Dispersed Democratic Leadership Origins, Dynamics, and Implications

Dispersed Democratic Leadershipexamines both the scope and consequences of the dispersal of the leadership role in democratic societies, a topic that has been relatively neglected by a political science literature dominated by studies of executive power. Individual chapters investigate the many loci of leadership found in modern democracies, some ancient and some newly emergent, some institutionalized and some ad-hoc, some self-consciously political and some avowedly a-political. In assessing the effects of leadership dispersal, the book argues that understanding how policies are shaped in a democracy requires balancing the usual person-centered approach with one that is more contextual, institutional, and relational. The public leadership role of people in business, the media, non-governmental organizations, bureaucracy, law, show-business and many other areas are instructively investigated to enhance our appreciation of the complexity of democratic political systems and to allow us to assess the effects, both good and ill, of democratic leadership dispersal.

John Kane is a Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Policy at Griffith University, Australia. Haig Patapan is a Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Policy at Griffith University, Australia. Paul't Hart is Professor of Public Administration at Utrecht University and Associate Dean at the Netherlands School of Government.