Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE PPL2016

 
TITLE Political Leadership

 
UM LEVEL 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 8

 
DEPARTMENT Policy, Politics and Governance

 
DESCRIPTION Numerous changes, recent elections and referenda have been close-run contests that are disrupting long-held ideas about globalisation and the role of government. Brexit and nationalism in the United Kingdom, Donald Trump and the disruption to the Grand Old Party in the United States, populism in France, resignation of Joseph Muscat, a democratic referendum to overturn democracy in Turkey all point towards a new level of dissatisfaction with democratic political systems.

Amidst this turmoil, people throughout the world are increasingly looking to political leaders to solve domestic problems of employment, housing, immigration, foreign ownership, and numerous other problems associated with globalisation.

Can political leaders solve contemporary political and economic problems? Is populism a reaction to dissatisfaction with democracy as we know it? Is this situation being driven by technological disruption? This study-unit will attempt to discuss and analyse leadership roles and styles in these contexts.

Study-Unit Aims:

The aims of this study-unit are to:

- introduce students to political leadership theories and practices;
- outline different leadership models and offer insights into the changing roles of political leaders in the context of external and global forces;
- tackle domestic issues and develop, through case studies, theoretical and practical insights into political leadership in a post-truth, technologically disrupted world.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- critically examine the development of research into, and theories of, leadership, and apply these theories to analyses of political leaders, their leadership styles and approaches;
- evaluate the efficacy of various leadership styles and approaches and critically examine the implications of using different forms of information, academic sources, and methodological approaches in conducting research into and analysing political leadership.
- analyse key contemporary issues and debates in democratic practice.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- analyse different leadership styles;
- discuss and analyse ethical norms, key issues and debates regarding the practice of political leadership.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Main Texts:

- Grint, K. (2000). The Arts of Leadership. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Drucker, P. (2002), Managing in the Next Society. London: Butterworth Heinemann.
- Lewis, P., Goodman, S. and Fandt, P., (2004), Management: Challenges for Tomorrow’s Leaders. Tomson, USA.
- Teelken, C. et al. (eds.) (2013), Leadership in the Public Sector: Promise and Pitfalls, Routledge.

Supplementary Readings:

- Ahlquist, J. and Levi, M. (2011). ‘Leadership: What it Means, What it Does, and What We Want to Know About It’, Annual Review of Political Science, 14 pp.1–24.
- Bennister, M. (2012). Prime Ministers in Power. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
- Bevir, M. and Rhodes, R. A. W. (2003). Interpreting British Governance. London: Routledge.
- Borchert, J. and Zeiss, J., eds. (2003). The Political Class in Advanced Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Bryman, A., Collinson, D., Grint, K., Jackson, D., and Uhl-Bien, M., eds. (2011). The SAGE Handbook of Leadership. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
- Burns, J. M. (2003). Transforming Leadership. New York: Grove.
- Dowding, K. M. (2008). ‘Perceptions of Leadership’, in P. ’t Hart and J. Uhr (eds), Public Leadership: Perspectives and Practices. Canberra: ANU ePress, pp.93–102.
- Elgie, R. (1995). Political Leadership in Liberal Democracies. London: Macmillan.
- Geer, J. G. (1996). From Tea Leaves to Opinion Polls: A Theory of Democratic Leadership. New York: Columbia University Press.
- Greenstein, F. I. (1975) [1969]. Personality and Politics. New York: Norton.
- Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., and Linsky, M. (2009). The Practice of Adaptive Leadership. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business.
- Helms, L., ed. (2012). Comparative Political Leadership. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Kane, J. and Patapan, H. (2012). The Democratic Leader: How Democracy Defines, Empowers and Limits its Leaders. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Keohane, N. (2010). Thinking about Leadership. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
- March, J. G. and Weil, T. (2005). On Leadership. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Masciulli, J. A., Mochanov, M., and Knight, W. A. (2009). ‘Political Leadership in Context’, in The Ashgate Research Companion to Political Leadership. Aldershot: Ashgate, pp.3–27.
- Morse, R. S (2010), Integrative public leadership: Catalyzing collaboration to create public value, The Leadership Quarterly, 21:2, 231-245.
- Ruscio, K. W. (2004). The Leadership Dilemma in Modern Democracy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
- Strangio, P., ’t Hart, P., and Walter, J., eds. (2013). Understanding Prime Ministerial Performance: Comparative Perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ’t Hart, P. (2011). ‘Evaluating Public Leadership: Towards an Assessment Framework’, Public Money and Management, 31 (5) pp.323–330.
- t Hart, P. and Uhr, J. (2008). Public Leadership: Perspectives and Practices. Canberra: ANU E Press.
- Find this resource:t, P. and Uhr, J., eds. (2011). How Power Changes Hands: Transition and Succession in Government. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- ’t Hart, P. (2014). Understanding Public Leadership. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Weber, M. (1991) [1948]. ‘Politics as a Vocation’, in H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills (eds), From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. London: Routledge, 77–128.
- Winter, D. G. (2005). ‘Things I’ve Learned about Personality from Studying Political Leaders at a Distance’, Journal of Personality, 73 (3) pp. 557–84.
- Find this resource: Wren, J. T. (2007). Inventing Leadership: The Challenge of Democracy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. (p. 22).

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Presentation SEM2 Yes 40%
Examination (2 Hours) SEM2 Yes 60%

 
LECTURER/S Luke Buhagiar

 

 
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It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

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