success in political activity will lead you to become famous, and that being famous will come with loss of freedom, impact on families and your inner circle, and constant stress caused by being seen by others.

Studying and learning about the experiences of non-political personalities who have gone through the phenomenon of fame can help to manage this situation and help when processing the emotional, psychological, and practical impact that fame brings. From this point, strategies can be learned to remain in touch with reality, such as preserving intimate spaces at times when it seems necessary to open it all up all the time, as well as working with children and family to help them manage the exposure, among many other necessary tools to manage fame’s impact.

• Connecting to Our Virtual World: Digital Nutrition

As Pablo Boczkowski explains in his book, Abundance: On the Experience of Living in a World of Plenty , living in an era with an abundance of content is a challenge that generates stress and conditions our lives, especially due to the impact generated by the use of the smartphone as a kind of prosthesis of our body.

Using a nutrition analogy and our body’s diet, the cell phone is today a portal to our digital life. This digital being coexists with our biological being, but the difference is that since it is a much more recent phenomenon, how its use impacts individuals has not been studied in depth.

What we digitally consume on our cell phones (or through other screens), both in quantity and quality, affects us mentally and emotionally. Given the addictive nature of digital platforms, we are very exposed to consuming a poor-quality digital diet, investing hours of the day on them.

Social networks and digital newspapers are our main source of information, and there are no curators to help us define criteria for use.

WhatsApp and other digital messaging services put us in a state of permanent demand and force us to be connected to the screen, receiving notifications from different hierarchies all the time and participating in multiple conversations even while we are physically together. In addition, it allows direct and unlimited contact with a huge number of people who expect contact without intermediaries and without delay. Before, you could send letters to a political leader, then emails, but always with a waiting period and a possible filter, which made the demands easier to manage for the leaders. Not anymore in today’s world.

The abundance of content generates another stressor for us since we have to choose from an infinite pool of worldwide content without necessarily having clear criteria.

When in a senior leadership position, this problem can become dramatic since it is entirely up to the leader how he will use his cell phone. Often, it can end up working as an antianxiety agent, and thus end up enhancing disconnection and stress.

• Perspective: Widening the Gaze

The human brain uses sight as a reference to manage vital functions. When our visual field is reduced, the alert mode is activated because our ability to detect threats is reduced. On the contrary, when the visual field is widened, our breathing and heart rate decrease due to a decrease in danger.

In terms of our day-to-day life, if we are constantly focused on the very short term, or on the hyper-local 20 centimeters that separate us from our screen, that lack of perspective becomes a permanent stressor and our thinking skills are dulled.

Visual perspective can be trained, but it can also be worked on from the content we consume through different dimensions.

One dimension has to do with looking at other realities; seeing what is happening in other countries; ideally traveling, but if not, at least consuming content that shows us we can find solutions to problems that we think are exclusively our own, but that exist everywhere; and reading about global perspectives. These are all ways of broadening our strictly local perspective.

Timewise, both history and the future broaden our horizon and give us perspective. History, because it connects us with human nature, the challenges of power that transcend the ages, the repetition of phenomena, and the overcoming of problems. The future, because it determines the horizon. It shows us those phenomena that are to come, those that are transforming society and life, and the problems we will face that have not yet been solved.

A second dimension has to do with the issues and disciplines outside of our familiar scope. We are in a world of specialization, and it usually generates microclimates that prevent us from seeing other realities occurring in parallel to our own.

A third dimension has to do with the different social and generational realities. The fragmentation of our public conversation makes it difficult to see social situations that are out of our reach due to a generational, social, or geographic issue.

All these dimensions are ways of taking perspective, but it is very important to have a permanent discipline to be in contact with them, because our natural tendency will always be to return to our microclimate.

• The Collective: Teams, Coaches, Bands, and Orchestras

A team is the most effective way to contain egos and put them to work according to a common goal. One of the sports coaches who has developed the most concepts about teamwork, Phil Jackson, says that “good teams become great teams when their members are willing to sacrifice the ‘me’ for the ‘us’.” However, this illustration is rarely used in politics, or it is used as an expression of desire or a rhetorical device.

We can not only learn from the sports world, but also from the artistic world, where both orchestras and music groups of different genres are examples of shared work experiences in which individuals merge to achieve a common sound.

In both groupings, there is leadership and there is a support structure. They are not always successful, but almost always when they are not, it is because there isn’t an appropriate distribution of responsibilities and revenues.

A grouping will be healthy, as Jackson says, when all the parts are integrated into a whole, without losing individuality, but agreeing on a common identity and functioning.

The role of the coach or conductor has also changed over time. Today, we are beginning to understand that the vertical and authoritarian role of years past is no longer effective, and that it no longer connects with the new generations that demand a closer, horizontal, and personalized bond.

Teams also show us counterexamples, where egos and individualities tolerate each other, but clearly convey that there is no such sense of shared belonging. The similarities with the realities of political forces are very clear when viewed from this lens.

In sports, the coach plays an important role, as does the producer with artists. The role of political advisers may come to mind in association with politics, but it is not the same. Politicians’ advisers and personal staff concentrate on matters related to strategies, public policies, communication, or management, among other topics. But it is not their task to deal with the leader in his personal dimension.

• Sustainable Strategies: Think about Promotions and Demotions, Long Term

Many political careers are thought of in terms of how to move up in the hierarchical power structure, many with the ultimate dream of occupying the presidency of their country. The problem with this strategy is that what is thought of as a linear path is in fact more like a mountainous path, with hills and valleys, but above all, with great uncertainty regarding what may happen in the future.

When organizing ourselves once we arrive at the next position or we reach the highest position that we want to occupy, we lack a sustainable strategy to make a significant contribution in our lifetime. The most descriptive example of this happens with former young presidents, who finish their term and face the emptiness of not knowing what else to do and the “Chinese vase syndrome” that makes you feel that you do not know where to place yourself. On the other hand, it also happens with politicians who never retire, fighting until the end of their lives for the leading role, thus blocking the path for new generations.

Another common problem is the vacuum generated by the loss of power after having held an important position, not only in terms of adrenaline, but also sometimes in terms of economic sustainability. There is a clear risk of depression, especially if that person does not work on himself or receive adequate support.

The exercise of thinking about a leadership career in a different way from that of the classic ascension on the ladder of power helps us visualize the importance of having a shatterproof strategy, of taking care of oneself more, and of keeping perspective—so as not to go blind into a career without knowing the next steps, or so as not to become dependent on structures that end up squelching our enthusiasm, leaving us wondering why we do what we do.

Thinking of a career plan also helps us to think about a diversity of experiences and objectives, alternating periods of greater power with others of greater personal development. And it also helps every seasoned leader think that part of his task is to mentor new generations. This is something else to do after a political career besides getting caught up in the logic of the ego or the sense of irrelevance that can come with the loss of power. It is in people with experience that we can find future coaches of emerging leaders, thus ensuring the intergenerational handoff that we lack today.

Ideally, this would be part of the task of political institutions—mainly political parties—but for that, clarity is needed from their own leaders as to the need to invest time and resources in their seedbeds in a professional way.

This paper seeks to make an effective contribution to how we think about democratic political leadership and also to share personal insight as a politician so that other politicians and leaders can use it as a reference and think about how much they are taking care of themselves. Doing so can contribute to finding solutions for the legitimacy crisis that our democracies are experiencing due to a disconnect with social expectations and demands. This paradigm shift is already occurring in other fields of society, and taking it to the political arena will make the task of those in charge of solving the great problems we face more effective.

Leadership should be more human, more collaborative, more group oriented, more connected with emotions, and humbler in order to be effective. For leadership to be more effective, we should create professional structures dedicated to training, supporting, and caring for political leaders. Although it seems incredible, today there is nothing resembling such a professional structure. Political party crisis left that role vacant. We also lack full awareness of the extremely high physical, mental, and emotional demands that political activity has. Undoubtedly, it is an activity that can be thought of in relation to other high-performance activities, such as those of elite athletes. At the same time, handling fame and the demand to constantly communicate brings leaders closer to the lifestyle of the most popular artists. This reflection can also be useful for anyone who plays a leadership role in society, even if they are not engaged in politics.

Thinking about the human dimension of political leadership changes the perspective on what it means to be a leader today. It requires new insight on how this new leadership is built, how it is sustained, and how it is supported. It leads us to analyze the opportunities our democracies have to overcome their crises.

We also should rethink what tools leaders need and how to have more enduring strategies for the development of human capital. If the rest of human activities have advanced scientifically and technologically in terms of both personal care and training for high performance, we can learn a lot from them and enrich the traditional toolbox of values, integrity, ideas, and management skills.

Marcos Pe ña is an independent consultant with the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

This report is made possible through general support to the Americas Program.

This report is produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in this publication should be understood to be solely those of the author(s).

© 2021 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. All rights reserved.

Please consult the PDF for references.

Marcos Peña

Programs & projects.

The character of American democracy: Values-based leadership

Subscribe to governance weekly, jill long thompson jlt jill long thompson board chair and ceo, farm credit administration; former member of the u.s. house of representatives.

November 12, 2020

During the Watergate investigation, President Richard Nixon’s supporters would often argue that because they agreed with his policy positions, they could overlook his ethical and moral shortcomings. At that time a member of the U.S. House, Earl Landgrebe from my home state of Indiana, took this position to the extreme when he said, “Don’t confuse me with the facts” because he had made up his mind and would continue to support the president.

We hear a similar sentiment expressed today by supporters of President Donald Trump as they support his continuing claims that the election was fraudulent. This reflects a belief by some that ethical leadership is not important, or even relevant, so long as elected officials advance policies with which they agree. This kind of thinking is a threat to our democracy and our country.

Democracy is a form of government built on a foundation of ethical principles and it cannot survive unless those principles are honored and protected. Values matter because how we adopt laws is as important as the laws we adopt, and all of us are charged with protecting the self-governing principles that are the foundation of our great nation. Unethical leadership can undermine the democratic process, and even democracy itself.

Values-based leadership is essential to preserving and protecting democratic principles and there are at least three widely recognized moral virtues that are central to ensuring the governing process is democratic: truthfulness, justice, and temperance.

Truthfulness

When leaders lie, it is usually because the facts are not on their side and they do not want others to know the truth. They think the lie benefits them personally, usually at a cost to the rest of us. According to The Washington Post, The Fact Checker determined in August of this year that President Trump had made 22,000 false and misleading claims since taking office.

These untruths hurt our democracy because when our leaders deceive us, it becomes more challenging for the public to learn the facts. And that makes it more challenging for citizens to provide meaningful input. This undermines the all-important role of the citizenry in the policy-making process and it will most likely lead to the adoption of policies that are flawed because decisions based on falsehoods are usually bad decisions.

I came of age when the nation was deeply divided over our involvement in the Vietnam War and I very much wanted to believe that our political leaders were telling us the truth and that the anti-war protesters were wrong. But by the time I had completed my freshman year of college, critical content of the Pentagon Papers had been leaked to the press, confirming the very criticism the protesters were raising. Had the citizenry been told the truth, the course of history could have been changed for the better.

And today, we have lost tens of thousands of lives to COVID-19 that could have been saved had President Trump stated to the public what he said in his interviews with Robert Woodward.

Justice exists only when there is fairness in the process of governing. It requires those in leadership positions to consider the varied interests of all and to protect equality of participation. There must also be transparency.

Voter suppression of any kind is unjust and a threat to democracy. For example, how we draw congressional district maps influences the fairness of our elections. When congressional districts are construed in ways that concentrate voters of one political party in a smaller number of districts than is representative of the actual number of voters in that party, it can result in one party receiving a larger share of seats than votes.

As an example, in 2016 Republican candidates running for the U.S. House received 49.9 percent of the votes cast, while Democratic candidates received 47.3 percent of the votes cast. But Republicans won 55.2 percent, and Democrats won 44.8 percent of the seats in the House. In other words, Republicans got a “seats bonus.” Such gerrymandering suppresses the voices of voters across the country and clearly undercuts the most basic democratic principle of political equality.

Temperance is also central to democratic leadership. In democracy we do not each get our way, but we must respect the right we all have to work with our fellow citizens and address our challenges in a way that moves us forward as a people. Respect for the rights of others is essential. Good leaders do not divide and conquer, but rather, they bring people together through the democratic process. We are all in this together and we must all work together for the greater good of our nation.

Democracy is a principled form of government in which we all matter, and values-based leadership is central to preserving and protecting this great democratic experiment we call the United States of America.

Jill Long Thompson is a former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, former Under Secretary at U.S.D.A., and former Board Chair and CEO at the Farm Credit Administration. She is a visiting scholar with the Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University Bloomington and has authored a book, The Character of American Democracy, published by Indiana University Press on September 15, 2020. The opinions expressed in this essay are hers and do not necessarily reflect those of Indiana University.

Related Content

Elaine Kamarck

September 24, 2019

Michael Hais, Doug Ross, Morley Winograd

February 1, 2022

April 3, 2018

Campaigns & Elections Presidency

Governance Studies

Center for Effective Public Management

Linda Peek Schacht

August 29, 2024

Russell Wheeler, Benjamin Wittes, Kathryn Dunn Tenpas

Elaine Kamarck, William A. Galston

August 23, 2024

• Current Issue
• Past Issues
• Get New Issue Alerts
• American Academy of Arts 
and Sciences

On Political Leadership

“The yearning for a strong individual leader who will dominate all and sundry is the pursuit of a false god,” argues Archie Brown (University of Oxford), guest editor of the Summer 2016 issue of Dædalus . Since no leader in a democracy was ever elected because he or she was believed to have a monopoly of wisdom, it defies both common sense and democratic values for other members of the leadership team to subordinate their independent judgment to the perceived preferences of the top leader. “Wise decisions,” Brown writes in his essay, “Against the Führerprinzip ,” are “less likely to be forthcoming when one person can predetermine the outcome of a meeting or foreclose the discussion by pulling rank.” Yet, notwithstanding ghastly experience with overweening leaders in many different countries, the craving for a “strong leader” still persists, and is a major factor in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

These and other issues of great and topical significance concerning the character and quality of political authority are explored by the multinational and multidisciplinary group of authors convened in this issue of Dædalus.

