Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Executive Leadership in Comparative Perspective: Politicians, Bureaucrats and Public Governance

  • Chapter
Comparative Political Leadership

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership series ((PSPL))

Abstract

When the public is asked about the qualities that they most want from their elected officials, ‘leadership’ is one of the most common responses. The public desire for leadership in the public sector is especially important for chief executives — presidents and prime ministers — whom they believe to be responsible for the overall direction of government. But the desire for leadership may also extend well down into the executive branch. The public in particular wants leadership in the policy areas with which they are most concerned — farmers want capable leaders as ministers of agriculture, and the unions want ministers of labour who can lead their organizations effectively.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aarts, Kees, Biais, André and Schmitt, Hermann (eds) (2011) Political Leaders and Democratic Elections (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Aberbach, Joel D., Putnam, Robert D. and Rockman, Bert A. (1981) Politicians and Bureaucrats in Western Democracies (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Addison, Paul (2005) Churchill: The Unexpected Hero (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahlquist, John S. (2010) ‘Policy by Contract: Electoral Cycles, Parties and Social Pacts, 1974–2000’. The Journal of Politics 72(2): 572–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin, Nicholas (ed.) (2005) Executive Leadership and Legislative Assemblies (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardach, Eugene (1997) Getting Agencies to Work Together: The Practice and Theory of Managerial Craftsmanship (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution).

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnard, Chester I. (1968) The Functions of the Executive, revised edn (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernier, Luc and Hafsi, Taïeb (2007) ‘The Changing Nature of Public Entrepreneurship’. Public Administration Review 67(3), 488–503.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blick, Anthony and Jones, George (2010) Premiership: The Development, Nature and Power of the Office of the British Prime Minister (Exeter: Imprint Academic).

    Google Scholar 

  • Blondel, Jean and Thiébault, Jean-Louis (eds) (1991) The Profession of Government Minister in Western Europe (London: Macmillan).

    Google Scholar 

  • Blondel, Jean, Müller-Rommel, Ferdinand and Malová, Darina (2007) Governing New European Democracies (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bolden, Richard, Hawkins, Beverly, Gosling, Jonathan and Taylor, Scott (2011) Exploring Leadership: Individual, Organizational, and Societal Perspectives (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourmaud, Daniel (2001) ‘Les Ves Républiques: monarchie, dyarchie, polyarchie: Variations autour du pouvoir sous la Ve Republique’. Pouvoirs 99: 7–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brants, Kees and Voltmer, Katrin (2011) ‘Introduction: Mediatization and De-centralization of Political Communication’. In Brants, Kees and Voltmer, Katrin (eds), Political Communication in Postmodern Democracy: Challenging the Primacy of Politics (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan), 1–16.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Carey, John M. and Shugart, Matthew S. (1998) Executive Decree Authority (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cheibub, José Antônio (2007) Presidentialism, Parliamentarism, and Democracy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Christensen, Tom and Lægreid, Per (eds) (2007) Transcending New Public Management: The Transformation of Public Sector Reforms (Aldershot: Ashgate).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, Jeffrey E. (2009) Going Local: Presidential Leadership in the Post-Broadcast Age (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Curtin, Deirde (2009) Executive Power of the European Union (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dahlström, Carl, Peters, B. Guy and Pierre, Jon (eds) (2011) Steering from the Centre: Strengthening Political Control in Western Democracies (Toronto: University of Toronto Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Derlien, Hans-Ulrich (1996) ‘The Politicization of Bureaucracies in Historical and Comparative Perspective’. In Peters, B. Guy and Rockman, Bert A. (eds), Agenda for Excellence 2: Administering the State (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House), 149–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, Larry J. (1999) Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dilulio, John (1994) Deregulating the Public Service: Can Government Be Improved? (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dimitrov, Vesselin, Goetz, Klaus H. and Wollmann, Hellmut (2006) Governing after Communism: Institutions and Policymaking (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dowding, Keith and Dumont, Patrick (2009) ‘Structural and Strategic Factors Affecting the Hiring and Firing of Ministers’. In Dowding, Keith and Dumont, Patrick (eds), The Selection of Ministers in Europe: Hiring and Firing (London: Routledge), 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Downs, Anthony (1967) Inside Bureaucracy (Boston: Little, Brown).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunleavy, Patrick and Rhodes, R. A. W (1990) ‘Core Executive Studies in Britain’. Public Administration 68(1): 3–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, George C. (2009) The Strategic President: Persuasion and Opportunity in Presidential Leadership (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Elgie, Robert (2011a) Semi-presidentialism: Sub-types and Democratic Performance (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Elgie, Robert (2011b) ‘R. A. W. Rhodes and the Study of the Core Executive’. Public Administration 89(1): 64–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fabbrini, Sergio (2011) Addomesticare il Principe: Perché i leader contano e come controllarli (Venice: Marsilio).

