Leadership is vital in both business ventures and when working with people in politics or other matters. A leader is capable of setting direction and encouraging the followers to work towards a specific aim, which is essential for achieving success. The examples of Demirtas, St. Crispin, Sassoon, and Machiavelli help understand the necessary qualities that help engage people and guide them towards a specific aim.
The conflict between two nationalities and the importance of leadership in achieving success can be seen in the events and challenges that Kurdish people face in Turkey. According to Yeginsu, the coolness and rhetorical skill of the Kurdish politician Demirtas helped him become the primary opposition against the current leader of the country President Erdogan. The fundamental issue highlighted in Yeginsus article is the choice between violence and negotiation that one can take. Unarguably, the second approach requires an efficient leader and time before the emergence of significant results.
St. Crispins speech is another representation of effective leadership at times of war or conflict. The primary aim of St. Crispin was to ensure the proper morale of the military forces that were tired due to prolonged battles.
Shakespeare described the speech, which highlights aspects of motivator other than financial wellness. For instance, Shakespeare wrote, By Jove, I am not covetous for gold (60). This applies to modern day leadership as well because executives and politicians should understand the interests of their followers, which do not always include monetary benefits. The words of St. Crispin provide an understanding of the fact that leaders should take responsibility and talk to their people during difficult times, as well as the importance of values that individuals have.
Another example of military leadership that highlights the critical aspect of leading people is the poem The General by Siegfried Sassoon. In it, the author uses satire to depict an incompetent general who is responsible for the deaths of his soldiers. This is reflected in the line, but he did for them both by his plan of attack that implies that the strategy chosen by this leader resulted in failure (20). Thus, while being a leader has many benefits, one should understand the responsibilities as well.
Machiavellis book The Prince emphasizes the specific qualities that a leader must have. Although the work is political, these characteristics apply to any other field as well. The issue of whether one should be loved rather than feared is the central idea of this work (50).
From the authors perspective, a politician should prioritize the well-being of the majority, even if he or she would be considered cruel for specific actions. One, however, should avoid being hated by followers, as this would not result in the desired outcome. In conclusion, a proper leader should maintain an appropriate balance between being admired and perceived as a competent expert. In this way, one can have enough authority and respect, which is necessary for leading followers towards a goal.
Overall, leadership is a complicated matter that consists of a variety of skills and knowledge that one has to obtain. The example of the Kurdish leader is the representation of choice that one has either violence or negotiations. St. Crispins speech provides an understanding of values that matter to followers. The General highlights the consequences of leadership incompetence resulting in deaths. Finally, Machiavelli raises the question of love and hatred towards leaders and the choice one has to make in regards to these qualities.
Works Cited
Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. Hackett Publishing, 1995.
Sassoon, Siegfried. Counter-Attack, and Other Poems. William Heinemann, 1918.
Shakespeare, William. King Henry V. Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Nigeria made a significant step towards democracy in 1999 by proclaiming itself as a democratic country. The establishing of the Forth Republic inspired people to hope in the bright future the future of equity, social welfare, justice, and peace. The country is known as the giant of Africa has a great potential in human and natural resources. However, the current situation does not coincide with expectations.
More than fifty years of independence have not brought Nigeria the desirable prosperity. In the paper under consideration, we will examine the concepts of the good governance and leadership, the problems concerning the implementation of these concepts in the Nigerian government; then we will investigate the history of Nigeria paying particular attention to the role of Olusegun Obasanjo in undermining and violating of the democratic rules and the way his activity has resulted in current problems in government, and, finally, we will focus on possible solutions for improving the governance in Nigeria.
The Concepts of Leadership and Governance
It is of great significance to be fully aware of the notion of good governance . There is a tendency to blame bad governance for everything evil in the world. Researchers are trying to find out the essential elements of proper authority. The most widespread definition of it presupposes the procedure of executing (or not executing) of particular choices and decisions. A skillful rule consists of the following features: transparency, accountability, effectiveness, efficiency, and participating. The ideal regulation minimizes the level of corruption and takes into consideration the opinion of the masses (What is Good Governance, n.d.).
There are other detailed definitions. All of them describe similar features in different words. For instance, some scholars define good governance as an overall totality of the reforms, accountability, development of technologies, and the ability of the government to lead, direct people, and deliver public services correctly (Nwekeaku, 2014). Good governance is an integral part of progress. Leadership is a constituent of good governance. A leader is someone who can induce others to executive authority. Nigeria lacks a successful leadership and masses of people cannot control themselves as far as society is an organized structure.
Specific features of the personality, ability to rule, and influence characterize leaders in general. According to Lawal, Imokhuede, and Johnson (2012), the best solution for Nigeria is to embed the transformational leadership. This system sets particular goals, envisions the ways of their accomplishing, and allows the population to participate. The transformational leader plays a significant and direct role in governmental processes. A leader takes all responsibility and is ready to face challenges.
The Overview of Nigeria
The Federal Republic of Nigeria is the full name of the country. The population of Nigeria comprises 177 million people. The country is the major producer of oil in Africa and is a significant seller in the global market. Though Nigeria has immense potential, more than half of its population lives in total poverty. In 1970, Nigeria experienced the oil boom that should have facilitated the improvement of the economic situation.
Bad governance and corruption became the main blocks that hindered progress. The primary problem of the industry concerns the production of oil. Niger Delta is the core element of the whole industry. It is a center for terrorists attacks and violence. The business includes illegal selling of oil. There are a few people who benefit from it. In 2015, the first transparent presidential election took place. It was the first example in Nigerian history when the opposition candidate won.
The history of Nigerian independence started in 1960 when the country achieved partial independence from Great Britain. Before that time, Nigeria was one of the British colonies. The government comprised conservative parties while opposition liberal ones. Besides, a sharp conflict between the two ethnic groups took place. Such aggravations led to the Civil War in 1967. The next crucial stage in Nigerian history was the oil boom in the 1970s. The country became a member of OPEC.
That was the period when the nation expected to have a better future. Revenue was immense, and the military juntas executed the functions of government. The authorities did nothing to make the standard of living better and let infrastructure and businesses function efficiently. Thirty-three years of military regime ended in 1999 when Nigeria became an independent democratic country. Though the elections were not fair, the new government made an attempt to fight corruption and enhance development (Nigeria. History and Politics, n.d.).
Governance of Olusegun Obasanjo
Olusegun Obasanjo, who was the former head of the country, became the President of Nigeria in 1999. Though elections were not exactly impartial and transparent, he was the first leader who managed to alter the political system significantly. Obasanjos political activity is rather controversial. He is known as the president who has improved life in Nigeria and, at the same time, as one who has undermined the democratic principles. Obasanjos administration established and guaranteed the initial stage of Nigerian rule of law. Olusegun Obasanjo expressed devotion towards directing the state into the right channel.