Introduction

Leadership, equality & democracy.

Democracy is rooted in the idea of political equality, but wealth inevitably dictates that some citizens are “more equal” than others. Thus, profound and worsening socioeconomic inequalities pose a fundamental threat to Western democratic governance. In this essay, Nannerl Keohane argues that only passionate and pragmatic leadership—found with presidents and heads of government but also with congressional committees, local politics, and education—can overcome the dangers of a polity in which the power of money so exceeds the will of the people as effectively to veto social change.

Rethinking the Psychology of Leadership: From Personal Identity to Social Identity

Effective leadership is the capacity to mobilize a mass constituency to bring about shared goals. But the same qualities that make one leader effective may render another useless. Using a social identity approach, psychologists S. Alexander Haslam and Stephen D. Reicher explore leadership as an influence process built on an internalized sense of group membership shared between leaders and followers. Successful leaders not only represent and mirror their followers, but actively create, advance, and embed this identity in pursuit of their goals.

Presidential Leadership & the Separation of Powers

The U.S. presidents judged the “greatest” leaders by historians and pundits are also the most heavily criticized by legal scholars. These presidents overcame the barriers erected by Madison’s separation of powers and breached the constitutional norms they swore to uphold. What then stops presidents from abusing their powers? Eric Posner points to the multifaceted nature of presidential leadership: the president is at once leader of the country, a party, and the executive branch. The conflicts between these interests constrain his or her power.

Women & Legislative Leadership in the U.S. Congress: Representing Women’s Interests in Partisan Times

Women are drastically underrepresented in American political institutions. This has prompted speculation about the impact of electing more women on policy and the functioning of government. Examining the growing presence of women in Congress, Michele Swers demonstrates that women exhibit unique policy priorities, focusing more on the needs of various groups of women. However, the incentive structure of the American electoral system, which rewards ideological purity, means that women are not likely to bring more consensus to Washington.

Varieties of Presidentialism & of Leadership Outcomes

What is the relationship between institutional power and political leadership? What is the effect of presidential institutions on political, economic, and social outcomes? Robert Elgie examines the protracted debate among political scientists about whether a parliamentary or presidential system is more conducive to the transition to democracy, and argues that any approach to studying institutional power must account for the quality and style of specific political leaderships and the interactions between institutions, leaders, and contexts.

Authoritarian Leadership in the Post-Communist World

Several of the successor states to the Soviet Union have seen the emergence of monstrous cults of personality; in a number of cases, their presidents wield even more individual power than that of party leaders in the post-Stalin Soviet era. Eugene Huskey explores the origins and development of personalistic rule in these states, finding significant variation among the approaches leaders have used to consolidate power and outline a post-Soviet future.

Leadership–It’s a System , Not a Person!

Highlighting the absurdity of what she calls the “leadership industry,” Barbara Kellerman suggests that “we do not have much better an idea of how to grow good leaders, or of how to stop or at least slow bad leaders, than we did one hundred or even one thousand years ago.” Kellerman questions the overwhelming importance of individual leaders to begin with, looking instead to contexts and followers, and calls for the replacement of the lucrative but vapid industry surrounding leadership training and education.

Multiple but Complementary, Not Conflictual, Leaderships: The Tunisian Democratic Transition in Comparative Perspective

While democracy has spectacularly failed to take root in Egypt, Syria, and Libya, an impressive but still fragile democracy has emerged in post–Arab Spring Tunisia. Alfred Stepan notes a commonality with the transitions that produced effective democratic leadership in Indonesia, Spain, and Chile; like those nations, Tunisia has had a multiplicity of cooperating leaders, rather than a single “strong leader” or multiple conflictual leaderships. This case study outlines key features of the Tunisian transition.

Against the Führerprinzip : For Collective Leadership

The yearning for a strong individual leader who will dominate all and sundry is the pursuit of a false god. Yet the craving for a “strong leader” still persists, and is a major factor in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In his essay, Archie Brown highlights the ineffectiveness and dangerousness of powerful individual leaders. He argues that since no leader in a democracy was ever elected because he or she was believed to have a monopoly of wisdom, it defies both common sense and democratic values for other members of the leadership team to subordinate their independent judgment to the perceived preferences of the person at the top.

In Favor of “Leader Proofing”

Strong leaders are by definition high-risk individuals likely to do more harm than good; the best-governed liberal democracies have actually obviated the need for them. Anthony King concludes the issue by arguing that while there may be crises necessitating the acquisition and wielding of power by a single leader, there is much to be said for a liberal democracy’s “political culture and institutions having built into them a fair amount of ‘leader proofing.’”

Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

Full Topic List

Regions & Countries

• Publications
• Our Methods
• Short Reads
• Tools & Resources

Read Our Research On:

What Can Improve Democracy?

1. politicians, changing leadership and political parties, table of contents.

• How politicians can improve
• Calls for systemic reform
• For many respondents, fixing democracy begins with the people
• It's difficult to please everyone
• Economic reform and basic needs
• No changes and no solutions – or at least no democratic ones
• Road map for this research project
• Politicians
• Changing leadership
• Political parties
• Government reform
• Special interests
• Media reform
• Economic reform
• Policies and legislation
• Citizen behavior
• Individual rights and equality
• Electoral reform
• Direct democracy
• Rule of law
• Ensuring safety
• The judicial system
• Codebook development
• Coding responses
• Collapsing codes for analysis
• Characteristics of the responses
• Selection of quotes
• About Pew Research Center’s Spring 2023 Global Attitudes Survey
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology
• Appendix C: Codebook
• Appendix D: Political categorization
• Classifying parties as populist
• Classifying parties as left, right or center
• Acknowledgments

In the vast majority of the 24 countries surveyed, politicians are the most common subject of proposals to improve democracy. Some call for different types of people to enter the political arena, while others simply want their current politicians to perform better. Many want their leaders to pay closer attention to and respond more appropriately to constituents’ needs.

“The members of the legislature are stupid, so I want them to improve.” Woman, 20, Japan

While not top of mind in most places, people sometimes argue for a total change in leadership . This includes removing incumbent heads of state and instating a preferred politician. In Poland, where the survey took place before the October election which removed the then-ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) , this was the top change people thought would improve democracy.

Respondents also look beyond the people in politics to focus on political parties . This issue is particularly salient in the Netherlands, where parties are the second-most mentioned topic, though they rank in the top five in South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the U.S. Many requests center on changing the number of political parties – some want more and some want fewer. Others want to see a change in how parties interact, with calls for less fighting and more cooperation. A number of these responses specifically address the behavior or strength of the opposition party.

In nearly all countries surveyed, politicians rank first among the 17 topics coded. In countries where politicians are not the top issue, they still rank in the top five.

Suggestions for improving democracy by way of politicians come in many forms.

Some would like to see different people in politics, or more representation . Others focus on the qualities of politicians, such as honesty or empathy, but also their skillset and general competence . Still others ask that politicians change their behavior, both when working with each other and when working with constituents, emphasizing responsiveness .

Representation: Changing who is in politics

“If politicians were ordinary people who were on public transport, who used the means and the laws that they later apply.” Woman, 41, Spain

One group of suggestions involves changing the types of people involved in politics . For some, politicians are too dissimilar from their constituents, and “ordinary citizens should be able to enter” the government instead. As one Australian woman explained: “If ordinary people were elected to Parliament instead of big, official people, our country would probably be a better place to live. Ordinary people know how hard it is to get jobs, live below the poverty line and raise families on the low sums that the Australian government allows Centrelink to pay out each fortnight.” Another man in Nigeria put it more plainly: “They should give somebody like me a chance of ruling in Nigeria.”

“Wealthy people in government are not helpful in democracy because they don’t understand what it’s like to work in unionized jobs and not be able to afford necessities.” Woman, 41, UK

Some people focus specifically on the wealth of political leaders , calling for “fewer rich wealthy people” in the government. In Nigeria, one woman said, “They should allow the poor people to rule.” A man in Argentina said there should be “more poor people who can reach important positions.” And one Canadian man suggested “having more people from the upper-middle class, or people who have to work and earn their income, know what it’s like to pay taxes, and understand how difficult it is to survive in our world.”

Others say that “youth should take part in politics.” Younger politicians are viewed as a conduit for change and new ideas while “old ones don’t care anymore.” As one woman in South Africa pointed out, the “youth are the ones who are in line with the community issues.” Many respondents think younger people should be more involved in politics for their own sake: “Young people must create their own future.” A 30-year-old Argentine man said, “Let the young people get involved in politics, as they are the future and will change the country.” And respondents sometimes emphasize that younger people need to be prepared before entering politics, as one man in India said: “Youth should take part in politics, and training the leaders is the solution.”

“We want young blood or women to take over as our government.” Man, 34, South Africa

More women entering politics is another suggestion for improving the functioning of democracy. One woman in Sweden said, “More women in power, and then I think we will have a good political system.” A Japanese man echoed this call, saying one way to improve democracy is “to increase women’s participation in politics by making more than half of the members of Parliament women.” And a man in Spain said, “Simply, in this country, if instead of men there were more women in power, the country would do so much better.”

Still others call for people of different racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds to be in politics. One man in South Africa asked for “a better balance of races in Parliament,” and a woman in Brazil proposed “racial quotas for politicians.” In the Netherlands, one woman suggested more representation of different “cultures, diaspora groups, origins and backgrounds. Because if you look at photos of the cabinet, you see a whole group of White people, which is not objective when you talk about the different cultures and backgrounds in the Netherlands.”

Specific backgrounds come up in some responses. In Australia, one man highlighted how “Indigenous people need to have more say in government,” and a woman in the U.S. shared a similar sentiment, saying, “As a matter of fact, this is Native land, and us Natives should be in charge, not other races.” An Israeli man proposed “more Arab Knesset members so they have more influence on decisions.” Kenya sees similar calls for “leaders from all tribes” to be elected, and a man in India requested that members of Parliament “be from all the castes.”

Competence: Changing politicians’ qualities

“Political leaders should be improved.” Man, 61, South Korea

Many suggest improving the overall quality of politicians . “If the leader is good, there will be improvement,” explained one man in India. These calls are often straightforward, as in the case of a Mexican woman whose singular request was for “better politicians.” Some suggest basic requirements for holding political office, like one man in Japan who said, “We need politicians who have common sense and can think logically.” This sentiment is shared in Kenya, where one respondent suggested that democracy would be improved if “competent leaders” were elected.

Politicians need extroversion, knowledge and experience from foreign countries, integrity and a democratic spirit.” Man, 49, Greece

In some cases, respondents set even higher bars for their politicians, specifically asking that they be “knowledgeable people” or “experts on key policy issues.” One Hungarian woman explained that “experts would pass responsible laws.” For one woman in Spain, the coronavirus pandemic illustrated the importance of having experts on an issue decide “everything that has to do with that issue. For example, during COVID, the people who decided were a doctor and an expert.” Others are more reluctant to have experts govern outright and would just like politicians to listen more to experts or have more advisers.

People also want to see changes in the personal character of politicians:

“It will improve when we get a strong and determined leader who puts the issues and problems of people first.”

– Man, 36, South Africa

“More decisiveness from the politicians. I think it’s weak now; they don’t dare to make decisions and they are like civil servants.”

– Woman, 66, Netherlands

“All political people are very bad. All political persons should be honest.”

– Man, 32, India

“To have trustworthy and honest authorities who can give an account of what they do and where they do their jobs.”

– Man, 67, Mexico

“I think they need to behave less like children, learn what people want and be less self-interested. And learn how to tell the truth. And not avoid answering questions.”

– Woman, 76, UK

“For politicians to stop going for a win for their party and egos, and instead to focus more on what’s best – for the short and long term – for the country.”

– Man, 65, U.S.

Responsiveness: Changing politicians’ behavior

Politicians’ conduct is another subject of people’s suggestions. They want politicians to take their responsibilities more seriously and show “more interest in the work they are asked to do.” In Australia, one woman wanted “fewer ‘charismatic’ leaders and more serious and committed candidates.” Another Australian thought politicians need to have a greater sense of responsibility because “saying ‘I don’t know’ or ‘it isn’t my responsibility’ loses the respect of the electorate.” One man in the U.S. plainly stated that democracy needs “serious elected officials, not crazy ones like you have now in the GOP.”

Others are concerned about making sure politicians “say what they mean and do what they say,” especially when it comes to keeping promises made during campaigns . One man in France said politicians must “avoid saying things that will never be done, lying just to get elected.” In Sweden, a respondent asked for “less fishing for votes with false promises.” In several cases, people specifically called for repercussions “if election promises are not carried out.” One man in Australia suggested that politicians “should be forced to stand down” if they do not “honor their promises.” The sentiment is shared in Japan, where one man said that “those who have not worked to carry out their campaign promises” should be prevented “from running for the next term.”

