Pols. 651 Political Leadership (CRN 88472), Tuesdays, 6:00-8:30 P.M.

Prof. Richard Chadwick

Chadwick@hawaii.edu

Office phone: 956-7180 (call anytime to leave message)

Office and hours: Saunders 619, Tuesday and Thursday, 2-5 p.m. and by appointment

Catalog description: "Exploration of political leadership as a focus for research, teaching, and applied political science."

This version of the course examines

  1. theoretical and applied approaches to furthering knowledge about leadership,
  2. anecdotal knowledge and the search for generalizations,
  3. relations between leadership, organization and anticipatory knowledge or foresight, and
  4. historical, problem-focused contextualizing of political leadership and the search for models (leadership in the Mideast, East Asia, and the European Union).

Each focus is accompanied by reading assignments and related bibliography that you may use for a final essay for the course.

Our discussions will range widely on the nature of leadership and political power, its use and misuse by leaders, some at the peak of political hierarchies and some challenging those hierarchies and their supporters. We will usually look through the eyes of observers, analyzers, and critics of such leadership dynamics. How and why people become recognized as leaders, how they maintain their position and reputation, and how they decline, fail, or are removed as leaders also will be among the questions discussed.

Three paradigmatic perspectives will be used to focus some of our discussions: (1) the use of scientific methods for studying leadership and editing insights, (2) development of applied policy frameworks for leadership, and (3) philosophical approaches to leadership issues and understanding the nature of leadership.

Texts to purchase for the course:

Ordered at UH Bookstore:

Trade books (may be in the trade books section of the Bookstore; they can be ordered online via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc., new or used.

I will be supplying a much longer list of supplementary texts that you may peruse for your essay for the course.

Grades will be based on (1) weekly written commentaries on readings including class discussions and lectures, (2) class participation, and (3) a final written work dealing with some aspect of the theory about, practice of, or research on political leadership. From an historical perspective, the work may be historically oriented, contemporary, or have an alternative futures focus.

 

Week

Readings (basic – more will be added as the semester goes on)

Commentary assignments, each 3-5 pages (double-spaced) due weekly

Theoretical and Applied Approaches to Furthering Knowledge about Leadership

1. Jan. 8

Introduction to leadership theory (lecture and discussion notes will be posted here to read after each class, to be reviewed before the next class)

Write a 3-5-page essay on your own understanding of political leadership. Compare and Contrast it with Oksenberg’s as described in the first class session. Turn in next week before class by email.

2. Jan. 16

Paige’s Scientific Study of Political Leadership (read lecture and discussion notes)

Compare/contrast some of your understandings about political leadership with Paige’s.

3. Jan 23

Skip to Gergen (week 4 below). We'll come back to Burns after we finish Gergen.
Burns, Leadership

Compare some of Burns and Paige’s understandings about leadership.

Lecture notes: from time to time I'll put materials here that I cover in class discussion and lectures rather spontaneously.

  • Paradigmatic approaches to leadership and other studies - this powerpoint was done in the context of reframing the meaning of democracy in a globalizing system, but the core elements--science, philosophy, and praxis paradigms--are the focus, which we discussed in the second session.
    Anecdotal Knowledge and the Search for Generalizations

    		•

    4. Feb. 6

    Gergen, Eyewitness to Power

    Might Gergen’s "lessons learned" about leadership generalize?

    5. Feb. 13

    Carville and Begala, Buck Up…

    Matthews, Hardball

    Compare partisan perspectives on national leadership (include Gergen).

    6. Feb. 20

    Linsky and Heifetz, Leadership…

    General, personal skills approach to studying leadership.

    Leadership, Organization, and Foresight

    7. Feb. 27

    Stroup, Managing Leadership

    General, organizational approach to understanding leadership roles.

    8. Mar. 6

    Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science

    Futures approach. What is different about Wheatley’s understanding of leadership?

    Contextualizing Political Leadership and the Search for Models

    9. Mar. 13

    Leadership in the Mideast

    Discussion of understanding of Mideast politics and leadership

    10. Mar. 20

    Leadership in East Asia

    Discussion of understanding of East Asian politics and leadership

    Spring Break

    11. Apr. 3

    Leadership in the European Union

    Discussion of European Union politics and leadership

    12. Apr. 10

    Leadership in Hawaii

    Discussion of Hawaiian politics and leadership

    Applications, Insights, and the Search for Relevance

    13. Apr. 17

    Student presentations and discussion

    In these sessions we will share ideas being developed and related commentaries for student papers.

    14. Apr. 24

    Student presentations and discussion

    15. May 1

    Wrap up lecture and course evaluation