According to Omotoso (2013), the following reforms and policies exemplify Obasanjos dedication and intention to boost progress: Constitutional Conference, Monetisation Policy, Economic and Financial Crime Commission, Banking Reforms, Policies Towards Poverty Reduction and Alleviation, Revitalisation of National Food and Drug Administration, National Economic Empowerment Development Strategies, Emphasis on Infrastructural Development, and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission. The overabundance of programs presented the fact that the government tried to perfect the states socio-economic situation.
The introduction of such policies would become a grand triumph if they were realized. Obasanjos administration did not accomplish any of them (Omotoso, 2013). The other outlook involves the description of the way Obasanjo has violated the fundamental concepts of good governance and democracy: constitutionalism and the rule of law. The growing democracy of Nigeria experienced mockery in 2003 and 2004 correspondingly. The first case happened in Anambra State in July 2003. President Obasanjo snatched Chris Ngige, the Governor of the Anambra State, and made him resign unsolicited. A year later, the President obliged Plateau with a state of emergency without applying to any other instances and without taking into account the constitutional laws.
Chris Ngige was the elected Governor of Anambra State when unknown attackers abducted him on July 10 in 2003. Two days later Ngige introduced the resignation letter to the public. Chris Uba organized the whole process and promoted it. Uba was Ngiges political Godfather. Such action was the direct infringement of the Constitution thought it took place without any hitch. According to the investigations, Uba successfully supported all of the members of the Anambra State House of Assembly and the Governor.
The whole situation was legally relevant. Later, some of the reporters discovered that a group of discontented politicians organized the performance. They did it to teach Chris Ngige a lesson for his disrespect. The President could not have noticed such direct neglect of the rule and law. Obasanjo did not assume any measures. The logical conclusion was that Obasanjo knew about the abduction, let it happen, or even assisted (Ariye, Ogbomah, Pullah, & Derie, 2012).
The next case happened in Plateau State in 2004. Olusegun Obasanjo imposed a state of emergency in Plateau State on his own. He did not follow the procedure envisaged by law. Several civil disorders happened in the state. The religious and ethnic crisis arose three months before the event, and it became the ground for the subsequent events. The main thing about the crisis was the conflict between the indigenous population and Hausa nationality. The clash was based on prehistoric attitudes. The aggravation of the relations resulted in a series of killings. President Obasanjo had no right to impose the emergency state unilaterally. He defied the process of law and decided to employ his justice (Ariye, Ogbomah, Pullah, & Derie, 2012).
Critical Problems of the Nigerian Government
Corruption and fuel crisis are the most urgent issues in Nigeria. Corruption is something trivial and ordinary in Nigeria. It devastates the weak democracy of the country. The main causes of the corruption in Nigeria are ineffective financing, fragile government, and the total habit for doing businesses with the help of bribes (What Causes Corruption in Nigeria, n.d.). Obasanjos administration made an attempt to dispose of corruption by producing a bill suggesting the establishment of an Independent Corrupt Practice Commission or ICPC. The President sent the bill to the National Assembly after his inauguration in 1999.
The proposed law should forbid corruption and chastise persons who were engaged in any bribery. Politicians disregarded the bill, and the Nigerian population became extremely disappointed. Two houses examined the case only in a year. Even more, some of the state governments jeopardized law enforcement by claiming that it lacked legal power and was against the constitution. As a result, the court recognized the incompetence of ICPC and suggested the launching of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC). The whole procedure protracted for six years and did not bring excepted results. ICPC was inefficient since its establishment. It was feeble and dormant.
Apparently, the Commission could do nothing with a flourishing corruption in Nigeria. The situation was rather different from EFCC. The chairman of the Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, showed a real interest and desire to eradicate corruption in the country. On the initial stages of its development, EFCC functioned successfully. Nuhi Ribadu was involved in political affairs and started abusing his power. Economic and Financial Crime Commission became an instrument of influence, harassment, and pressure. Nigerians believed that the system would work. EFCC received many petitions and complaints every day though they did not study them.
Consequently, the government did not manage to terminate the issue of corruption (Omotoso, 2013). The Nigerian crisis in government always started from the election. A few authorized bodies introduced the willingness to organize an impartial election. This problem is the most severe burden of Nigeria. The democratic and transparent election in Nigeria is more like a dream than an achievable aim. Almost twenty elections took place since the period of colonization.
Various kinds of deceptions comprised a vital part of every electoral process. Here belonged the disappearance of ballot boxes, misrepresentation of results, pressure on voters, and even assassinations. For instance, blackmailing, corruption, oppression, and terrorization formed the basis for the general election in 2007 from the very beginning. Corruption resulted in the $400 million loss of oil revenue since 1970. Even more, every governor who took the office plundered the states money (Inokoba & Kumokor, 2011).
The other critical problem in Nigeria is the fuel crisis. Though the country belongs to the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC), it faces a challenging problem concerning the fuel supply for its population. On the one hand, the sales of crude oil are the primary income of the country. On the other hand, all people suffer from a terrible lack of energy resources. The reasons for oil scarcity are not clear up till nowadays. Nevertheless, most scholars agree that bad governance and a high level of corruption have led to this.
There were numerous cases when militants, illegal organizations, or even representatives from the native population destroyed the oil pipelines on purpose. Adenike and Ojukwu (2010) addressed to the frustration-aggression theory to explain the situation. Aggression is the very act of pipelines destruction while frustration exemplifies the dissatisfaction of oil usage by particular groups of people. The bright illustration is the rebellion in the area of the oil-producing Nigerian delta region.
Delta region is the heart of oil extract. Consequently, a lot of companies try to take possession of it. They may face the oppression of the government. The third link concerns the people who are anxious about the pollution of the environment. Collier (2007) introduces an investigation that shows the issue in a different light. The noteworthy thing is that the number of protests concerning nature protection does not coincide with the number of regions with oil wells.
It is not logical as far as more wells can do more harm to the environment and provoke protests. Taking this into consideration, one may come to the conclusion that oil companies and governments have caused the fuel crisis. The crisis negatively influenced all layers of society. People had to stay in long queues to get fuel for extremely high prices. The outcome of sharp increasing prices led to the skyrocketing of the cost of all types of services. That is the way bad governance in Nigeria brought the country to a state of severe poverty.