“The government should listen to the voice of the people, because the voice in the inside is not the voice of the lower level. People’s complaints in the lower level are seldom taken.” Woman, 39, Indonesia

One oft-repeated request is for politicians to listen more closely to their constituents . Many feel that democracy “is not working because politicians have their own agenda and are not listening to anybody.” In the Netherlands, one man explained that “the ordinary man in the street is not really listened to” and “not much” comes of what they ask for. People instead call for politicians to “pay attention to what facilities the people are not getting” and understand that they are meant to be “pro-people.” One Kenyan man said democracy would improve “if elected leaders represented people as the people want and represent the problems they are facing.”

People also highlight specific groups in the country that politicians should pay special attention to . In Japan, several said politicians need to “hear more women’s opinions” and be more attentive to the needs of young people. In other instances, people want politicians to hear “more opinions from poor people.” One Israeli respondent emphasized “taking the opinions of Arabs into consideration,” and a woman in Brazil stressed the need for politicians to better understand “the homeless people.” Other groups that are highlighted include the elderly, LGBTQ people, religious groups and refugees. (For more on what people said about individual rights and equality, read Chapter 4 .)

Still, some think that politicians need to “place less emphasis on the wants of minority groups.” In Australia, some painted these groups as “noisy” or “loud” and said politicians should listen to the “silent majority” instead. Other respondents in both Australia and the U.S. even name specific groups they think are receiving undue attention, such as “Aboriginal people,” women and “illegal immigrants.”

Instead of improving the quality of their politicians, some want to remove the current governing parties or heads of state . This issue appeared in the top five topics cited in Poland, Hungary and South Africa. In most other countries surveyed, though, it does not rank in the top 10.

In about half the countries surveyed, those who do not support the governing party or parties are more likely to mention changing their political leadership than those who do support these parties. (For more information on how we classify governing party supporters, refer to Appendix D .)

In Hungary, for example, where changing leadership is the third-most mentioned suggestion for improving democracy, 12% of those who do not support Viktor Orbán’s governing coalition of Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KNDP) mention changing leadership, compared with 1% of those who do support these parties.

Calls to put someone else in power, particularly in Poland

Across the 24 countries surveyed, Poles particularly stand out for the emphasis they placed on changing leadership – Poland is the only country where the issue ranked first. The survey was conducted in spring 2023, prior to the October 2023 parliamentary elections that ousted the governing right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) .

“As long as PiS is in power, there will be no democracy in Poland.” Man, 24, Poland

Polish responses about how to improve their democracy centered squarely on changing the governing party: “Removing PiS from power,” said one Polish man. “PiS should lose the election,” echoed a Polish woman.

Poles who do not support PiS are more likely to mention changing leadership than those who do support PiS (17% vs. 4%, respectively, though PiS supporters were overall less likely to provide a response). Younger Polish adults are also more likely to mention changing leadership than those ages 40 and older. Indeed, in the October election, turnout among the youth was unusually high .

While Poles focused on removing the particular party in power, people in other countries sometimes emphasize the need to put different people or parties into office . “The government should be changed. The Congress Party government should come to power,” said one man in India. “Raila Odinga should be granted leadership,” said a woman in Kenya, naming the leader of the opposition. And a South African man suggested that “the African National Congress give other parties a chance to govern the country, and Cyril Ramaphosa step down as a president.”

“A change of government at the next election would improve democracy. The Conservatives have been in power for too long.” Woman, 53, UK

In other countries, too, calls to change leadership prioritize removing someone currently in power as opposed to installing someone else. Some respondents name the current head of state as who they would like to see out of office. One Brazilian man said, for example, “Get President Lula and his gang out of power.” Or, as one woman in Canada put it: “If we could get Justin Trudeau out of leadership, then I would be happier with democracy.”

Rebuilding leadership from the ground up

“The legislature has a lot of problems – it needs to be improved, starting with a new election of lawmakers.” Man, 65, South Korea

Some requests to change leadership are not specific to a person or party, but rather focus on bringing in a fresh slate of politicians . “Fire everyone and start fresh,” said one woman in the U.S. An Argentine woman echoed this view: “Take out the current politicians, reform and formulate new laws, and start from scratch.”

Several of these calls to rebuild target the legislature. A man in Greece said, “all 300 members should leave the Parliament. The structure of the Parliament should change radically.” A woman in Spain suggested, “I would carry out a purge in the useless Senate.”

“The established order must be replaced: a new generation with more women and people from the business world. There are too many people who have only been in politics. That is an unhealthy situation.” Woman, 53, Netherlands

A few focus less on a specific leader, party or institution and more generally on the need for change. One Italian man said, “In order to improve democracy in this country, it would take a coup d’etat. We need to reset all privileges and start over in full respect of people.”

People sometimes target political parties when making suggestions for improving democracy. The issue is particularly salient in the Netherlands, where parties are the second-most mentioned topic. Parties are a top-five issue in Spain, Sweden, South Korea and the U.S. In most other countries surveyed, parties rank in the top 10.

Some proposed changes relate to the number of political parties. Other suggestions are related to how parties act, both on their own and with other parties.

“Get rid of all the political parties, we need a redo.” Woman, 39, Canada

More political parties

Some want to see more political parties, as with a respondent in Kenya who wanted “the use of a multiparty system” and one in Greece who thought “more political parties in the Parliament” would improve democracy.

Some express a simple desire for more options to choose from . For example, a man in Canada found “very little difference between the NDP (New Democratic Party) and Liberal” now that the Liberal Party, which “used to be centralist,” has “moved to the left.” In South Korea, also dominated by two parties, a man said having “at least three parties to contest the elections” would help improve the country’s democracy. Similarly, one woman in the U.S. wanted “more parties, more points of view.”

“That no large coalitions exist and we therefore have more than three parties.” Woman, 57, Germany

In other cases, people see the existing parties as too polarized and want additional parties to represent centrists . A man in the U.S. said, “There truly needs to be a relevant third party that would represent the middle-of-the-road ideology between Republicans and Democrats.” This sentiment is echoed in Australia, where one woman thought democracy “works well, but it’s the party room that buggers it up.” This would be fixed if the “extreme wings” of parties became “parties of their own as most people vote for a moderate view,” she said.

Some see the creation of more parties as an opportunity to introduce new ideas . A British man said democracy would improve “if some new parties came to the United Kingdom with some fresh blood and fresh ideas, instead of the same people. The old parties are not so interested in the people living in the UK. They only care about their own pockets and their own ideas.” Suggestions for new parties sometimes focus on the inclusion of young people as a way to bring about different ideas. One Greek woman emphasized that “political parties should be created by young people with new ideas.”

Fewer political parties

Some suggest reducing the number of political parties would create more simplicity . In Nigeria, one man said that “with too many parties, things will go wrong.” A Canadian man held a similar view, saying, “the number of parties should be limited to three: left, center and right. I believe it would lead to less chaos.”

In Mexico, some highlight the monetary cost of having a large number of parties : “There should be fewer parties so that the payroll is less expensive,” said one Mexican woman. Another man thought there should only be two political parties because the current number of parties results in “a lot of money spent.”

“Fewer parties. No party has a clear policy. It’s just a moderate Swedish soup. And if someone tries to stand out, they never succeed.” Woman, 52, Sweden

People in the Netherlands, where political parties are the second-most mentioned issue, also note how “democracy is being muddled by smaller parties.” One woman explained: “I think it is too fragmented, therefore more difficult to form coalitions, and therefore more difficult to govern.” Another woman called for “fewer political parties. Otherwise you will become entirely ungovernable because many compromises have to be made. Too many parties leads to uncertainty among voters.”

There is no clear consensus on the ideal number of political parties to have in a country . For example, in the Netherlands, one man suggested that there “be seven to eight parties at most” while another suggested “a three-party system.” Still others want no parties at all, as in the case of a man in Japan: “Dissolution of all political parties. We will create a system in which even members of Parliament are not bound by political parties and are involved in politics based on their individual ideas.”

“By creating a two-party system like America’s. Then they can better keep the promises made.” Man, 40, Netherlands

Although some Americans would like to see more parties or a multiparty system, people in other countries sometimes point to the two-party system in the U.S. as ideal . An Italian man said, “We should have a democratic system like the American one: a presidential system, two parties that you can identify with. In Italy, there are too many parties. In America everything is perfect, but in Italy it is not possible.” A Japanese man suggested that “it would be better to have two major political parties like America. Now, there are various small political parties, and they are not united.”

Less conflict between parties

“Stop the constant opposition policies, like when a party is in favor of one thing, the rival party has to be against it.” Man, 19, Spain

Many think democracy would improve if political parties stopped fighting with each other . A French man explained that parties “spend their time fighting among themselves. It is not favorable for the French. They discuss and don’t make any real progress on the subjects.” In neighboring Italy, one man similarly took issue with “party squabbling,” and in Spain, a respondent wanted a “decrease in aggressiveness and hostility between parties.” This sentiment is echoed across other countries, including South Africa, where a man asked that “parties stop degrading each other.”

“If the Republicans and Democrats would just work together this would be the greatest country in the world.” Man, 58, U.S

People give various reasons for their concern about interparty conflict. Some point out how friction between parties creates gridlock : With “two parties fighting and voting along party lines, we never get anything done,” said a man in the U.S. A Canadian man shared a similar idea, saying, “If parties stop bickering, we might advance further.” Others are concerned because “democracy requires mutual efforts while competing,” according to a South Korean man, and because “parties that don’t want to cooperate with others are not democratic,” according to a Dutch man. A Dutch woman succinctly said, “If political parties do not want to work together, a democracy is useless.”

More cooperation between parties

“Get together more, talk more, diversity of opinions. That the parties leave personal benefits aside and agree, more like the Argentine team.” Man, 31, Argentina

Parties are also called upon to work together . As a woman in the U.S. said: “I would like to see both parties work together and not see each other as wrong. Compromise is the name of the game!” This is echoed in South Korea, where one man said that “compromise is necessary.” One South African respondent noted that working together would allow all parties to focus on “reaching one goal and keeping our country peaceful with stability.”

For others, improved communication between parties is the key for greater harmony. An Argentine woman explained that democracy would work better if “the different parties have a dialogue.” And an Israeli respondent similarly asked for “more dialogue and goodwill to bridge the gaps between the various parties.”

Changes to the opposition party

Some specifically request that opposition parties offer less resistance . A respondent in Kenya, for example, asked the opposition to “calm down a little.” In Hungary, some go even further to suggest that the opposition be “done away with” or “stay silent.” A man in South Africa explained that democracy may be better off without any opposition parties because “no one will ever oppose the decisions, which creates stability in the country.”

“Less hyperbole from the Liberal-National Coalition. We need a viable opposition instead of the half-witted reactionaries that the Coalition keeps serving up.” Man, 50, Australia

Other suggestions for opposition parties are more targeted. In Australia, people want opposition parties “to stop opposing things just to score political points” or to stop “voting against a good bill just because they are in opposition.” A Spanish man also spoke out against disagreement for the sake of it: “Don’t assume that the opposition must always say the opposite of what the ruling party says.”

Still, in some countries, the emphasis is reversed, and people want a stronger opposition that “will keep the government in check.” As one man in the UK explained: “I think we need an opposition that genuinely disagrees with the government. There has got to be debate. We have a Parliament and it’s not being used properly.”

Sign up for our weekly newsletter

Fresh data delivery Saturday mornings

Sign up for The Briefing

Weekly updates on the world of news & information

• Election System & Voting Process
• International Political Values

Americans are less likely than others around the world to feel close to people in their country or community

How people in 24 countries think democracy can improve, who likes authoritarianism, and how do they want to change their government, representative democracy remains a popular ideal, but people around the world are critical of how it’s working, freedom, elections, voice: how people in australia and the uk define democracy, most popular, report materials.

• Spring 2023 Survey Data

901 E St. NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20004 USA (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax (+1) 202-419-4372 |  Media Inquiries

Research Topics

• Email Newsletters

ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of  The Pew Charitable Trusts .

© 2024 Pew Research Center

Advertisement

Political Leadership and Global Governance: Structural Power Versus Custodial Leadership

• Original Article
• Open access
• Published: 28 November 2017
• Volume 2 , pages 477–493, ( 2017 )

Cite this article

You have full access to this open access article

• Katherine Morton   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9031-469X 1  

15k Accesses

3 Citations

4 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

This article examines the role of political leadership within the realm of global governance. Drawing upon relevant theories of political agency, particular attention is given to addressing the relationship between leadership and collective action. A two-level analysis of institution building in relation to maritime security and economic trade and investment reveals both strengths and weaknesses in practice. A review of the Law of the Sea Convention and the Multilateral Investment Agreement provides a salutary reminder that material power does not translate easily into dominating the rules of international conduct. The cases of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum and the Trans-Pacific Partnership further highlight the importance of mixed sources of political leadership in responding to economic challenges at the regional level. The policy implication for both the United States and China is that taking the lead in Global Governance, either jointly or multilaterally, will require a renewed focus upon custodial stewardship that aims to realign interests with long-term goals.

Similar content being viewed by others

Emerging Powers and Leadership Norms

Contested leadership in international relations, public perceptions of international leadership in china and the united states.

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

1 Introduction

It is commonly understood amongst scholars of International Relations that leadership matters most at times of crisis, strategic vulnerability, or when international conditions are fluid. Yet, the particular form of political leadership that is required to consolidate collective action during periods of transition is less well understood. In the current era, growing power competition, especially between the United States and China, fuels anxieties that international cooperation will gradually decline. It is also tempting to conclude that a leadership vacuum is likely to emerge in response to mounting global challenges. The imperative to re-balance interests and responsibilities between dominant and emerging powers will be difficult to achieve in the immediate term. Furthermore, it can no longer be taken for granted that a liberal consensus exists over support for collective action at the international level. US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership under the new Trump Administration, together with the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, suggest a growing tension between domestic and international obligations on the part of Western liberal states. The question that arises is whether a more positive trend towards collaboration could gather momentum to offset rising parochialism in the international arena.