    Google Scholar 

  • Foley, Michael (1993) The Rise of the British Presidency (Manchester: Manchester University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Foley, Michael (2000) The British Presidency: Tony Blair and the Politics of Public Leadership (Manchester: Manchester University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Fournier, Antonin-Xavier (2008) La dynamique du pouvoir sous la Ve République: cohabitation et avenir des institutions (Québec: Presses de l’Université du Québec).

    Google Scholar 

  • Fournier, Jacques (1987) Le travail governmental (Paris: Presses universitaires de France).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilley, Bruce (2008) The Right to Rule: How States Win and Lose Legitimacy (New York: Columbia University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenstein, Fred I. (2011) ‘Barack Obama: The Man and His Presidency at the Midterm’. PS: Political Science and Politics 44(1): 7–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hajer, Maarten A. (2009) Authoritative Governance: Policy-making in the Age of Mediatization (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hamby, Alonzo L. (1995) Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman (New York: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallin, Daniel C. and Mancini, Paolo (2004) Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hargrove, Erwin C. (1989) ‘Two Conceptions of Institutional Leadership’. In Jones, Brian D. (ed.), Leadership and Politics: New Perspectives in Political Science (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas), 57–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heith, Diane J. (2004) Polling to Govern: Public Opinion and Presidential Leadership (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Helms, Ludger (2005a) ‘The Presidentialisation of Political Leadership: British Notions and German Observations’. The Political Quarterly 76(3): 430–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helms, Ludger (2005b) Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chancellors: Executive Leadership in Western Democracies (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Helms, Ludger (2006) ‘The Changing Parameters of Political Control in Western Europe’. Parliamentary Affairs 59(1): 78–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helms, Ludger (2008) ‘Governing in the Media Age: The Impact of the Mass Media on Executive Leadership in Contemporary Democracies’. Government & Opposition 43(1): 26–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higley, John and Gunther, Richard (eds) (2002) Elites and Democratic Consolidation in Latin America and Southern Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

    Google Scholar 

  • Huber, John D. and Martinez-Gallardo, Cecilia (2008) ‘Replacing Cabinet Ministers: Patterns of Ministerial Stability in Parliamentary Democracies’. American Political Science Review 102(1): 169–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hood, Christopher (2011) ‘From FOI World to WikiLeaks World: A New Chapter in the Transparency Story?’ Governance 24(4): 635–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hood, Christopher and Lodge, Martin (2007) The Politics of Public Service Bargains: Reward, Competency, Loyalty — and Blame (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ihanus, Juhani (2011) ‘Putin and Medvedev: Double Leadership in Russia’. The Journal of Psychohistory 38(3): 251–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, Lawrence R. (2005) ‘Communication from the White House: Presidential Narrowcasting and the National Interest’. In Aberbach, Joel D. and Peterson, Mark A. (eds), The Executive Branch (New York: Oxford University Press), 174–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, Charles O. (2005) The Presidency in a Separated System, 2nd edn (Washington, DC: CQ Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Karvonen, Lauri (2010) The Personalisation of Politics: A Study of Parliamentary Democracies (Colchester: ECPR Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kernell, Samuel (2007) Going Public: New Patterns of Presidential Leadership, 4th edn (Washington, DC: CQ Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Krauss, Ellis S. and Nyblade, Benjamin (2005) ‘“Presidentialization” in Japan? The Prime Minister, Media and Elections in Japan’. British Journal of Political Science 35(2): 357–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kriesi, Hanspeter (2010) Personalization of National Electoral Campaigns. Paper prepared for the 60th Political Studies Association Annual Conference, Edinburgh, UK, March–April.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesi, Hanspeter, Tresch, Anke and Jochum, Margit (2007) ‘Going Public in the European Union: Action Repertoires of Western European Collective Political Actors’. Comparative Political Studies 40(1): 48–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langer, Ana I. (2010) ‘The Politicization of Private Persona: Exceptional Leaders or the New Rule? The Case of the United Kingdom and the Blair Effect’. The International Journal of Press/Politics 15(1): 60–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laver, Michael and Shepsle, Kenneth A. (eds) (1994) Cabinet Ministers and Parliamentary Government (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindblom, Charles E. (1968) The Policy-Making Process (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall).