The Promotion of Good Governance
The core problem of Nigerian governance lies in the approach to leadership. According to Olu-Adeyemi (2012), the looting of state wealth is the principal goal of any governor. Thus, the promotion of the right rule should commence from the leadership system. The authorized bodies have to start from the implementation of the fair electoral processes by introducing the policies and reforms aimed at controlling and regulating it. Nwekeaku (2014) suggests several measures for Nigeria to become a democratic country. First of all, the government must distribute natural resources equally and facilitate the improvement of literacy between citizens. Secondly, the rule of law should prevail in all branches of power. It goes without saying that the eradication of corruption is necessary for successful reforms.
Conclusion
The concepts of good governance and leadership presuppose the rule of law and the transparency of the legal activity. Nigerian government violated these rules since 1960. In 1996, Nigeria proclaimed itself a democratic country. Olusegun Obasanjo became a leader who undermined democratic principles and whose rule resulted in the extreme level of corruption and a harsh fuel crisis. The government of Nigeria has to change the system of leadership and follow the rule of law to open its potential and become a prosperous country.
References
Adenike, O., & Ojukwu, C. (2010). Democratic Governance and Fuel Crisis in Nigeria. Global Journal of Human Social Science, 10(5), 58-62.
Ariye, E., Ogbomah, T., Pullah, E., & Derie, E. (2012). How President Obasanjo Undermined Democracy and Good Governance in Nigeria. Current Research Journal of Social Sciences, 4(3), 222-227.
Collier, P. (2007). The Bottom Billion. Oxford, Great Britain: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Inokoba, P., & Kumokor, I. (2011). Electoral Crisis, Governance and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria. Journal of Social Sciences, 27(2), 139-148.
Lawal, T., Imokhuede, K., & Johnson, I. (2012). Governance Crisis and the Crisis of Leadership in Nigeria. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2(7), 185-191.
Nigeria. History and Politics. (n.d.). Web.
Nwekeaku, C. (2014). The Rule of Law, Democracy, and Good Governance in Nigeria. Global Journal of Political Science and Administration, 2(1), 26-35.
Olu-Adeyemi, L. (2012). The Challenges of Democratic Governance in Nigeria. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(5), 167-171.
Omotoso, F. (2013). Governance Crisis and Democracy in Nigeria, 1999-2012. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 4(14), 125-134.
In the Army, leadership is very important for the success of any institution depend on the leadership in charge. The Army cannot be victorious in facing the challenges of the present security environment without capable leaders. The Army leaders therefore, need to be swift, adaptive, and multi-skilled both in the country and across the world. An Army leader is therefore, anyone who by assumed responsibility or assigned duty inspires and shapes people to achieve organizational goals.
As any other leader, army leaders inspire people both inside and outside the series of authority to practice proceedings, focus thoughts, and shape decisions for the better of the organization. Leaders need to authorize subordinates to use their decisive thinking skills against allowing subordinates to become too reliant on lists or looking for plain direction prior to performing any act.
They have to be ready to take considered risks and acknowledge the likelihood that, soldiers may make errors. Foundations of army leadership include but not limited to history, loyalty, accountability, evolution, founding documents, and close alliance with the government.
Foundations
For success of any Army organization, there has to be strong and firm foundations on which the leadership stands. Army leadership hinges on history, loyalty to the Nations laws, accountability to authority, and evolving Army doctrine (Mostafa & Kay, 2006, p.143).
The application of this knowledge assertively and with devotion trains and establishes experts and multi-skilled leaders. Apart from their own responsibility of individual and professional competence, Army leaders also carry the responsibility of training their subordinates. The Army therefore has three classes of central leader competencies that enable leaders to grow competently at all levels of leadership: that is, lead, develop, and achieve. These competencies and their groups define the offices and roles of leadership.
The Army has organized founding documents and every Army Soldier and leader ought to be familiar with them. According to the Armys manual, the Army and its leadership requirements are based on the Nations democratic foundations, defined values, and standards of excellence (Mostafa & Kay, 2006, p.169).
However, the documents are flexible, due to revision emerging from the amendment of the U. S. constitution from time to time. By the time the Armys foundation manual was published, the Constitution had undergone twenty-seven amendments. This indicates that the government adapts to changes in the society.
The Army and the government have a very close and tight linkage. The Congress has the capacity to hoist and sustain the army while it is the armys responsibility to defend the states and its territories. Members of the Army vow solemn oaths to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic (Brownlee & Schoomaker, 2004, p.148). They also admit the power of the President as the Commander in Chief of the armed forces and that all his officers are his agents.
This ensures obedience of the Army to the authority of the President and his authority from any other aspect. It also gives the military the confidence to carry out their responsibilities with strength and without fear. Therefore, there is a mutual relationship between the government and the military.
As leaders exercise their command authority, they should consider the state of their subordinates. For instance, when dealing with tired, worn out or injured soldiers, the commander should use his/her wisdom to know how to command them because whatever he/she commands they will obey. In addition, in as much as the commanders have high authority over their subordinates, they should lead by example and be role models.
The Army leadership requirements model comprises an impeccable character, professional competence- knowledge, study, preparation and application. Empathy, values and warrior ethos are the three elements that underscore a leaders character.
Some of these characters might be innate; however, character development through apprenticeship, experience and training instills long-term character that goes long way in ensuring effective leadership. Without these qualities, one does not qualify to lead, but in the presence of these qualities, victorious leadership is inevitable, and wise leadership results thereafter.
Competencies are core leadership values built by studying, personal efforts, training, and experience. They give plain and reliable means passing on expectations for the Army leaders. Competencies improve with time and experience especially in complex situations. Commanders improve these competencies by carrying out assigned duties and responsibilities. Competent leaders take every available opportunity to learn and improve.
Conclusion
In conclusion, strong and firm leadership in the Army is of great importance, because it is from it that future leaders also develop. Upcoming leaders under the tutelage of successful leaders become efficient for they implement what they learn from their mentors.
A good leader therefore, is a leader of character, with presence, intelligent, competent, one who has the ability to influence his subordinates and able to easily adapt to changes. Training forms an integral part of army leadership; nevertheless, experience counts and this result from continued mentoring leaders through apprenticeship. With the right leadership, the Army is confident of victory.
References
Brownlee, L., & Schoomaker, P. (2004). Parameters. US Army War College Quarterly, 34(2): 140-170.
Mostafa, R., & Kay, P. (2006). World Military Leaders: A Collective and Comparative Analysis. Westport: Praeger Publishers.
Need to write an essay on Nelson Mandela leadership style? Or just want to understand if Nelson Mandela was a democratic leader? Find here everything necessary and get inspired with us!