Building upon earlier theories of political agency, this article examines the relationship between charismatic, structural, and collaborative forms of leadership within the realm of global governance. Particular attention is given to addressing the question of what political leadership entails to advance our understanding of the political capacity for collective action. A two-level analysis of the role of leadership in institution building highlights both strengths and weaknesses. A review of the Law of the Sea Convention and the multilateral investment agreement (MAI) provides a salutary reminder that material strength does not translate easily into dominating the rules of international conduct. It is essentially a collective enterprise. At the regional level, the cases of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) further highlight the importance of mixed political leadership in responding to regional challenges relating to trade and investment.

In conclusion, the article argues that structural power is an important but inadequate source of leadership in global governance. Instead, diverse sources of structural power, intellectual capital, and custodial stewardship are all likely to enhance political capacity in the contemporary era. Above all, a commitment towards custodial stewardship is now both timely and politically prudent in light of rapidly shifting international circumstances, especially within the global economy.

Contrary to the expectations of some studies that predict greater gridlock within global governance, the departure point for this article is that we are likely to see harder bargains rather than stronger conflicts over leadership. This is primarily for three reasons: first, global governance is currently in a state of flux and tensions remain over its future trajectory, but this does not mean that the unraveling of institutional arrangements is inevitable. On the contrary, the literature on emerging powers and global governance suggests that greater efforts are now being made to promote equality of representation in global institutions, especially in regard to integrating major emerging economies into leadership roles. Footnote 1 The G20 in particular stands out as an exemplar of shifting the balance of interests more in favour of developing countries, although this reformist approach is still hampered by the struggle to create a greater convergence over national and international priorities.

Second, the history of institution building suggests that political leadership matters most at times of crisis; and that crises often act as catalysts for institutional innovation. The United Nations is a classic example of how a grand vision to build a peaceful world free from the threats of genocide and economic dislocation emerged from the ashes of a devastating world war. Third, we are currently witnessing a trend towards collaborative leadership that does not solely depend upon a single powerful state to sanction collective action. In today’s world, a more pluralistic form of global governance provides an essential means of responding to the risks and opportunities arising from higher levels of interdependence between states and peoples. This is not to suggest that functional imperatives now dominate the global governance agenda. Rather, it is to recognise that in the contemporary era no individual state, no matter how powerful, has the political capacity to govern the world unilaterally.

The salient question is no longer whether but rather how a more collaborative form of global leadership can endure. To address this question we shall first consider the relevant theories of political leadership followed by a discussion of the lessons drawn from the actual practice of institution building in relation to maritime security and economic trade and investment. Dating back to the beginnings of the post-WWII international order, both these global issues offer a longer timeframe against which to assess changes and continuities. Given that to date existing studies have tended to focus upon international regimes, a further examination of institutional initiatives within the Asian regional context provides a more granular perspective. Finally, the selection of cases are illustrative rather than representative—involving both positive and negative experiences to control for any bias weighted towards the assumption that political leadership is always effective. My purpose in this article is to contribute to the contemporary debate over what political leadership entails, rather than address the more complex question of what makes political leadership effective.

2 What Does Political Leadership Entail?

Common to many theories of leadership in the study of International Relations is a conception of the relationship between leaders and followers under conditions of asymmetric power relations. In classical Western philosophy, political leadership is seen as being distinct from power domination in that the former requires an expressed willingness to follow on the part of other states and/or people, whereas the latter is dependent upon rule by coercion. In the modern era, the German sociologist Max Weber famously distinguished alternative sources of leadership derived from non-Western traditions. For example, in his classic treatise on Imperial China he argued that the charismatic nature of the Emperor ( tao ) was manifest in his personal strength that needed to be constantly proven in the eyes of the people. Footnote 2 In his view, this did not equate with the recognition of the sovereignty of the people, but rather with the devotion of the people, especially at times of distress. Footnote 3 While a deeper discussion of the cultural determinants of leadership is beyond the scope of this article, Weber’s seminal work on charismatic authority is a useful reminder of how individual personality traits affect leadership.

For the purpose of examining the role of political leadership within the realm of global governance, the framework presented below maintains a narrower focus on leadership understood as the capacity for collective action. Building upon existing studies it delineates three major forms of leadership—charismatic, structural, and collaborative—that to a lesser or greater extent play a meaningful role in advancing the governing system of rules, norms and institutions.

2.1 Charismatic Leadership

On January 18 1919, at a turbulent moment in world history, German’s leading intellectual, Max Weber, declined to address the fate of the nation and instead focused his attention exclusively on the subject of ‘Politics as Vocation.’ In addressing the question of the justification for rule based upon the legitimate use of force he proposed three ideal types of political authority (1) traditional as exercised according to custom by patriarchs and patrimonial leaders (2) charismatic as denoted in the devotion to the leadership qualities of an individual, and (3) legal based upon rational rule and legal statutes. Footnote 4

His aversion to both the Monarchist incompetency of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the realpolitik (power for power’s sake) of Otto von Bismarck led him to focus particularly on the potential for charismatic authority as a counter-balance to Prussian bureaucracy and its overly rationalised mindset. Although predisposed towards the humanist tradition, his definition of charisma as a ‘gift of grace’ was borrowed from the theological teachings of Rudolf Sohm. Footnote 5 Charisma in this sense was endowed with exceptional, if not divine qualities. This did not mean, however, that leadership could endure simply on the basis of the fascination of the individual. According to Weber, a capacity to constantly demonstrate strength constituted the essence of charismatic leadership. Critical to the Weberian ideal of charismatic leadership is the sense of mission. In his words:

Charisma knows only inner determination and inner restraint. A holder of charisma seizes the task that is adequate for him and demands obedience and a following by virtue of his mission…his charismatic claim breaks down if his mission is not recognised by those to whom he feels he has been sent’. Footnote 6

Over time the idea of charisma has lost its appeal in the study of political leadership, but it remains relevant as a counter-balance to structural realist interpretations of international order. During the Cold War, the study of leadership in International Relations was overshadowed by concerns over structural dynamics within the international system. Writing in 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Byman and Pollack in their article titled ‘Let Us Now Praise Great Men’ hailed the return of the Kissinger view of history in which personalities rather than impersonal forces bring about change in practice. Drawing upon a collection of historical case studies, they argued that the study of individuals in International Relations ‘takes on added significance when power is concentrated in the hands of a leader, when institutions are in conflict, or at times of great change.’ Footnote 7 More ambitiously, the authors claimed that individual leaders could also shape the broader determinants of international order in relation to the balance of power, domestic opinion, and bureaucratic politics. Footnote 8 Putting aside the dubious claim that only great men can make a difference in history, such analyses of great statesmanship offer useful insights into the role of political agency, especially at times of crisis.

Such a perspective, however, suffers from the problem of ascribing too much agency to individual leaders; it takes for granted the idea of what constitutes great statesmanship, which is obviously prone to manipulation; and ignores the social context within which leadership takes place. To address this problem, more recently attention has focused upon rediscovering the importance of political legitimacy. For example, Joe Nye in his book ‘The Powers to Lead’ (2008) argues that leadership is not a fixed set of attributes, but instead moves with the times on the basis of leaders and followers rather than natural leaders under the guise of charismatic leadership. Footnote 9 This emphasis upon the relational dimension of leadership has its origins in Western philosophical thought as discussed above, but in contrast to a traditional Weberian conception of charisma that takes for granted the appeal of a leader, this modern version is socially ascribed, knowledge-based, and more deeply institutionalised.

2.2 Global Governance and Leadership

Charismatic leadership in its modern form can perhaps best be regarded as a latent feature of global governance, especially if we retain the Weberian emphasis upon mission rather than become distracted with populist images akin to entertainment. For global governance theorists, political agency resides in multiple actors. Within diverse institutional settings, leadership is seen as a social process of bargaining, negotiation, and persuasion to achieve a common goal. This stands in stark contrast to dominant realist claims that institutions merely act as a function of the prevailing power hierarchy (classical realism), or are created by dominant powers during periods of hegemony (neorealism). Strong leadership is often seen as a precondition of collective action undertaken by entities such as states, corporations, international organisations, or non-governmental organizations (NGOS).

Yet, few studies clearly define or elaborate upon political agency in relation to institution building. In this regard, the work by Oran Young in the early 1990s stands out. Footnote 10 He distinguishes three forms of leadership required to solve or circumvent collective action problems that undermine the potential to achieve joint gains: structural leadership, entrepreneurial leadership, and intellectual leadership. Structural leadership is the translation of material power into bargaining leverage in international negotiations. Entrepreneurial leadership involves agenda setting, the invention of policy options, and alternative measures to compensate stakeholders in the achievement of a higher goal, whereas intellectual leadership relies upon the power of ideas to shape the thinking behind the principles underpinning institutional arrangements, guide understanding of the issues at stake, and orient policy towards alternative options. Young posits that all three forms of leadership were evident in negotiations over the establishment of diverse international regimes ranging from the environment to nuclear non-proliferation during the final decades of the 20th century.

2.3 Structural Versus Custodial Leadership

The above discussion suggests that the dynamic relationship between structural and collaborative forms of leadership is central to any analysis of institution building in practice. Structural leadership offers a useful lens for assessing how leaders negotiate power differentials in the absence of coercion. In questioning the decline of US hegemony in the late 1980s, Susan Strange proposed a general theory of structural power to account for the continuing US dominance of the global economy. In her seminal article written in 1987 she argued that structural power was manifest in a ‘capacity to determine the terms’ on which the rules and norms of the international system are realised, ‘and to whom they are made available’. Footnote 11 In terms of actual negotiating behaviour, a structural leader acts in the name of a party by forming coalitions and taking measures to prevent the emergence of blocking behaviour or counter coalitions. Footnote 12 In this sense, power asymmetry is important, but not all determining.

In contrast, a focus upon collaborative leadership offers deeper insights into how leaders broker interests and on what basis. In addition to an emphasis upon creativity (entrepreneurship) and ideas (intellectual) as noted by Young, in the contemporary era it is increasingly evident that the political calculus over leadership should also stress the value of responsibility in the achievement of long-term goals. This is particularly relevant at a time when rising parochialism threatens to dilute the international policy agenda, thus diverting attention away from the realities of global interdependence and its political, social, and economic consequences. A focus upon custodial stewardship offers an additional means of achieving a vision beyond the immediacy of negotiations and short-term interests. Footnote 13 In practice, this involves the brokering of national and collective interests towards the achievement of a long-term goal.

To illustrate the structural versus collaborative forms of leadership in greater detail let us now turn to a discussion of institution building initiatives in practice from an historical perspective. To avoid privileging successful institutional outcomes as the benchmark for leadership capacity, we shall consider both cases of success and failure in galvanizing collective action including the Law of the Sea Convention and the Multilateral Investment Agreement at the global level, and APEC and the TPP at the regional level.

3 Political Leadership: Global Context

3.1 law of the sea convention.

One of the reasons why empirical studies of leadership in global governance are limited is that they are difficult to reproduce on the basis of available materials. Despite the centrality of the Law of the Sea Convention in safeguarding maritime security between states, no complete record of the negotiations exists. We are, therefore, reliant upon the records of the negotiators themselves combined with process tracing of relevant documentation.

In general, the role of the League of Nations in international rulemaking is often overlooked on account of its collective failure to maintain peace during the inter-war years. As a consequence, an initial attempt to codify the seas at the Hague Conference in 1930 is not well-known. In particular, the pioneering efforts by a group of jurists ‘to chart the world’ by defining ocean boundaries as well as the juridical status of territorial waters is largely invisible in the contemporary narrative on maritime governance. Footnote 14 A second attempt to codify the scope of maritime jurisdiction on the high seas at the first and second conferences on the law of the sea held in Geneva in 1958 and 1960, respectively, is equally shrouded in secrecy.

It took a major international crisis with potentially devastating consequences to provoke a sense of urgency in the negotiations. At the height of the Cold War, the capability to launch nuclear missiles from military installations on the ocean floor posed the greatest existential threat to the world’s oceans. In the face of intense superpower rivalry, Dr Arvid Pardo from the newly independent island state of Malta charted a new direction in the Law of the Sea negotiations by championing the inclusion of the seabed and ocean floor within the ‘common heritage of mankind’. Based upon detailed scientific assessments, the new norm for safeguarding the maritime commons was given legal recognition in Resolution 2749 adopted by the General Assembly in 1970, and later applied in article 136 of UNCLOS.

In a major study on the negotiations, Robert Friedheim describes UNCLOS as ‘the largest, longest, and most complex formal negotiation in modern times’ covering all aspects of the use of the oceans for navigation, transit, overflight, maritime jurisdictional delimitation, oil and mineral exploitation, fisheries, environmental protection in the high and territorial seas, ocean science, and protection of the deep seabed. Footnote 15 Representing the general mood of the delegations to the Third Conference on the Law of the Seas, President Tommy Koh referred to the treaty as a ‘monumental achievement of the international community second only to the adoption of the United Nations Charter.’ Footnote 16

Following 9 years of negotiations, Ambassador Koh is generally credited with successfully marshalling disparate coalitions and forces behind a total package deal that culminated in the final comprehensive treaty on the law of the sea signed in 1982 at Montego Bay in Jamaica and entering into force in 1994. While it may be too much of an exaggeration to define his role on the basis of charismatic authority in classical terms, the combination of political expediency and creativity does provide an exemplary model of entrepreneurial leadership.