    Google Scholar 

  • Llanos, Mariana and Marsteintredet, Leiv (eds) (2010) Presidential Breakdowns in Latin America: Causes and Outcomes of Executive Instability in Developing Democracies (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Simon and Beech, Matt (eds) (2011) The Cameron Clegg Government: Coalition Politics in an Age of Austerity (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lijphart, Arend (1984) Democracies: Patterns of Majoritarian and Consensus Government in Twenty-one Countries (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mainwaring, Scott (1997) Presidentialism and Democracy in Latin America (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Manning, Nick (2001) ‘The Legacy of the New Public Management in Developing Countries’. International Review of Administrative Sciences 67(2): 297–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, Kenneth R. and Price, Kevin (2002) ‘Unilateral Presidential Powers: Significant Executive Orders, 1949–99’. Presidential Studies Quarterly 32(2): 367–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, Thomas (2002) Media Democracy: How the Media Colonize Politics (Cambridge: Polity Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyers, Marcia K. and Vorsanger, Suzanna (2003) ‘Street-level Bureaucrats and the Implementation of Public Policy’. In Peters, B. Guy and Pierre, Jon (eds), The Handbook of Public Administration, 2nd edn (London: Sage), 245–55.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Morgenstern, Scott, Negri, Juan Javier and Pérez-Liñán, Aníbal (2009) ‘Parliamentary Opposition in Non-Parliamentary Regimes: Latin America’. In Helms, Ludger (ed.), Parliamentary Opposition in Old and New Democracies (London: Routiedge), 141–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, Wolfgang C. and Strøm, Kaare (eds) (2000) Coalition Governments in Western Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mughan, Anthony (2000) Media and the Presidentialization of Parliamentary Elections (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mulgan, Richard (2003) Holding Power to Account: Accountability in Modern Democracies (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Neustadt, Richard E. (2001) ‘The Weakening White House’. British Journal of Political Science 31(1): 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Page, Edward C. and Jenkins, Bill (2005) Policy Bureaucracy: Governing with a Cast of Thousands (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Peters, B. Guy (1987) ‘Bureaucrats and Politicians in the Politics of Policy-Making’. In Lane, Jan Erik (ed.), Bureaucracy and Public Choice (London: Sage), 256–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, B. Guy (2009) The Politics of Bureaucracy: An Introduction to Comparative Public Administration, 6th edn (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, B. Guy, Rhodes, R. A. W. and Wright, Vincent (eds) (2000) Administering the Summit: Administration of the Core Executive in Developed Countries (Basingstoke: Palgrave).

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, B. Guy and Pierre, Jon (eds) (2004) The Politicization of the Civil Service in Comparative Perspective: The Quest for Control (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Poguntke, Thomas and Webb, Paul (eds) (2005) The Presidentialization of Politics: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollitt, Christopher and Bouckaert, Geert (2011) Public Management Reform: A Comparative Analysis, 3rd edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollitt, Christopher and Talbot, Colin (2004) The Unbundled Government: A Critical Analysis of the Worldwide Trend to Agencies, Quangos and Contractualization (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pomper, Gerald M. (2004) Ordinary Heroes and American Democracy (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Raadschelders, Jos C. N., Toonen, Theo A. J. and Van der Meer, Frits M. (eds) (2007) The Civil Service in the 21st Century: Comparative Perspectives (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).