Leadership is a social process through which one person makes use of others support in accomplishing certain goals. A leader is a person who is moving towards a particular direction while managing to influence others to follow him or her. A leader becomes a coordinator, a commander, a manager, a counsellor, and an initiator in a group, country, or an organisation. Therefore, leadership depends on two key factors namely the leaders ability to guide, direct, organise, and influence others and the readiness of followers to embrace or resist the leadership style applied.
Some of the leaders who depicted clear leadership styles during their tenure of the office include Nelson Mandela, Adolf Hitler, Julius Nyerere, Jomo Kenyatta, Benito Mussolini, Michael Gorbachev, and Mahatma Gandhi, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther. However, this paper focuses on the former leader and his leadership style. Specifically, the paper will give reasons as to why Nelson Mandela is a good leader. Further, the paper presents his leadership style in an effort to confirm that he is indeed an epitome of exemplary leaders.
Nelson Mandela as a Leader: Background Information
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is a renowned and influential leader who was born at Umtata in Transkei district of South Africa. Mandela was born on 18th July 1918. Mandelas father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa was a chief1. Mandela was brought up in close witness of leadership. Consequently, his parents and the Thembu people expected that Rolihlahla would also become a chief like his father. By being brought up in a chiefs family, Mandela would end up learning a lot on leadership. His mother Nosekeni Fanny was a long-serving Christian.
Since Mandela was a bright student, he proceeded to Fort Hare University. It is at the university that Mandelas leadership traits began to emerge. Mandela would fight for equality of all students in college. He would later proceed to spearhead the fight for democracy in South Africa. As a result, he qualified as the first democratically elected president of the republic of South Africa. He later led the country for five years. Today, Mandela is esteemed as an example of an egalitarian leader.
Nelson Mandela Leadership Style
Why Was Nelson Mandela a Good Leader?
One of the reasons why Mandela was a good leader is that he did not tolerate unfairness, inequality, and oppression of the minority. For example, while Mandela was at Port Hare University, he realised that there was discrimination in the appointment of student representatives2. It is out of Mandelas fight for democracy at the university that the authorities expelled him.
Mandela was perceived as being high hardened and stubborn. He believed that students from all races stood equal chances of being nominated as student representatives at the university. However, he was expelled before realising his dream. By having sacrificed his stay and further education at the university for the sake of democracy, one realises that Mandela was a good leader.
The Will to Fight for Democracy
Another indicator of good leadership qualities in Nelson Mandela is his determination to fight for democracy in his Thembu community3. When Mandela was in his twenties, his parents together with the community identified a bride for him, but he believed in democracy. Hence, he claimed freedom to choose a wife. Mandelas action set precedence for many young men in Thembu community who fought for their rights to have a bride of their choice. This act is an indicator of good leadership.
Mandelas Charismatic Leadership
Thirdly, after Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1940s, he was able to bring together many educated and uneducated youths to form the ANC youth league. Moreover, Mandela was able to work with his fellow youth leaders like Walter Sisulu and Walter Tambo in ANC youth league in the effort of making it the most influential element of the party. The ability to bring together people from diverse backgrounds into the youth league indicates Mandelas leadership abilities.
Fourthly, by 1947, Mandelas charisma had convinced other leaders and the members of ANC youth league to elect him as the secretary of the youth league. This depicts Mandela as an influential and acceptable leader.
Fifthly, as Mandela continued with his political affairs and leadership at the ANC youth league, he was able to continue with his law degree studies at the University of South Africa where he later graduated. This indicates a leader who sought professional knowledge and skills in his pursuit of influence. Moreover, Mandela was later on elected the deputy president general of ANC in 1952. Promotion of Nelson Mandela into a senior party position further indicates that other leaders and party members had spotted his ability to spearhead the partys affairs.
In addition, Mandela used his position as the deputy ANC party leader to spearhead defiance against the apartheid regime in South Africa4. For example, in 1952, Mandela organised and pulled all ANC members, leaders, and supporters to defy the apartheid regime by organising protests and defiance campaigns. In the same way, Mandela led indigenous Africans in 1952 to defy apartheid regime by boarding buses designated for the Europeans only. Courage is one of the attributes of a good leader.
Moreover, Mandela led the black Africans in defying the segregation rules of the all-white parks5. In addition, after ANC was banned in 1960 following the Sharpeville massacre, Mandela led youths in forming, the spear of the nation underground movement. The spear of the nation movement attacked and sabotaged major government facilities in South Africa. For example, they attacked railways, power, and telephone installations. These acts indicate that Mandela was a persistent and persevering leader who could not give up the fight until he and his followers achieved their goals.
Mandela & International Support
Another indicator that shows that Nelson Mandela was a good leader was his ability to sneak out of the country during the apartheid regime to visit various countries in order to solicit for support against colonialists. For example, in 1962, Mandela left South Africa to address the Pan-African Freedom Conference, which was being held in Ethiopia. In this conference, Mandela was able to solicit for all African heads of independent states to support his party and country against apartheid. Mandela then proceeded to London where he appealed to the Labour Party (one of the major political parties in Britain) to assist the ANC in fighting against the apartheid regime.
Mandelas thirst for knowledge and skills was also depicted during his visit to Algeria. During his visit to Algeria Mandela trained on guerrilla tactics under the Algerians nationalists who were then fighting the French. Mandela proceeded with his diplomatic appeals in Kenya and Tanzania where he was able to garner full support. The impact of Mandelas visit to the international community was witnessed when most of the countries imposed sanctions on South Africa.
Committed, Sacrificial, and Servant Leadership
Mandela also indicated that he was a committed and dedicated leader during his term of imprisonment at the Robben Island. After Mandela left Kenya, he was arrested on August 5th 1962 where he was charged with leaving South Africa in an illegal way and for inciting South African workers to strike. Mandela was initially sentenced to a five-year imprisonment before he was later sentenced to life imprisonment after some statements alleged to be incitement statements were seized from the spear of the nation offices at Rivonia house .6
In addition, the statements that were seized from his fellow leaders further implicated Mandela. Mandela sacrificed his freedom for the freedom of his country. It was not until 1990 when de Klerk became the new president of South Africa that he released Mandela besides allowing the operation of political parties. Mandela became the president of ANC where he was elected the first black president of the independent republic of South Africa in 1994. Mandela had achieved his fight for freedom of his people. He further demonstrated tolerance in leadership after he emphasised a rainbow nation, a nation that comprised many races.
Contrary to the expectation of many people, Mandela was accommodative to the colonialists and his former oppressors7. It is out of his tolerance that the economy of the independent South Africa grew rapidly through the efforts of investors from all races. Surprisingly, Mandela supported the peace and reconciliation movement headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. This indicated Mandelas democratic leadership style. His thirst for unity and equal rights also came out strongly during the reconciliation efforts in South Africa.
Mandela is also a convincing diplomat. His ability to influence Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to hand over the individual Lockerbie bombers of the Pan Am Airline to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 1999 indicates his diplomatic ability. Colonel Gaddafi had completely refused to cooperate with the International Criminal Court in handling arrest cases and trial of the bombers. However, with the intervention of President Mandela, Colonel Gaddafi was able to cooperate with the ICC. This saved Libya from becoming a pariah state since it had already started receiving economic sanctions. Immediately after Mandelas diplomatic mission succeeded, economic sanctions against South Africa were lifted.
Mandela further indicated his democratic leadership when he retired from the presidency and handed over power to the elected Thambo Mbeki, his former deputy president. The ANC party won the 1999 general elections. All these cases happened under the democratic eye of Nelson Mandela. The process of the election and the consequent handing over of power were said to be one of the most democratic processes in the world. This democracy still ringers in the minds of South Africans and the world. When he left office, and Mandela said, I step down with a clear conscience, feeling that I have, in a small way, done my duty to my people and my country 8. This indicates his passion, dedication, and democratic nature.
Nelson Mandela Democratic Leadership Style
Leadership styles are leaders ways of offering directions, inspiring people, influencing them, and implementing any relevant plans. The leadership style that a leader adopts depends on his or her philosophy, character, and experience9. Different leaders depict different leadership styles in different situations. Leaders may also change their leadership styles depending on the situation of leadership10. The leadership style that a leader may chose should depend on the prevailing situation and followers. The most adopted leadership styles in the world include the engaging style, Laissez-faire style, autocratic style, narcissistic style, toxic style, task-oriented style, and democratic leadership style.
Although there were various leadership styles that Mandela depicted during his leadership years, only one leadership style features predominantly. The leadership style that Mandela commonly applied was democratic. Mandela depicted various facets of democratic style of leadership. Democracy is the rule of the people by the people and for the people. In a democratic style of leadership, the leader mostly shares the process of decision-making with people11. Therefore, decision-making depends on the followers since democratic style fully takes their interests in reading for their implementation process.
Social equality is also promoted in the participative leadership style. In a democratic leadership style, the leader is ready to share his or her position with other leaders. In addition, the leader openly listens to his or her juniors where he or she readily discusses with them on various issues of leadership. The leader becomes the implementer of the peoples opinions and ideas. Leaders who embrace democratic style of leadership become the peoples leaders12. They hold leadership on behalf of their followers. Nelson Mandela depicted various qualities of democratic leadership style.
Nelson Mandela indicated his initiative to help and guide others in his leadership. For example, while the University of Port Hare, Mandela rose against oppression of indigenous African students by the university administration. Mandela campaigned against discrimination of Africans in nomination of student representatives. Although Mandela was expelled from the university, he was able to help his fellow indigenous Africans at Port Hare University since the universitys administration later began nominating Africans as student representatives.
Mandela fought for democracy at the university in a non-violent way. He also used his democratic style of leadership after he was expelled from Port Hare University when Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, and him formed the ANC youth league. Mandela was able to help South Africa in the fight against apartheid by organising and leading non-violent protests. Mandela also led peaceful protests against discrimination of the indigenous Africans by the whites in South Africa. Use of diplomatic methods of agitating for a larger democratic space in the country clearly depicts Mandela as a democratic leader. When Mandela was appointed the deputy president of ANC, he led the party in planning opposition against oppression. Mandela also helped many indigenous Africans who were arrested by the whites as a lawyer.
Nelson Mandela was a charismatic democrat. He used his democratic style to attract and win over loyal followers. For example, Mandela and his friends Sisulu and Tambo managed to form the ANC youth league. Mandela was also able to use the youth league to influence many indigenous Africans into following the activities of the movement13. In addition, his activities in the youth league earned him the deputy party leaders position. Moreover, when ANC was banned from operating as a political party in South Africa, Mandela formed, the spear of the nation youth subversive lobby group. This movement attracted a large number of followers, with its activities disrupting the apartheid regime.
For example, the spear of the nation movement led indigenous Africans in defying segregation rules in buses and parks. When Mandela sneaked out of South African in 1962, he was able to influence many world leaders into supporting ANC and South Africa in its fight for freedom. For example, he marshalled support from the Pan-African freedom conference in Ethiopia and sought support from the labour party in the United Kingdom, Kenya, Algeria, and Tanzania. Mandela was also able to gain support from the United Nations. Although Mandela was jailed until 1991, his release attracted a large number of supporters who elected him as the first black president of South Africa. This achievement is an indicator of the strength of the democratic style of leadership.
Mandelas democratic leadership style also came out through his efforts in seeking other peoples opinions especially on apartheid. For example, Nelson Mandela sneaked out of South Africa and travelled to many parts of the world to solicit for support against apartheid14. Mandela sought support from African leaders, the United Kingdom, Algeria, Kenya, and Tanzania. Mandela also sought the opinion of the United Nations on South Africas quest for freedom. He successively garnered support from these organisations, party, and countries. For instance, the United Nations imposed sanctions against South Africa. Algeria offered guerrilla-training skills to Nelson Mandela while other African nations provided financial and social support. When Nelson Mandela came out of the prison in 1991, he waited for the country to carry out a general election where he contested and won the presidential seat.
This was an act of democracy. Mandela only ruled for five years and retired. His dedication saw him hand over power in a peaceful manner to his deputy Thambo Mbeki who was also democratically elected. In addition, Mandela formed a rainbow nation slogan to accommodate people from all races including those who oppressed him. Mandela went ahead to form the national healing and reconciliation movement, which he supported15. The movement was aimed at reconciling all South Africans. Mandelas fight for democracy and fulfilment of the majority will was also seen in his efforts to reconcile Libya with the rest of the world. Mandela prevailed upon Colonel Muamar Gaddafi until he handed over the bombers of Lockerbie Pan AM airline to the ICC. It is through the efforts of Nelson Mandela that Libya was saved from becoming a pariah state.
Nelson Mandelas Communication Style
Communication is a major aspect of democratic style of leadership. Dialogue is a leading skill in which democratic style of leadership invests. In democratic leadership, the opinion, ideas, will, and views of other people are listened. The major aspect of democratic style of leadership is the will of the followers. Nelson Mandela relied on communication in his pursuit for leadership. For example, while he was at Port Hare University pursuing a degree in law, he rose against oppression of minority students.
Mandela used campaigns and advocacy in fighting for equality at the university. In this endeavour, Mandela organised and coordinated student groups who voiced their demand to the universitys administration. Mandelas oratory and communication skills enabled him to influence students from the native Africans side and the whites side to fight for equality of student representatives. Dialogue with various student groups enabled Mandelas voice to reach the administrators who later on expelled him from the university.
In addition, when Mandela was expelled from the university, he joined African National Congress. While working with the ANC party, Mandela took part in the formation of a youth wing. His persuasive communication skills enabled him to influence many young South Africans into the league. Both the ANC and its youth wing advocated for equality of all South Africans. The youth wing under the direction of Mandela was able to organise rebellion campaigns against apartheid16. Later, Mandelas persuasive skills earned him the post of the deputy president of the Africa National Congress party. As the deputy leader of the party, Mandela spearheaded many discussions and dialogues with various party leaders in a bid to fight against apartheid.
Dialogue and communication skills also feature prominently when Mandela silently ran away from South Africa in order to seek the support of the international community in 1962. Mandela was able to communicate with his party leaders to influence them to finance his movement to various European and African countries to solicit for support against apartheid. Mandela addressed the Pan African Freedom Charter meeting in Ethiopia on matters of South Africas independence17. During this summit, Mandela used his communication skills to seek the opinion of other African leaders regarding the apartheid regime. His ability to chat and persuade others enabled him to marshal the support of the African leaders that attended the freedom charter meeting.
Communication that is purposeful and well packaged enables people to persuade others to move towards a particular direction. As Mandela moved to the United Kingdom to meet the labour party leaders, he was sure of the support of African leaders. Dialogue is a very powerful tool for ensuring that democracy is served. Mandela sought the will of the labour party concerning the apartheid regime in South Africa. In addition, Mandela was able to persuade the Labour Party and a considerable number of its followers to recommend for the abolishment of the apartheid regime. Before moving back to South Africa, Mandela visited Tanzania and Kenya. In these African countries, Mandela addressed various leaders and humanitarian organisations seeking their opinion on the prevailing segregation situation in South Africa. His communicative ability enabled him to earn the support of many leaders.
Mandela was able to communicate the bad situation at his home. He would use his communication skills and his knowledge as a lawyer to put forward a clear picture of the troubles of apartheid. Mandela also appealed to the international organisations such as the United Nations for support against the apartheid regime18. Mandela was very successful in his bid to solicit for support for the fight against apartheid. For example, the international community imposed economic sanctions against South Africa and its government. Imposition of sanctions against South Africa by the international community including the United Nations was an indicator of the success of Mandelas pursuit for democracy. Mandelas communication ability was also witnessed when he was released from jail in 1991. Mandela contested for presidency under his ANC party. Since Oliver Tambo, the party chairperson was still ill and in a foreign country, Mandela became the president of ANC. He was later on elected to the presidency using the ANC party ticket.
One of the key tools that great people such as leaders of states use when they need to settle any disputes is the use of dialogue. This strategy gives each party a chance to express its opinion as far as a certain issue is concerned. At the same time, other parties have the chance to listen and gauge the opinions delivered in the effort to air out theirs, which are also to be heard and gauged by other people. However, the key agenda that these parties seek is the neutral point when they will all agree on a certain way out so that the burning issue can be ended to pave way for progress.
Mandela was one of such leaders who upheld the role of dialogue in their leadership. The application of dialogue was also seen in the leadership of Mandela since he founded and supported the peace and reconciliation movement under the leadership of Archbishop Desmond Tutu19. The reconciliation movement used dialogue to bring various races and communities together. Contrary to the expectations of many whites in South Africa, Mandela advocated for a rainbow nation. He advocated for peace and reconciliation of all South Africans.
Democratic leadership style focuses its efforts on people. In a democratic leadership style, the leader holds his or her position on behalf of the people20. Leadership belongs to the people. To begin with, when Mandela was at Port Hare University, he was expelled due to his agitation for equality in the appointment of student representatives. He used his leadership skills to fight for the indigenous Africans at the university. Priority of student leadership at the university was accorded to the white students. It was for the predicament of the aboriginal Africans that Mandela was expelled from the university thereby dropping from his law class. The fight for democracy is sacrificial.
Democratic leaders sacrifice themselves for the sake of followers. Mandela also depicted his democratic leadership style during his early twenties when he refused to marry a bride that was identified and selected for him by his family. He believed that all people should be given the free will to choose their bridegroom. In addition, Mandela also suffered in prison for the sake of people. When he sneaked from South Africa in 1962 and came back, Mandela was arrested and imprisoned. Mandela was charged with sneaking out of the country illegally.
Later, he was charged with incitement to violence. Mandela suffered in prison for 26 years for the sake of his democracy. He sacrificed his time and freedom for the people of South Africa. In addition, when Mandela was released from prison and elected for the presidency, he only ruled for five years before handing over leadership to the people in a democratic way. This indicates his ability to sacrifice himself for the sake of people.
When Mandela handed over leadership to his deputy in 1999, it was an indication of how democracy can enhance a smooth transition in the country. Democratic leadership style enhances equality and accommodation of others. Although many people expected Nelson Mandela to remain in the presidency for many years owing to his many years of struggle for independence, Mandela announced his retirement only after ruling for five years21. Mandela gave people a chance to elect a president of their own through a democratic election.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a leader is a person who is moving in a particular direction while managing to convince others to follow him or her. A leader is a coordinator, a commander, a manager, a counsellor, and an initiator. One of the good leaders who are highly appreciated across the world for their leadership style and demeanour is the former president of South Africa, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Mandela is rated one of the best leaders in the world due to his dedication during the struggle and freedom in South Africa. Mandela exhibited leadership qualities such as being a good communicator, for instance, when he rose against discriminative appointment of student representatives at the university.
Mandela also depicted his ability to suffer for the sake of his people when he was expelled from the university and/or when he was imprisoned for 26 years. He also ruled the nation in a manner that united people of all races by seeking peace for the larger Africa. Mandela adopted democratic leadership style. Mandela depicted various characteristics of democratic leadership style. In fact, he offered help and guidance to others. He built trust in his followers, sought other people, nations, and organisations opinions by adopting communication as a key driver in his leadership.
Nelson Mandela Leadership Style FAQ
What did Nelson Mandela fight for? Nelson Mandela was a human rights activist, a political prisoner, and a president of South Africa. He fought against oppressive government and apartheid. Reaching racial equality and the right for minorities to take part in decision making were his key goals.
What was Nelson Mandela leadership style? Mandela is considered to be both a people-oriented and a task-oriented leader. He exhibited transformational leadership approach that causes change on individual and political levels. The reforms he proposed enjoyed the support of broad sections of the South African population.
Was Nelson Mandela a democratic leader? After spending 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa in a representative democratic election. He interacted with the population and civil society, which supported the reforms he proposed.
What qualities made Nelson Mandela a good leader? The key qualities of Mandela were purposefulness, openness to communication, and the desire to help people.
Bibliography
Avolio, J, J Sosik, I Jung & Y Berson, Leadership models, methods, and applications, Industrial and organisational psychology, vol. 12, no. 1, 2003, pp. 277307.
Latona, C, Leadership Styles and Productivity: A Review and Comparative Analysis, Training & Development Journal, vol. 26, no. 8, 1972, p. 2.
Le Amanda, C, E Jones, L Toth, M Charnison, D Grabarek, D Raben, Mandela: The Rebel Who Led His Nation to Freedom, School Library Journal, vol. 51, no. 10, 2005, pp.190-190.
OFallon, S, Nelson Mandela and Unitive Leadership, Integral Leadership Review, vol. 12, no. 4, 2012, pp.1-20.
Footnotes
C Le Amanda, C, Jones, L Toth, M Charnison, D Grabarek, D Raben, Mandela: The Rebel Who Led His Nation to Freedom, School Library Journal, vol. 51, no. 10, 2005, p.190.
Le Amanda, p. 190.
J Avolio, J Sosik, I Jung & Y Berson, Leadership models, methods, and applications, Industrial and organisational psychology, vol. 12, no. 1, 2003, p. 277.
Le Amanda, p. 190.
Avolio, Sosik, Jung & Berson, p. 278.
Le Amanda, p. 190.
S OFallon, Nelson Mandela and Unitive Leadership, Integral Leadership Review, vol. 12, no. 4, 2012, p. 6.
OFallon, p. 6.
Avolio, Sosik, Jung & Berson, p. 279
C Latona, Leadership Styles and Productivity: A Review and Comparative Analysis, Training & Development Journal, vol. 26, no. 8, 1972, p. 2.
Ontology is the study that deals with the reality that may exist either outside research and gain the forms of realist or objectivist ontology or as a part of research and be defined as nominalist ontology (Conway, 2015). In current research on leadership as a practice, it is expected to take into consideration human traits and behaviors and clarify how to develop these traits in order to succeed in leading people. In this case, a practice has to be identified as a cooperative effort that is made by the individuals, who are able to analyze their knowledge, investigate their skills, and make decisions that help to achieve good leadership results (Raelin, 2011).
Individuals, who want to become leaders, have to be ready to recognize the main differences in their practice, consider their emotions and characters, and use their best skills participating in various mundane or extraordinary activities. Relying on such requirements and expectations, a leadership-as-practice approach should be defined as a process that involves several people at the same time rather than focuses on one person and the development of their skills (Raelin, 2011). The quality of leadership is estimated by the possibility to cope with all tasks and clarify what steps can be taken further to support employees. Therefore, the outcomes of leadership can never be predicted, but can always be constituted. People may influence leadership, as well as be under the influence of leadership. People may develop skills and become leaders or use leadership as the possibility to develop the required portion of skills. Social and material unpredictable changes may influence the quality of leadership in the way it could hardly be predicted. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate leadership as a practice within its environment and peoples possible impact on its environment (Raelin, 2011).
In this project, a practice should be considered as a core unit for the analysis because it may be used as a socio-cultural aspect, as well as the intersectional concept, that unites the material world and a human mind (Raelin, 2011). Instead of making numerous attempts and trying to prove that people are not dependent on the environment, it is necessary to focus on the relations between the concepts and explain how an activity with its own structure and characteristics could be used in the chosen practice approach. It is hard to comprehend a practice when it should be used as a part of a situation, a social site where events, people, and meanings are interrelated (Raelin, 2011).
Taking into consideration such a peculiar feature of leadership as a practice, an ontology may be explained as an important study that could influence the development of the leadership debates between an entity and relational scholars. The majority of entity scholars are ready to support the realist position and prove that leaders are the people, who may exist in different organizational systems and find the approach that is most effective in a certain situation. In their turn, relational leadership scholars believe that the ontology of leadership lies in the possibility to develop co-constructed events and use available social actors in order to promote leadership in an organization (Conway, 2015). The results of these debates are as follows: ontology helps to create and interpret a reality that is based on the interactions between the companys employees, leaders, and society. This reality is not simple, and the goal of this research is to use all possible ontological assumptions in order to prove how leaders could be influenced by an interactive environment, and how the environment could be influenced by the leaders. Ontology is the study that helps to comprehend what questions should be asked, what approaches should be chosen, and what perspectives have to be observed (Reitz, 2015).
Epistemology
Epistemology is another crucial branch of philosophy researcher may use in their work. In this part of the study, it is necessary to clarify what kind of knowledge could be gathered and what are the reasons for certain decisions to be made and certain steps to be taken. Epistemological assumptions have to be properly identified and explained because they help to accept the truth in the study and the activities promoted through the study (Conway, 2015). Knowledge is power, and this proverb is used by many researchers, who investigate leadership and the skills leaders have to develop in their work.
In the frames of this research on leadership as a practice, it is impossible to clarify what has been already known, what could be expected, and what lessons could be offered. As an example, Conway (2015) suggests taking Cartesian dualism as the method to pervade modernist epistemology during which people gain control of all events and make predictions. However, this dualistic approach could be replaced by a practice epistemology as a study where social interactions are investigated. Leadership is a result of the work of many people. It is based on social interactions, accidental and planned conversations, and inquiries with the help of which intersubjective meanings are developed in a working process (Conway, 2015).
There are theoretical and practical points of view in defining leadership (Conway, 2015). The practice is a way how people comprehend and use theory. A theory is the result of work, personal experiences, and understanding of the matter. People could use theory in order to improve practice, and, vice versa, they could use practice in order to prove the correctness of a theory. There is a tiny connection between these two notions, and researchers have to understand its nature to develop further thoughts on leadership.
Epistemological assumptions include the evaluation of the origins and possible limitations of human knowledge. In this study, leadership is defined as practice. However, it is also necessary to underline the role of a theory as a possibility to keep apart all actions and thoughts of people on the same issues. Human reactions are hard to predict because people stay dependent on various outside factors that may cause personal problems or a crisis. People are free to choose and consider their own needs and abilities. Still, the choice of decisions also depends on personal practice and knowledge. It is necessary to identify all coping skills or even stop doing something just because new clarifications open new opportunities and introduce new approaches (Conway, 2015). The only challenge people have to deal with when they combine theoretical and practical knowledge in leadership is the necessity either to choose one type of work, explain its worth, and share the attitude or to learn how to combine theory and practice as one general response to the environment and the changes people have to deal with. The search for a compromise is what should be done in a leadership investigation.