The political gridlock that emerged over the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is perhaps one of the best examples of the limitations of structural power. The ISA was vested with discretionary powers to govern the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction on the basis of equitable principles that accorded developing states the right to share the benefits of a common heritage. Original proposals for mandatory technology transfer and the redistribution of profits from mining operations to developing states were blocked by major developed states including Italy, former West Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, leading to a renegotiation of the seabed regime at the final hour. The Chair of the American delegation to the Law of the Sea conference, Elliot Richardson, failed to produce a deep-seabed mining regime acceptable to the Reagan Administration, which eventually led to the US failure to accede to the convention—with continuing implications for maritime security today.

More positively, Ambassador Koh was able to build momentum and consensus for a creative agreement on seabed mining by introducing outside experts while balancing formal meetings with informal gatherings. An agreement signed just months before UNCLOS came into force granted stronger representation and higher production quotas for industrialised states, thus gaining broader consent. Footnote 17

The Oceans regime provides an example of how the mix of intellectual and entrepreneurial leadership as defined by Oran Young led to a positive outcome that managed to overcome structural determinants. Structural leadership was present but less visible in comparison with other international regimes. A form of custodial leadership bringing together the President and Chairs of the three substantive committees together with the special representative of the Secretary-General was also evident in ensuring a consensus-based agreement. According to Alan Beesley, Chairman of Drafting Committee, ‘mysterious dynamics of consultation within the so-called collegium’ was responsible for bringing about a positive goal-oriented outcome. Footnote 18 In his view, where the developed and developing countries worked together as partners, success was achieved. This form of leadership, aimed at a higher goal beyond the immediacy of the negotiations, was a critical thread in the successful outcome of the negotiations. It provides a vivid example of how a custodial form of leadership can work in practice.

4 Multilateral Investment Agreement

One of the most significant gaps in global governance today is the lack of a multilateral investment regime. The codification of protection measures for foreign investment has proven elusive over time, thus dislodging the commonly held assumption that bargaining over the economy is any less an intractable process than negotiating over security. Failed negotiations over a multilateral agreement on investment liberalisation dates back to the establishment of the Bretton Woods system in 1948. Footnote 19 Plans for an International Trade Organization, known as the Havana Charter, drawn up by the Treasury Departments in the United States and the United Kingdom, sought to include provisions to protect foreign investment from expropriation and nationalization on the part of host states. Footnote 20 Political pressure from the United States, however, was offset by the bargaining power of the capital importing states. In its final form, the text diluted the rights of foreign investors in favour of the right to implement appropriate safeguards against interference in the internal affairs of any member state. Footnote 21

The inherent difficulties involved in balancing national security concerns and investor protection with the right to national development led to the swift abandonment of the treaty after 4 years leading to the more modest General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which eventually turned into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995.

International rulemaking over investment under GATT did not commence fully until the Uruquay Round of trade negotiations, culminating in a number of provisions to limit restrictive investment policies, relating to services and intellectual property in particular. Footnote 22 The United States played a leading structural role in bringing about the conclusion of the General Agreement on Trade in Services that introduces a positive list approach for member states to open up their markets to foreign investors within specific sectors of the economy. Footnote 23 However, dominating the global economy did not translate easily into dominating the rules over global investment. Negotiations over investment protection floundered, largely on account of the normative gap between liberal principles serving the interests of developed nations and multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the national sovereignty concerns of developing states.

Against this backdrop, the failed attempt by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to play a lead role in negotiating a comprehensive Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), under the chairmanship of Frans Engering, is revealing of the limitations of a dual-track approach towards collaborative leadership that serves to reinforce rather than transcend political divisions. Following an ambitious plan to arrive at an agreement within 2 years (1995–1997), leaders of the negotiations, set out to establish a multilateral legal framework for foreign direct investment (FDI) open to accession by all states that included provisions for the settlement of disputes and promoted a level playing field for the national treatment of foreign investors. Footnote 24

The entrepreneurial leadership offered by Mickey Kantor, former United States Trade Representative, and Sir Leon Brittan, then European trade commissioner, was pivotal in reaching a consensus over the importance of maintaining momentum over investment liberalisation under the broader mandate of the WTO. In this sense, the MAI was conceived of as a prerequisite to future WTO negotiations. In the words of Sir Brittan speaking to a business conference in 1995, ‘I want to salute Mickey Kantor’s part in helping us to reach that consensus. He, like me, is among the mid-wives of the WTO system. I believe that he, like me, shared the view that the broadest possible discussion as early as possible could only help to produce wide acceptance of strong international investment rules, as soon as they are available.’ Footnote 25 Beyond this transatlantic collaboration, however, the entrepreneurial capacity of the negotiators was largely missing. As confirmed by Jan Huner, assistant to the Dutch chair of the negotiations, ‘The main problem with the MAI is that its negotiators did not expect to have to sell it politically’. Footnote 26

At the time, in stark contrast to the grindingly slow pace of negotiations within the WTO, the MAI initiative was hailed as a major breakthrough in setting the pace for the liberalisation of investment via the major developed nations, thus circumventing inevitable North–South divisions. Footnote 27 However, major champions of the MAI, especially the United States, grossly underestimated the latent divisions amongst the major capital exporting countries as well as the groundswell of opposition rising from within the NGO community. In particular, allowing investors the freedom to move money in and out of countries without restrictions raised alarm bells. A central concern focused upon the right of investors to impartial international arbitration in the event of a dispute with a host state as stipulated under Chapter 11 of the NAFTA Agreement, thus privileging commercial interests over environmental and social standards. Footnote 28 Canada acted as a staunch advocate in favour of more progressive domestic legislation on account of its own experience in dealing with investor disputes with the US. France was the most vocal proponent of a cultural exemption clause that would help to protect its cultural industries. And the European Union sought preferential treatment for its members far beyond that of the signatories to the MAI. Footnote 29 In the end, the highly charged public campaign to derail the MAI largely succeeded because NGOs allied themselves with other like-minded liberal states. Footnote 30 Following an extended period of negotiation France withdrew in October 1998 and the talks collapsed. Footnote 31

In recent years, the pace of investment liberalisation has emanated from below via the plethora of bilateral and regional investment agreements rather than from above. Aligned with the necessity of attracting foreign investment, over the past two decades developing countries have taken the lead in establishing reciprocal arrangements for foreign investment. Footnote 32 In 1999 the number of bilateral investment treaties totaled 1857. Footnote 33 Almost 20 years later that number has risen to 2363. Footnote 34 China now leads the world in BITs (128) followed by the Czech Republic (113). However, the qualitative dimension of the provisions differs widely across the spectrum of reciprocal arrangements.

At the regional level, NAFTA continues to set the benchmark for high standards of investment protection supported by an investor–state dispute settlement procedure. Whether this should be seen as the exemplary model of global investment is a contentious question. In Asia, one of the major challenges facing the region is to establish stronger measures to safeguard investment while advancing environmental and labour standards. The lesson from the MAI experience is that political leadership requires a broader mandate with a strategy in place to ensure incremental gains over time and a clear vision of promoting the long-term goal of sustainable economic growth. In common with the issue of maritime security, a stronger emphasis upon custodial stewardship is needed to offset the limitations of structural power.

5 Political Leadership Capacity: Regional Context

Turning to the Asian regional context, the formation of APEC in the early 1990s and the recent attempts to establish the TPP offer further insights into the relationship between structural and collaborative forms of leadership in shaping institutional arrangements relating to trade, economic development, and investment.

The official history of APEC reinforces the relevance of structural leadership and the utility of forming coalitions to pursue shared goals. Former Australian Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, first broached the idea of APEC in a speech in Seoul on 31 January 1989. Australia hosted the first annual meeting of trade ministers from 12 Asia Pacific economies (ASEAN 6 plus US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Korea) in the same year, and played a leading role in promoting free trade and economic cooperation along the Pacific Rim. Former United States President Bill Clinton is credited with providing greater strategic vision in the direction of economic cooperation in the region, hosting the first APEC Summit in 1993 and establishing the practice of an annual APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. Footnote 35 Both leaders at the time demonstrated a charismatic pre-disposition towards the mission of open regionalism.

The unofficial history documented by those involved in the process of deliberations over the ideas and institutional arrangements facilitating Pacific regionalism reveals a more complex picture. Collaborative leadership resided in business networks, public intellectuals, and official representatives. Dating back to the 1960s, the idea of a Pacific free trade area was advanced by the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC) and the Pacific Trade and Development Forum (PAFTAD) both established in 1968. Driven by concerns over preferential trading agreements, participants in these fora played a significant role in the evolution of government policy.

The idea of a Pacific Free Trade Area (PAFTA) originated in the work of Kiyoshi Kojima, a Professor of International Economics, at Hitotsubashi University who viewed the European Economic Community as a model for Asian economic development, but was also concerned that developed Pacific states would be left behind by greater European integration. Hence, his two objectives included the expansion of trade amongst Pacific countries and an increase in aid to Southeast Asia. Footnote 36 The concept was championed by Saburo Okita, a senior economic bureaucrat, and the Japanese Foreign Minister, Takeo Miki who led consultations over the establishment of a new regional organization similar to the OECD. Footnote 37 Japanese entrepreneurship in regional economic governance at the official level was weakened by a failure to obtain consent from Southeast Asian Nations on account of Japan’s past imperial history.

APEC in its institutional form started from modest beginnings; championed within academic meetings in Canberra hosted by Peter Drysdale at Australian National University (ANU) and Hugh Patrick from Yale University—both former students of Kojima. Drysdale was convinced by the importance of a Pacific economic community to counter-balance developments taking shape in Europe and he won the support of John Crawford, former Secretary of the Australian Department of Trade and Head of the Research School of Pacific Studies at the ANU. Footnote 38 It was this intellectual leadership that laid the groundwork for APEC under the political tutelage of Bob Hawke in 1989.

Broader support for a multilateral open trading system in the Asia Pacific consistent with the principles underpinning the GATT gathered momentum in the 1980s as a response to the imperative to keep pace with regional integration initiatives taken by the United States and Europe. In its final form, APEC emulated EU and NAFTA models of economic cooperation. Its broad based membership has been a critical factor in galvanizing support for collective action. The PRC, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei joined in 1991, Mexico and Papua New Guinea followed in 1993, Chile acceded in 1994, and Peru, Russia, and Vietnam joined in 1998. While many questions remain over the effectiveness of this informal regional forum in meeting the complex requirements of the global economy, APEC can rightly claim status as the progenitor of regional economic cooperation in the Asia Pacific. Above all, the legacy of custodial leadership lies in the vision of open regionalism that continues to inspire a future generation of leaders seeking to re-balance national and global priorities.

5.2 Trans-Pacific Partnership

Current accounts of the TPP have a tendency to infer strong structural leadership on the part of the United States. This overlooks the collaborative aspects of the partnership approach as well as the complexity of the negotiations. In contrast to APEC, the origins of the TPP lie in a more formal government-sponsored process. At the APEC Leaders Summit in 2002, the so-called P4 (New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, and Brunei) launched the Trans-Pacific Strategic and Economic Partnership, facilitating next generation trade issues such as labour protection, environmental safeguards, and intellectual property rights. Footnote 39 A unique feature of the partnership is the focus upon trans-continental cooperation between Asia and Latin America.

In 2008 the US announced it would join negotiations over investment and financial services, and subsequently took control over the negotiations for a comprehensive agreement. Under the structural leadership of President Obama, membership expanded to include Australia, Peru, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Japan. However, yet again in this case, the limits of structural power soon became evident.

The TTP is distinct from existing multilateral trade agreements in that it builds upon advanced Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to address domestic regulations that affect trade and investment. Footnote 40 The distributional benefits across member countries are, therefore, hotly disputed. Major sticking points include market access for sensitive products such as beef, diary, and rice, rules of origin for textiles and apparel, regulation of the digital economy, and services and investment to name but a few. Footnote 41 As a consequence, the intellectual foundations of the partnership were crucial in gaining support for collective action. In particular, Fred Bergsten and Jeffrey Schott from the Peterson Institute of International Economics provided intellectual leadership through the provision of macroeconomic analyses. However, reliable documentation on non-governmental inputs into the policy process is difficult to find.

The relatively short history of the TPP coupled with the current difficulties over sustaining leadership in the face of American withdrawal (with the stroke of a pen in January 2017) limits the development of a complete assessment. It is tempting to suggest that in this case charismatic leadership has played a role—for better, or for worse. President Donald Trump’s declared mission to bring back jobs to the US may appear utopian to some, but it has clearly captured the imagination of a large number of the American people. Footnote 42 It is also worth noting here that Trump’s solemn promise “to make America great again for American workers” chimes with the sober analysis of a Nobel-prize winning economist. Joseph Stiglitz is equally a staunch critic of the TPP claiming that ‘it is the worst trade agreement ever to be negotiated’ on account of the investment provisions acting against the shift towards a low-carbon economy, workers’ rights, and the sovereign concerns of host states. The question that needs to be asked is how does the TPP benefit the broader process of regional economic integration, and what is the best approach towards ensuring high political and economic standards of cooperation.

At the time of writing, it was unclear whether the TPP could be sustained in the absence of US participation, despite valiant efforts by Australia, Japan, and New Zealand to maintain momentum. As noted by Ling Shengli from the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, China has limited incentive to join the partnership, given its strategic concerns over status. Footnote 43 Who leads the TPP is now an open question.