    Google Scholar 

  • Radin, Beryl A. (2002) The Accountable Juggler: The Art of Leadership in a Federal Agency (Washington, DC: CQ Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, Martin (2001) ‘The Political Economy of Social Pacts: “Competitive Corporatism” and European Welfare Reform’. In Pierson, Paul (ed.), The New Politics of the Welfare State (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press), 165–96.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, R. A. W. (2005) The Court Politics of the Blair Presidency (Canberra: Senate Occasional Lecture).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rottinghaus, Brandon (2010) The Provisional Pulpit: Modern Presidential Leadership of Public Opinion (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Sartori, Giovanni (1987) The Theory of Democracy Revisited (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House Publishers).

    Google Scholar 

  • Savoie, Donald J. (1999) Governing from the Centre: The Concentration of Power in Canadian Politics (Toronto: University of Toronto Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Savoie, Donald J., (2003) Breaking the Bargain: Public Servants, Ministers and Parliament (Toronto: University of Toronto Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Schieiter, Petra and Morgan-Jones, Edward (2010) ‘Who’s in Charge? Presidents, Assemblies and the Political Control of Semi-Presidential Cabinets’. Comparative Political Studies 43(11): 1415–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, Vivian A. (2005) ‘Democracy in Europe: The Impact of European Integration’. Perspectives on Politics 3(4): 761–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sørensen, Eva and Torfing, Jacob (2007) Theories of Democratic Network Governance (Basingstoke: Macmillan).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Strøm, Kaare, Müller, Wolfgang C. and Bergman, Torbjörn (eds) (2003) Delegation and Accountability in Parliamentary Democracies (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Strøm, Kaare, Müller, Wolfgang C. and Bergman, Torbjörn (eds) (2008) Cabinets and Coalition-Bargaining: The Democratic Life Cycle in Western Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, Helen and Skelcher, Chris (2002) Working Across Boundaries: Collaboration in Public Services (Basingstoke: Macmillan).

    Google Scholar 

  • Terry, Larry D. (1998) ‘Administrative Leadership, Neo-Managerialism and the Public Management Movement’. Public Administration Review 58(3): 194–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, John B. (2005) ‘The New Visibility’. Theory, Culture & Society 22(6): 31–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Timmermans, Arco I. (2003) High Politics in the Low Countries: Functions and Effects of Coalition Agreements in Belgium and the Netherlands (Aldershot: Ashgate).

    Google Scholar 

  • von Mettenheim, Kurt (ed.) (1997) Presidential Institutions and Democratic Politics: Comparing Regional and National Contexts (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Warshaw, Shirley (1996) Powersharing: White House-Cabinet Relations in the Modern Presidency (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb, Paul and Poguntke, Thomas (2005) ‘The Presidentialization of Contemporary Democratic Politics: Evidence, Causes, and Consequences’. In Poguntke, Thomas and Webb, Paul (eds), The Presidentialization of Politics: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 336–56.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, Oliver E. (1995) Organization Theory: From Chester Barnard to the Present and Beyond (New York: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Willerton, John P. (2009) ‘Semi-presidentialism and the Evolving Executive’. In White, Stephen, Sakwa, Richard and Hale, Henry E. (eds), Developments in Russian Politics 7 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan), 43–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Worcester, Robert, Mortimore, Roger, Baines, Paul and Gill, Mark (2011) Explaining Cameron’s Coalition: How It Came About — An Analysis of the 2010 British General Election (London: Biteback).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. B. Guy Peters
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ludger Helms
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Innsbruck, Austria

    Ludger Helms (Professor of Political Science and Chair of Comparative Politics) (Professor of Political Science and Chair of Comparative Politics)

Copyright information

© 2012 B. Guy Peters and Ludger Helms

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Peters, B.G., Helms, L. (2012). Executive Leadership in Comparative Perspective: Politicians, Bureaucrats and Public Governance. In: Helms, L. (eds) Comparative Political Leadership. Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137264916_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation