Leadership
- What does it mean for leaders to “matter”? How might they be expected to do so?
- One of the oldest debates in the study of political leaders concerns “structure” versus “agency.” Can leadership be an important variable in the absence of agency?
- Consider the empirical strategies used to identify the effects of leadership. What do the authors prove? What would make their claims more compelling?
- A good deal of research on leaders has focused on personality. What traits of leaders might matter and in what ways?
- What is the role of leadership in Popkin’s argument? Is his interpretation of leadership consistent with a rational choice / public choice framework?
- What personal qualities are most useful for rulers? Most desirable for their subjects?
- Consider six systems: (a) hereditary monarchies; (b) elective monarchies in which the nobles choose their king; (c) regimes in which the outgoing ruler selects a biologically unrelated successor; (d) systems in which a board of prominent citizens vets and selects the next ruler; (e) parliamentary democracies; and (f) presidential democracies. Which would produce the best leaders?