The ASEAN led Regional Cooperation Economic Partnership (RCEP) initiative offers an alternative model of regional integration. But in terms of addressing the problems of collective action it only serves as a weak form of political leadership because it does not demand higher environmental and labour standards. At a time of rising protectionism and concerns over economic inequities at the domestic level, leaders face a difficult political conundrum: extend the system of open regionalism and risk the build-up of environmental and social pressures spilling over into the economic and security arenas, or build a new system based upon the principles of qualitative economic growth that will strengthen the prevailing economic order but incur significant costs (both economic and political) in the process. In a more technical sense, the constraint on custodial leadership lies in what economists refer to as the discount rate in the minds of decision-makers that places immediate rewards before long-term benefits. Footnote 44

The Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) could also provide new momentum towards trade liberalisation and investment due to its broader geographical scope. Indeed, at the APEC Forum in 2014 President Xi Jinping announced support for pushing ahead with the FTAAP. However, without the inclusion of the world’s least developed countries the risk is that this will draw a line between the haves and the have-nots at a time when structural economic inequality is a salient political concern for all states.

Above all, current governing arrangements to regulate foreign investment remain wholly inadequate to deal with the realities of the global political economy. In a speech to the MIKTA (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, and Australia) group at the WTO in March 2017 the Director-General, Roberto Azevêdo, reinforced the importance of strengthening global investment policy to align with new contemporary realities such as the increasing role of developing countries in FDI, the rise of China as the second largest foreign investor after the United States, and the complex patterns of global supply chains. Footnote 45

Collaborative leadership around trade facilitation in relation to specific issues provides a bright spot on the political horizon, and merits greater attention. For example, in 2014, 14 WTO members, including the US, China, and EU, concluded a plurilateral agreement to eliminate tariffs on environmental goods such as solar panels and wind turbines on a non-discriminatory basis. One leadership approach is to continue along a gradualist pathway in the hope that momentum can be sustained from below in the absence of a global steer from above. A second approach could be to build towards the broader goal of a global pact on sustainable investment. This would make a significant contribution to global governance by moving us beyond the traditional divide between investment protection and sustainable development concerns that has plagued international economic institutions since their inception.

6 Conclusion

To conclude, the analysis in this article suggests that power asymmetry does not condition political leadership in absolute terms. A theoretical focus upon legitimate authority forces us to look beyond a one-dimensional view of political leadership in global governance and consider alternative sources of leadership including the mobilisation of intellectual capital, entrepreneurship, and the stewardship of a goal-oriented vision. At least on the basis of the cases presented, structural power alone does not translate easily into the rules of international conduct. It does, however, still matter.

On balance, it would seem that the trend towards collaborative leadership is positive, however, sustaining momentum is likely to be a difficult task. A stronger custodial form of leadership that moves beyond the negotiation of immediate interests may help to facilitate a long-term normative commitment. The major policy implication for the United States and China is that taking the lead in global governance, either jointly or multilaterally, will require brokering interests and values to align with long-term goals, without which it is difficult to see how we can escape from a perpetual state of action and reaction, let alone crisis.

For good overviews see Alexandroff and Cooper ( 2010 ) and Cooper and Kiewicz ( 2008 ).

Gerth and Mills ( 1958 ).

Ibid. IX The Sociology of Charismatic Authority, p. 246.

Owen and Strong ( 2004 ).

H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills. 1958. op.cit.

Ibid. p. 246.

Daniel and Pollack ( 2001 ).

Op.cit p. 109.

Nye ( 2008 ).

Young ( 1991 ).

Strange ( 1987 ).

Oran Young ( 1991 ). op.cit.

This idea is similar to that of great custodial responsibility in Reich and Lebow ( 2014 ).

See Miller ( 1930 ).

Friedheim ( 1993 ).

Extract from the Official Records of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, Volume XVII, 193rd Meeting, A/CONF.62/SR.193, 10 December 1982, p. 5.

Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982, UN Doc. A/RES/48/263, 28 July 1994.

Beesly ( 1983 ).

Dattu ( 2000 ).

United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment Havana Cuba, 1947. Available at https://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/havana_e.pdf .

Ryaz Dattu op.cit. p. 287.

See Agreement on Trade-related investment measures (TRIMS) April 15 1994, General Agreement on Trade in Services, (GATS) April 15 1994, and Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) April 15 1994. TRIMS requires all member countries to eliminate notified trade investment measures progressively over time, GATS aims to protect service providers exporting from other countries, and TRIPS protects intellectual property under trade.

Ryaz Dattu. op.cit. p. 294.

OECD Multilateral Agreement on Investment Draft Consolidated Text DAFFE/MAI (98) 7 Rev 1 22 April 1998.

European Press Release Brussels 21 June 1995.

Katia Tieleman. 2000. ‘The Failure of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) and the Absence of a Global Public Policy Network,’ United Nations Visions Project on Global Public Policy Networks, European Institute, p. 17.

For a comprehensive discussion of the cost and benefits of the MAI see Zdenek Drabek. 1998. ‘A Multilateral Agreement on Investment: Convincing the Skeptics’ World Trade Organization, Economics Research and Analysis Division, Staff Working Paper ERAD-98-05 June.

Walter ( 2001 ), p. 59.

Zdenek Drabek. 1998. Op.cit.

For an extended discussion of entrenched business lobbying in the making of international trade policy and the moderating influences of NGOs see Walter ( 2001 ).

For further discussion of the disputes over exemptions in the negotiations see Peter T. Muchlinski. 1999. ‘The Rise and Fall of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment: Where Now?’ The International Lawyer, vol. 34, no. 3, Foreign Law in Review, 1033–1053.

UNCTAD/ITE/IIA/2 Bilateral Investment Treaties 1959–1999. Available at: http://unctad.org/en/Docs/poiteiiad2.en.pdf .

http://investmentpolicyhub.unctad.org/IIA .

https://www.apec.org .

Takashi ( 1999 ).

Okita ( 1984 ).

Drysdale ( 1984 ).

Lewis ( 2009 ).

Capling and Ravenhill ( 2011 ).

Schott et al. ( 2013 ).

When signing the executive order to withdraw from the TPP President Trump tweeted ‘we’ve been talking about this for a long time. It’s a great thing for the American worker’ See David Smith. Trump withdraws from the Trans-Pacific Partnership amid flurry of orders. The Guardian. 23 January 2017.

Ling Shengli. Will China join TPP is not the question. China Daily. 20 March 2017.

The discount rate and net present value is based on a model of time preference. The general principle is that people prefer to receive benefits now rather than in the future.

World Trade Organization Speech DG Roberto Azevêdo 20 March 2017. Available at https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/spra_e/spra_e.htm .

Alexandroff, Alan S., and Andrew F. Cooper. (eds) 2010. Rising States, Rising Institutions: Challenges for Global Governance . Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.

Google Scholar  

Beesly, Alan. 1983. The Negotiating Strategy of UNCLOS III: Developing and Developed Countries as Partners—A Pattern for Future Multilateral International Conferences. Law and Contemporary Problems 46 (2): 183–194.

Article   Google Scholar  

Capling, Ann, and John Ravenhill. 2011. Multilateralising regionalism: what role for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement? The Pacific Review 24 (5): 553–575.

Cooper, Andrew F., and Agata Ant Kiewicz. 2008. Emerging Powers in Global Governance: Lessons from the Heiligendamm Process . Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

Daniel L. Byman and Kenneth M. Pollack. 20001. Let Us Now Praise Great Men: Bringing the Statesman Back In. International Security . 25 (4): 107–146.

Dattu, Ryaz. 2000. A Journey from Havana to Paris: The Fifty-Year Quest for the Elusive Multilateral Agreement on Investment. Fordham International Law Journal 24: 274–314.

Drysdale, Peter. 1984. The Pacific Trade and Development Conference: A Brief History Pacific Economic Papers, no.112, Australia-Japan Research Centre, Australia National University.

Friedheim, Robert L. 1993. Negotiating the New Ocean Regime , ix. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.

Gerth, H.H., and C. Wright Mills. 1958. XVII The Chinese Literati in From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology . New York: Oxford University Press.

Lewis, M.K. 2009. Expanding the P-4 trade agreement into a broader trans-pacific partnership: implications, risks and opportunities. Asian Journal of WTO and International Health Law and Policy 4(2): 401–422.

Miller, David Hunter. 1930. The Hague Codification Conference. American Journal of International Law 24 (4): 674–693.

Nye Jr., Joseph S. 2008. Powers to Lead: Soft, Hard, and Smart . New York: Oxford University Press.

Okita, Saburo. 1984. Pacific Regional Cooperation. In Policy and Practice: Essays in Honour of Sir John Crawford , eds. L.T. Evans, and J.D.B. Miller. Canberra: ANU Press.

Owen, David, and Tracy B. Strong. 2004. Max Weber: The Vocation Lectures Science as Vocation, Politics as Vocation , 34. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.

Reich, S., and R.N. Lebow. 2014. Good-Bye Hegemony: Power and Influence in the Global System . Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Book   Google Scholar  

Schott, Jeffrey J., Kotschwar, Barbara., and Muir, Julia. 2013. Understanding the Trans-Pacific Partnership . Washington DC: Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Strange, Susan. 1987. The Persistent Myth of Lost Hegemony. International Organization 41 (4): 551–574.

Takashi Terada. 1999. The Japanese Origins of PAFTAD: The Beginning of an Asian Pacific Economic Community, Pacific Economic Paper no. 292. Australia-Japan Research Centre, Australia National University.

Walter, Andrew. 2001. NGOs, Business, and International Investment: The Multilateral Agreement n Investment, Seattle and Beyond. Global Governance 7: 51–73.

Young, Oran R. 1991. Political Leadership and Regime Formation: on the Development of Institutions in International Society. International Organization 45(3): 281–308 (Summer) .

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

Katherine Morton

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katherine Morton .

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Morton, K. Political Leadership and Global Governance: Structural Power Versus Custodial Leadership. Chin. Polit. Sci. Rev. 2 , 477–493 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41111-017-0089-4

Download citation

Received : 17 September 2017

Accepted : 19 September 2017

Published : 28 November 2017

Issue Date : December 2017

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s41111-017-0089-4

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Political leadership
• Global governance
• Structural power
• Custodial stewardship
• International institutions
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

Feb 15, 2023

Essays on Leadership for Students | 200 - 500 Word Essays

Are you writing an essay about leadership? Check out these examples!

Leadership is often defined as "the action of inspiring others to act in concert to achieve a particular goal." It signifies the harmony in actions that lead to a common objective. A genuine leader not only exudes confidence but also paves the way for their followers towards triumph. Over the years, various leadership styles have been identified and discussed by psychologists.

 Qualities such as intelligence, adaptability, extroversion, innate self-awareness, and social competence often emerge as the hallmarks of impactful leaders. There's a consensus that these traits mold an individual into an effective leader. Interestingly, some theories suggest that extraordinary situations can thrust an ordinary individual into the spotlight, bestowing upon them the mantle of leadership. It's also believed that leadership isn't a static trait but an evolving journey. It underscores the belief that with dedication and the right resources, anyone can hone their leadership abilities.

 True leadership goes beyond merely advocating for a cause. It involves taking responsibility, igniting motivation in others, and differentiating oneself from just being a 'boss'. A leader's essence lies in their ability to inspire and propel people towards grand visions, whereas a manager typically focuses on oversight and operational aspects.

What Is a Leadership Essay?

A leadership essay falls under the category of student application essays and serves to provide student admissions officers with insight into your past leadership experiences. Despite appearing to be very specific, this type of essay acknowledges that the nature and perception of leadership can vary significantly depending on the individual and the context.

 If you find yourself in need of further insights or a unique angle for your leadership essay, consider exploring an expert essay-writing tool designed to assist students in crafting compelling narratives by analyzing vast data and generating fresh ideas within minutes. In this article, we'll also delve into various leadership essay examples to offer a clearer understanding of the genre and inspire your writing journey.

4 Examples of Leadership Essays

Qualities of a good leader, introduction.

Confidence is the most important attribute first of all. One of the most important qualities in a leader is confidence in one's own abilities. A lack of self-assurance is fatal to a person's leadership potential. If you want others to follow you, you need to exude self-assurance. It's imperative for a leader to have faith in his own judgment and actions. How can people want to follow him if he doesn't even know what he's doing?

Every effective leader knows that they need to be an inspiration to their followers. A leader needs to set an example for his team. In addition, he ought to inspire them whenever feasible. A leader must also maintain optimism in trying times.

What qualities a good leader must have?

Leadership is the ability to influence and guide individuals or groups toward a common goal. A leader must possess several qualities to be effective, including:

Communication skills: A leader must be able to communicate their vision and goals clearly and effectively, both verbally and in writing. This requires excellent listening skills, empathy, and the ability to adapt to different communication styles.

Emotional intelligence: A leader must be able to understand and manage their own emotions, as well as those of their team members. This includes being able to understand and respond to the emotions of others, and handling conflicts in a constructive manner.

Visionary: A leader must have a clear and inspiring vision of the future, and be able to articulate this vision in a way that motivates others to work towards it.

Strategic thinking: A leader must be able to think critically and creatively to identify and solve problems, make decisions, and develop plans and strategies to achieve their goals.

Flexibility: A leader must be able to adapt to changing circumstances and be open to new ideas and perspectives. This requires the ability to embrace change, be innovative, and continuously learn and grow.

Integrity: A leader must have strong ethics and values, and be willing to make difficult decisions that are consistent with their beliefs. This requires honesty, transparency, and accountability.

Decisiveness: A leader must be able to make tough decisions quickly, without undue hesitation or procrastination. This requires courage and the ability to take calculated risks.

Empowerment: A leader must be able to delegate responsibilities, give team members the resources they need to succeed, and foster a sense of ownership and accountability among their team.

Conclusion 

These qualities are essential for effective leadership, and when combined with hard work, determination, and a commitment to excellence, can help leaders to achieve great things.

How one can be a Great Leader?

Leadership is the act of performing the duties of a leader. In the business world, for instance, it is essential to have someone in charge of a team to ensure everything runs well. Effective leadership is essential for any group that wants to maximize its prospects of success.

Leadership Comes from Experience

As we've shown, leadership can be innate in some cases but is more often learned through practice and exposure. Sometimes the best traits of a leader must be learned over a lengthy period of time, so that one can become a notable one, proving that leadership is not always about a person's innate qualities. Leaders should continuously be on the lookout for opportunities to grow their leadership skills.

Nobody can disagree that experience is a key component of leadership. Numerous examples exist to back up this claim, such as:

Instance 1:

Our school's head boy or girl has traditionally been an older student who has been around for a while and thus has a better grasp of the ins and outs of school politics.

Instance 2:

When there is a vacancy for a team leader, it is common practice for the employee who has consistently put in the most effort and attention to the office job to receive a higher number of votes than their coworkers. 

“The best teacher for a leader is evaluated experience.” - John C. Maxwell

How one can be a Great Leader/Skills to be a Great Leader?

Effective leadership is a skill that develops through time. Developing into a leader with all the qualities that are needed takes a lot of hard work and potential. Being a prominent leader calls for a wide variety of traits. Some of these characteristics are addressed in further detail below:

One should be a Good Communicator

To be an effective leader, one must be able to convey his thoughts clearly to his/her/its subordinates.

Should have Confidence

The individual should have faith in what he says and does.

Give Credit to other Team Members too

A leader not only needs to impose his viewpoints and opinions instead he must also hear to the suggestions of other members of the team and offer them credit if their concept is appropriate.

Good Bond with the Team

A leader's ability to command respect from his team members depends on his ability to develop and maintain positive relationships with them.

Leads with Responsibility

A leader needs to be completely committed to his position. It's important that he takes on responsibility so that he can effectively deal with the various challenges he will inevitably face.

Any group or organization needs a leader above all else. Leadership development takes time and effort. One needs to have lived through a lot to be an effective leader. It's not enough to simply have years of experience in the field; one must also have the traits that make one an effective leader. You can't be a great leader unless you possess certain traits.

What makes a Good Leader?

Trying one's hand as a leader appears easy when viewed through this lens. Is that so tough? Of course not; leading is difficult, and not everyone aspires to be a leader. The vast majority of us have settled into well-established careers where we report to superiors and make a living. Still, not everyone is content to go along with the crowd. They become leaders in whatever field they pursue. A leader is an example to followers and will prioritize the needs of those around them.

Some Unique Qualities of a Leader

Many individuals resort to their leaders to vent their frustrations, therefore it's important for them to be good listeners.

A leader ought to be completely forthright; they can't play favorites or give anyone preferential treatment. One of the most essential qualities of a strong leader is the ability to make decisions with integrity.

They need to be aware of the bigger picture and understand what makes an individual stand out or become a leader. It's their expertise in addition to other distinguishing traits. Their awareness of current events and the results of recent studies is essential. In many ways, this is helpful, and it's the leader's responsibility to stay current.

Since some might not understand them, they should utilize straightforward, easily comprehended language. Leaders need to be able to communicate effectively at all times. In reality, what sets them apart is their exceptional communication skills. Adolf Hitler was such a gifted orator that his followers believed every word he said.

No matter how you're feeling or what's going on in the world, if you listen to a leader, they may make you feel energized. Since leaders are in charge of inspiring confidence in their followers, they can't afford to be wary or unsure of themselves. People tend to blindly follow their leaders.

Whether you're a leader or a doctor, you should devote yourself completely to your chosen field. Everything we do is for the benefit of others; engineers, for example, spend much of their time designing and constructing buildings for other people. So, take pride in what you do, and if you possess the aforementioned traits, you are also a leader who doesn't have to rely on others to succeed. No matter what you do, aspiring to leadership positions will always benefit others.

What is Leadership in Management and what are the weaknesses and strengths of a Leader?

Simply said, leadership is acting as a supervisor or manager of a group. Different mental pictures pop up when we hear the word "leadership" used in conversation. One might think of a political leader, team leader, corporate leader, school leader, etc. Leaders facilitate order and efficiency in the workplace. Teamwork and success are fundamental to effective leadership. Leaders utilize their managerial abilities to establish courses and guide their teams to success.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Leadership

Able to express oneself more clearly

Growth of character.

Self-awareness.

Possession of teamwork skills.

Gain assurance in yourself.

Weaknesses:

Acting favorably toward one's teammates.

Having no faith in the leader.

Thinks they're better than everyone else, but act hypocritically.

Not living up to the promised standard.

Insufficient morals.

Leadership and Management

Management and leadership are inextricably linked to one another. Leadership and management are both vital to the efficient operation of an organization; but, they accomplish very different things in the process. Leadership is a necessary skill for anyone aspiring to be an effective manager. The terms management and leadership are synonymous with one another. In this manner, we are able to draw the conclusion that a manager who demonstrates the traits of a successful leader is, in fact, a manager who is effective.

Leadership in School

Leadership is essential in nearly every group, as we've seen above. That group includes one's educational institution. Every school needs an outstanding figure to serve as its head of school. Class monitor, assembly captain, cultural leader, etc. are all examples of leadership roles that can be taken on at school, but this raises the question of what makes a person a successful school leader.

Any student hoping to be chosen as a student body leader will need to demonstrate a wide range of competencies. He or she needs to be a consistent student who pays attention in class and does well in extracurricular activities. For the simple reason that no intelligent and hardworking kid would ever be considered for leadership. Student leaders are most often selected from among those who participate fully in all activities.

Leadership in Organization

Leadership in an organization, also known as organizational leadership, is the process of establishing long-term objectives that further the company's mission and help it reach its ultimate destination. This is a classic illustration of how Bill Gates often works with his team: they agree on a strategy, and Gates implements it. To the same extent, it is the responsibility of the leader in each given organization to determine what it is that the group is trying to accomplish.

Leadership in Politics

Leadership in politics, also known as political leadership, is the process of becoming actively involved in a political party in the role of a party leader. Knowledge of political processes, their outcomes, and the political agenda is central to the idea of political leadership.

An effective leader can be developed in anyone who has the determination and drives to do so. Both the strengths and the areas for improvement should be nurtured. Whether in the classroom, the workplace, or the political arena, leadership is always necessary. Therefore, one can exercise leadership anywhere they like inside their own organization.

What are the types of Leadership?

The ability to lead is a rare trait that not everyone possesses. The ability to do so is a gift, so count your blessings if you possess it. It's recommended that you hone it even more so that you can propel your career forward and serve as an example to people around you. However, it is crucial to grasp the various leadership styles before you go ahead and polish your skills.

Types of Leadership Styles

Democratic Leadership

In this style of management, subordinates are given a voice in decision-making. Although the subordinates' efforts are highlighted, the leader is ultimately held responsible for the group's actions. Many people find this type of leadership to be effective.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leaders motivate and inspire others to adopt new behaviors and ways of thinking in order to improve their own performance and that of their teams and organizations. A transformational leader is someone who encourages their team to strive for greater things and works to boost morale and output.

Team Leadership

A good leader fully incorporates his team into the task at hand. Members of the team are motivated to reach their goals and advance in their careers thanks to the leadership of the group.

Strategic Leadership

It requires a chief executive who doesn't restrict himself to brainstorming sessions with his superiors. He contributes on every level of the team. He is well-liked for his ability to unite the need for fresh ideas with the necessity of grounding them in reality.

Autocratic Leadership

The leader in a command and control structure is the center of attention. The chief executive has absolute power in this setting. He decides things on his own, without polling his staff. He relays this information to his staff and stresses the importance of swift action. The buck stops with him, and he alone must answer for his actions. Not much room for negotiation exists. It's no secret that this method of leading has its detractors.

Visionary Leadership

This kind of leader appreciates the abilities and requirements of his team members. He describes his ideal outcome and the teamwork that will be necessary to attain it.

Coaching Leadership

Leaders who coach their teams do so regularly in an effort to raise output. He inspires his employees to do better and works to keep them motivated. This approach to leadership has been much praised.

Facilitative Leadership

With occasional guidance, a facilitative leader ensures that the process runs smoothly for his team. As a precaution in case his team is ineffective. If the team is highly effective, the leader will take a hands-off approach.

Cross-Cultural Leadership

The leadership of this type is necessary when interacting with people from various cultural backgrounds. Because of the wide variety of cultures represented in the workforce across the United States, many managers and executives hold cross-cultural positions.

Laissez-Faire Leadership

The members of the team are given responsibility in this style of management. They are free to choose how they spend their time at work, with minimal oversight from the boss. It's not a good way to lead, according to experts.

Transactional Leadership

An interactive approach is integral to this kind of leadership. When team members successfully implement their leader's ideas and choices, they are rewarded with immediate, material benefits.

Charismatic Leadership

In order to bring out the best in his followers, this kind of leader makes the effort to change their attitudes, values, and actions.

This article should dispel the notion that leadership qualities can't be further subdivided. It should also assist you in pinpointing your own personal brand of leadership so you can perfect it over time.

Final Words

In conclusion, leadership is a complex and multifaceted concept that involves various qualities and skills. Effective leaders possess traits such as integrity, vision, empathy, decisiveness, and the ability to inspire and motivate others. They are able to navigate challenges, make difficult decisions, and lead their team toward success. Leadership also involves continuous learning and self-improvement, as leaders must adapt to changing circumstances and remain relevant. Effective leadership can have a positive impact on both individuals and organizations, fostering growth and creating a culture of success.

You can use Jenni.ai to quickly compose an essay on leadership, or any other topic, of your choosing. It's a fantastic choice that promises convenience and relief. Create an essay on any topic in a matter of minutes with the help of our AI-powered program. Membership is immediately available upon your free registration here.

You can use Jenni.ai to quickly compose an essay on leadership, or any other topic, of your choosing. It's a fantastic choice that promises convenience and relief. Create an essay on any topic in a matter of minutes with the help of our AI-powered program. Sign up on Jenni.ai and get a free trial.

Start Writing With Jenni Today

Sign up for a free Jenni AI account today. Unlock your research potential and experience the difference for yourself. Your journey to academic excellence starts here.

Political Leadership and Organization Research Paper

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Leadership is a vital component in every society. It defines the values, goals, and objectives of people in the society. Effective leadership not only defines these elements, but also determines how they are achieved. The success of the political leadership and organization emanate from the leadership style of the leader.

Therefore, to ensure success of political leadership, it is important to work with good leaders who are focused on positive results. Good leadership depends on the leader’s individual qualities or character (Crick 23).

Based on these assertions, this study will take a comparative stance by analyzing the good leaders, in particular Bill Clinton and John Kennedy. The characteristics of a bad leader will also be examined. In this comparison, the study will compare the New York Mayor Mr. Michael Bloomberg and the Toronto Mayor Mr. Rob Ford.

Political leadership and organization require the leader to exhibit exemplary characters of charisma, good interpersonal skills, results orientation and good problem solving skills (Wren 132). The personal qualities of a potential leader determine the outcome for the whole nation, so superior intelligence and education are a must. It is crucial that the person is respectable, reliable and just.

Since the market and economy greatly influence the outcome of the leader’s plans and goals it is their direct responsibility to predict any fluctuations and prevent loss of stability and control. This study will look at the relationship between a leader’s character and the success of the leadership style.

Empirical/ Theoretical gap

Political leadership and organization are among the most interesting topics that have attracted attention of various researchers and authors. Every leader faces a theoretical gap in relation to the practical control and functioning of a nation, and the knowledge or empirical understanding that was gained prior to becoming a member of the office.

When an individual starts running for presidency or other leadership position, they will mobilize the resources and the political processes that are necessary for taking charge. Often, the internal politics are not as clear cut before the person gets the position in the government. As such, they must become aware of the current matters regarding the economy and policies that need to be changed or added.

Every good leader has the ability to organize and mobilize forces that are directed towards the greater good of the nation. Sometimes, before the leader is selected, a candidate will make promises that sound fair, but the reality is somewhat skewed, as many details are still unknown.

As a result, the gap between theory and practice gets overlooked. This leads to promises that are broken, and a change in policies that was over optimistic beforehand. This is why foresight and empirical knowledge should be balanced with practice.

Mr. Bill Clinton

William Jefferson Blythe III (Bill Clinton) was one of the youngest presidents in America. The leader was elected to the office of the president as the 42 nd president of the United States of America. Bill Clinton was also among the first Democratic presidents who managed to serve two terms in the office.

Clinton attended Edmund Walsh School and Georgetown University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree (Morris 100). There are several factors that make Bill Clinton a good leader who has ever ruled the U.S. Apart from being a charismatic and influential individual, the leader is mainly remembered for significant contributions to the development of the country.

Contribution

Bill Clinton was of one of the American presidents who managed to reduce the deficits in the federal budget and the economic recovery. The economic team appointed by the president played an important role in reducing the government expenditure and proper use of public resources.

On the political front, Clinton facilitated the change process in the Democratic Party by ensuring that the party was open to many Americans from various dimensions of social life. The leader changed the party to accommodate the needs of minorities and other groups in the country.

During Clinton’s reign, the Democratic Party played an important role in protecting the disadvantaged groups and stimulated economic development through government initiatives (Morris 112).

Before his life in politics, Bill Clinton served in various leadership capacities. This therefore indicates that Clinton was born with leadership qualities. He became the student leader of Georgetown University and was also the leader of the music band in college.

Clinton was also involved in humanitarian initiatives displaying his leadership skills which made him an effective member. For instance, his reforms in the health sector were aimed at improving accessibility and quality of health care. He received higher ratings from the members of the public due to his charisma and concerted efforts to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, as well as environmental problems such as global warming.

Mr. John Kennedy

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35 th President of the United States of America. His accession to power was marked by contention when he narrowly defeated the Republican candidate Mr. Richard Nixon. He served from 1961 to 1963 when he was assassinated during a public rally. Prior to his political career, John Kennedy was a leader in various capacities especially in the military.

His participation in the navy earned him recognition and awards for exemplary service. John Kennedy was a brilliant naval officer who is remembered for successfully leading his combat in Panama. In the navy, he rose to the ranks of a lieutenant and was in charge of a patrol board that toured the Pacific theater.

Kennedy became a hero in the military sector when he saved the lives of his fellow naval officers when their boat capsized (Alford & Newman 49).

Comparing the achievement of the two leaders it is evident that John Kennedy’s achievements delved on a diverse range of issues in America. Clinton’s main achievement was based on economic improvement through reduced federal deficits. He also improved the education sector through adoption and enactment of various policies. John Kennedy on the other hand had achieved that touched on various aspects of life (Crick 110).

Most Americans believe that John Kennedy was one of the most successful presidents that ever ruled America. It was during his reign that America managed to land on the moon. It was also through John Kennedy that America was able to overcome the invasion of Cuba and the Soviet Union.

The president also played an important role in ending racial segregation in various transport facilities and social institutions such as schools. Kennedy’s initiative to establish the Peace Corps program placed him in a position of great leaders. These achievements therefore tend to surpass the achievements that were attained by President Bill Clinton (Wren 121).

Mr. Michael Bloomberg

Mr. Michael Bloomberg is the one of the longest serving mayors of New York. Elected in the year 2001, Mr. Bloomberg greatly contributed to the development of the city in various aspects. He started his career at Salmon Brothers. However, he was laid off when the company was sold to another organization.

After retrenchment, Mr. Bloomberg started his own company that offered business information and data management services to other organizations in New York (Bloomberg 23). Mr. Michael Bloomberg resigned from Bloomberg L.P. and joined politics in the year 2000. He decamped from the Democratic Party to contest for the mayoral post on a Republican ticket.

The mayor played an important role in transforming New York after the attacks of 2001. When he resumed office in the year 2001, the mayor introduced different policies that enhanced the performance of various sectors. For instance, in the year 2002, graduation from high school increased by more than 26%, crime rate decreased by 35%, and welfare rolls declined by more than 22%.

The mayor also played an important role in reducing other social problems such teen smoking and alcohol abuse among the youths. Mr. Bloomberg was one of the mayors of New York who facilitated economic growth and the creation of new job opportunities for the youths (Crick 76).

One of the key achievements that enabled the mayor to earn higher ratings from the public was his concerted effort to transform the education system. Bloomberg introduced new education policies, which improved the quality of education and rate of enrollment. Bloomberg is one of the most philanthropic individuals in the U.S.

The mayor has participated in several charity programs, and has donated his time and resources to various community based initiatives. Before politics, Mr. Michael Bloomberg was a great business leader in various organizations. He led the financial and equity department of Salmon Brothers and later became the chief executive officer and chairman of Bloomberg P.L (Bloomberg 23).

Mr. Rob Ford

Robert Bruce Ford joined politics in the year 2000 when he was elected the councilor to represent Etobicoke Ward in Toronto. Ford was first elected to the mayoral seat in the year 2010. Mr. Rob Ford has been overwhelmed by his personal escapades, which have greatly comprised his leadership qualities. Mr. Rob Ford has been accused of mismanaging public funds, conflict of interests, and drug abuse (Goddard 2011).

Before Rob Ford rose in politics, he had served in various leadership positions, especially in the business sector. The mayor had served as the director of the Ford Family Company before he was elected to mayoral positions (Wren 210).

As such, even though he had experience as leader, and accomplished some changes for the city, his personal life became too detrimental to the office. Every leader must realize that they are constantly watched by the public, and their professionalism in public life and governmental positions must be aided by their personal life.

As a leader, Ford has played an important role in ensuring that Toronto remains one of the safest cities with free health care programs. However, his critics believe that he has contributed to the collapse of the city council in Toronto. Mr. Ford has been blamed for mismanagement of funds. Compared to the New York Mayor, Mr. Ford was not focused on development, and did not implement change to policies and administration.

Benefits of Comparison

From the comparison of the various leaders discussed in this study, it is evident that leadership transcends from the character of the individual. Comparison of political leaders also reveals how various leaders affect the growth and development in the society. From the comparison of Bill Clinton and John Kennedy it is evident that Clinton introduced economic policies, which transformed the federal budgeting and expenditure.

Kennedy, on the other hand, played an important role in protecting the country against foreign invasion. Comparison of various leaders is important in expanding the knowledge on the topic of leadership and organization. It is also used in learning the various leadership styles that are used by the leaders (Creswell 189).

Methodology and Data

The research method employed in this study was qualitative. The researcher mainly relied on secondary and primary sources of data which provided reliable information on the topic. The researcher collected data by interviewing respondents who worked in government offices and other social institutions such as schools (Creswell 240).

The researcher visited the respondents in the areas and managed to collect data by accessing relevant materials on the topic. To get information about the two mayors the researcher interviewed the city council officials from New York and Toronto.

The researcher used a population sample of 25 respondents who were interviewed from various government offices and the city council departments. The following elements were considered for evaluation of leadership qualities.

From the above table, good or great leaders scored higher marks on the above mentioned attributes. For instance, the respondents believed that all the leaders from Bill Clinton, John Kennedy, Michael Bloomberg, and, Rob Ford had good management skills. The other important element was the control over personal issues. The respondents believed that a good leader should have control over their private life.

Uncertainty surrounding the results mainly emanate from the lack of accuracy of the information provided by the respondents during the interview. Everybody’s view is rather subjective, and might be based on understanding and information from other people. As such, only practical results can be properly evaluated.

Political organization and leadership are important areas of study which enable individuals to learn how organizations and regions are governed. Good leadership contributes to the development and growth of a given region in various aspects.

However, the success of a leader depends on the leader’s personal characters and the leadership style used in influencing issues, such as management of public resources and other important political and economic matters of the nation.

Shortcomings

The short comings associated with this study mainly stemmed from the research method employed by the researcher and respondents who were interviewed.

Also, situational or environmental factors must be taken into consideration, as the difference between pre-election times might be greater when compared to the leader who has already been elected. It is critical to base theory and practice on realistic conditions and empirical knowledge.

Normative Implications

Political leaders should uphold responsibility for issues that affect the society, and ensure individual discipline in the public domain. The amount of work that the leader has is a lot for one individual, so uniting the efforts in the fight for common goal must also be present. Considering all the qualities of a leader it is possible to see that the disadvantages must be minimal, if not non-existent at all.

The leader can focus all attention on promoting policies and regulations that are promised to the people, leaving the minor organization and support to the party members. Personal life is closely connected to the position of the leader, so it must be kept proper and respectful.

Works Cited

Alford, Mimi & Newman, Judith. Once upon a secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and its Aftermath . London: Hutchinson, 2011. Print.

Bloomberg, Michael. Bloomberg by Bloomberg . New York: John Wiley, 1997. Print.

Creswell, John. Qualitative inquiry and research design . Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2009. Print.

Crick, Bernard. In defense of politics . London: Continuum, 2000. Print.

Goddard, John. “Doug Ford, Athlete, business leader, MPP”. Toronto Star 22 August. 2011. Print.

Morris, Roger. Partners in Power: The Clintons and Their America . Washington: Regnery Publishing, 1995. Print.

Wren, Thomas. Inventing leadership: The challenge of democracy . Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2010. Print.

• American Government and Its Roles
• Materialism and Moral Hazard
• Gun Control Legislation in Colorado
• The Economy: Evaluation of Two Websites Related to the Economy
• "World Energy Hits a Turning Point" by Tom Randall
• Metropolitan Government - Should we Replace City Political Structures with Metro Ones?
• Comparison of Orestes Brownson and Eugene Debs Socialistic Ideas
• Similarities and Differences Between Communism and Democratic Socialism
• Marijuana: The Issues of Legalization in the USA
• Concept of Bureaucracy Through Weber’s and Ritzer’s Works
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2019, April 23). Political Leadership and Organization. https://ivypanda.com/essays/political-leadership-and-organization-research-paper/

"Political Leadership and Organization." IvyPanda , 23 Apr. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/political-leadership-and-organization-research-paper/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'Political Leadership and Organization'. 23 April.

IvyPanda . 2019. "Political Leadership and Organization." April 23, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/political-leadership-and-organization-research-paper/.

1. IvyPanda . "Political Leadership and Organization." April 23, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/political-leadership-and-organization-research-paper/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Political Leadership and Organization." April 23, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/political-leadership-and-organization-research-paper/.

Political Leaders Essays

Portfolio project: daniel ortega, president of nicaragua, popular essay topics.

• American Dream
• Artificial Intelligence
• Black Lives Matter
• Bullying Essay
• Career Goals Essay
• Causes of the Civil War
• Child Abusing
• Civil Rights Movement
• Community Service
• Cultural Identity
• Cyber Bullying
• Death Penalty
• Depression Essay
• Domestic Violence
• Freedom of Speech
• Global Warming
• Gun Control
• Human Trafficking
• I Believe Essay
• Immigration
• Importance of Education
• Israel and Palestine Conflict
• Leadership Essay
• Legalizing Marijuanas
• Mental Health
• National Honor Society
• Police Brutality
• Pollution Essay
• Racism Essay
• Romeo and Juliet
• Same Sex Marriages
• Social Media
• The Great Gatsby
• The Yellow Wallpaper
• Time Management
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Violent Video Games
• What Makes You Unique
• Why I Want to Be a Nurse
• Send us an e-mail

Essays: ‘On political leadership’. (2016)

“The yearning for a strong individual leader who will dominate all and sundry is the pursuit of a false god

Published in ‘Daedalus’, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Summer 2016 issue. Guest editor: Archie Brown, Emeritus Professor of Politics, University of Oxford

From the Academy ’ s Press Release:

“Published during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, these essays offer expert insight into the character and quality of effective political leadership.

“The yearning for a strong individual leader who will dominate all and sundry is the pursuit of a false god …Yet, notwithstanding ghastly experience with overweening leaders in many different countries, the craving for a ‘strong leader’ still persists, and is a major factor in the 2016 US presidential election.

“These and other issues of great and topical significance concerning the character and quality of political authority are explored by this multinational and multidisciplinary group of authors.”

Contents include:

Introduction by Archie Brown (University of Oxford). What is effective political leadership? Do we need “strong” individual leadership, or do we need to be protected from it?

Leadership, Equality & Democracy by Nannerl O. Keohane (Princeton University). “only passionate and pragmatic leadership can overcome the dangers of a polity in which the power of money so exceeds the will of the people

Rethinking the Psychology of Leadership: From Personal Identity to Social Identity by S. Alexander Haslam (University of Queensland) & Stephen D. Reicher (University of St. Andrews). Effective leadership is the capacity to mobilize a mass constituency to bring about shared goals. But the same qualities that make one leader effective may render another useless

Presidential Leadership & the Separation of Powers by Eric A. Posner (University of Chicago). What stops presidents from abusing their powers? (The conflicts between) the multifaceted nature of presidential leadership

Women & Legislative Leadership in the U.S. Congress: Representing Women ’ s Interests in Partisan Times by Michele L. Swers (Georgetown University). (Addresses) the impact of electing more women … the incentive structure of the American electoral system … means that women are not likely to bring more consensus to Washington.

Varieties of Presidentialism and of the Leadership Outcomes by Robert Elgie (Dublin City University). Examines … whether a parliamentary or presidential system is more conducive to the transition to democracy

Authoritarian Leadership in the Post-Communist World by Eugene Huskey (Stetson University). Explores the origins and development of personalistic rule in (the successor states to the Soviet Union).

Leadership – It ’ s a System , Not a Person! by Barbara Kellerman (Harvard Kennedy School). Calls for the replacement of the lucrative but vapid industry surrounding leadership training and education.

Multiple but Complementary, Not Conflictual, Leaderships: The Tunisian Democratic Transition in Comparative Perspective by Alfred Stepan (Columbia University) . Tunisia has had a multiplicity of cooperating leaders, rather than a single “strong leader” or multiple conflictual leaderships.

Against the F ü hrerprinzip : For Collective Leadership by Archie Brown (University of Oxford). Highlights the ineffectiveness and dangerousness of powerful individual leaders.

In Favor of ‘ Leader Proofing ’ by Anthony King (University of Essex). Argues that there is much to be said for a liberal democracy’s “political culture and institutions having built into them a fair amount of ‘leader proofing.’”

View the press release here: New D ædalus Issue on “On political leadership”

Find a fuller synposis of individual essays here: Table of contents

Print and Kindle copies of the new issue can be ordered  here .

Tags: Brown Leadership Presidents and Prime Ministers

Leave a comment

Comments are closed.