Social constructionism is another crucial method that is used in interpretive sociology (Reitz, 2015). Its major goal is to investigate reality where all are gathered and are able to develop the relations which make sense in the chosen environment. This perspective is not actually difficult for comprehension. Leaders may see themselves as persons with a strong self-connection that is created through certain interactions which are not dependent on the interrelations developed before. According to social constructionism, leadership may emerge in the process of tasks organizing. Leadership cannot happen just because it is a necessary practice. Leadership occurs in a context where no past experience actually matters. Leaders have to think about the present and future achievements instead of thinking about past decisions and recent circumstances. Communication and discourses have to be developed by leaders thoroughly because leadership is not a task that has to be complete. It is a kind of relations that have to be developed between people at a certain time and place (Reitz, 2015). Leadership is a practice a person can hardly possess. It is a practice that has to be developed and achieved by a certain group of people in a community.
Conclusion
Therefore, the goal of this research is to promote actions and reflections at the same time. It is necessary to ask questions in order to find out the things that may improve leadership. It is obligatory to observe the events in order to build knowledge on a subject. Finally, it is expected to use real knowledge and facts with the help of which leadership may be discussed in terms of action and research. There is no need to choose between ontological and epistemological assumptions but use both to cover the chosen topic properly.
Rousseau wrote, Born citizen of a free state and member of the sovereign people, however feeble the influence of my voice in public affairs, the right to vote upon them imposes upon me the duty on instructing myself. (Rousseau, 2004, 23|) This comment is applicable even today to the general society in the U.S. when it comes to our election process. In the resent US Presidential election the victory of Barack Obama has proven the quote by Rousseau to be right on the truth podium.
Obama asks the people during his election campaign not to accept politics, which creates cynicism, conflicts and division among the people, but to remember that people of every creed and color had fought and bleed together to uphold the same flag. In order to face the challenges present today, like unemployment and health issues, America has to come together. Even if its people do not look alike, they want the same future for their coming generations.
Barack Obama believes that the issue of race cannot be ignored and people need to come together to solve challenges of education, healthcare and employment. He says that people need to address the accounts of racial injustice which the country has faced and remind themselves that the reason the numerous disparities exist within the African American communities is mainly due to the inequalities that had taken place in their earlier generations caused by the cruel era of slavery.
All these elements could have easily turned into hate speech with negative political results. But, this Obama turned these affairs towards a constructive future and people rushed to vote and each rendered their feeble support for the man and thus proves the contemporary nature, justification and truth of Rousseaus vision under the framework of democracy.
Rousseau states in his Social Contract, As soon as disobedience can be practised [sic] with impunity. It can be practised [sic] legitimately; and as the stronger is always right, it is only necessary to always arrange to be the strongest. (Rousseau, 2004, 2|5) However, in the context of immigration issue facing our nation today, it can be stated that the entire statement is not correct and though the stronger, in this case the government, has every right to be right, in practice we find a very liberal state of affairs. However, in the context of disobedience there is an underlying truth in the present context but there are justified reasons behind this disobedience .
In view of the immigration issue and the disobedience trait, it can be stated that Criminological theories related to organization and criminal behavior analyzes the circumstances which lead individuals or groups to perform organized crime. Integrating various propositions of the traditional criminological theories and criminal behaviors with the above theories, a theory regarding organizational crime can be formulated. Criminological theories state that crime is done to pursue self-interest. Some associations which are defined as criminal and outlawed by governments provide training to the criminals. Some people deliberately choose crime as their profession.
The mafia as an underworld institution is too familiar today to need an elaborate definition. Mafia group is closely knit, secret and insist on the total loyalty of the members. Generally organized in families, each with their own bosses and indulge in organized crime such as gambling, loan sharking, drug-peddling and prostitution. It is an exclusive group that trades in organized crime. This is the case of establishing identity and the mafia helped the immigrants to establish this identity. Though there is enough support from the government, the immigrants find themselves to be marginalized. This evokes a sense of disobedience and the organized criminals use this frustration in their favor. Thus, the statement by Rousseau is still relevant today, at lest in the case of immigrants.
An informal reading of his work, Chapter VIII, The Civil State , Rousseau suggests that his ideas do not simply mean that humans in this state of nature always act morally. On the contrary, the terms, like wickedness or justice, are merely not applicable to pre-political societies. Humans there can behave like a ferocious animal. They are nice since they are self-contained and are, thus, are not the focal point to the frailties of the political society. Rousseau viewed the society as an artificial entity and thought that the growth of any society, mainly the development of public interdependence, is unfavorable for the welfare of the humans.
However, with the intervention of well formulated leadership it is possible to gain civil developments for the humankind. He said that the advancements in the various fields of knowledge has made the governments more and more powerful letting them squash a persons liberty. In his The Social Contract, Rousseau creates concepts of equality and personal liberty. His believed, in order to obey the natural state of man and for the total survival of a state, we continuously need to change our ideas of equality. Poor representation of some citizen, in the interest of the state, is clearly shown an exit way for leaving the society.
This was Rousseaus political way to stabilize the inconsistent relations in the self-interest of the people and for the expansion of the political freedom. When the minorities leave a state, its survival and the various reasons for creating conflict forever remain unchecked. The only way to control, thus, is proper guidance and a well formulated leadership principal becomes the basic norm of the Civil State.
Thomas Aquinas suggests in his writing On the Government of Rulers that there is a fundamental need of a King, ruler or a government to direct the population under civil state. He also pays a lot of attention for shifting individual rights onto the formation of the state. When the state has been created, it should be due to the realization that the different elements humans cannot handle on their own can be handled better by an added centralized power, which is the state.
However, Thomas Aquinas also believed that the state could fail humans at certain times and it should never enjoy an unequal share of power in comparison to the humans in the previous state of nature. If humans gave up their liberty then it would mean that they are giving up their ability to negotiate with other members in the state. This would be like slavery. Thomas Aquinas had noticed a lot of fundamental difference between human nature and the society. He believed that humans were better when an individual is in a state of nature. It is the common state of all the other animals and is the condition humans were in long before the beginning of society and civilization itself. (Aquinas, 2004).
The idea of his has often been led to assigning the use of noble savage to him. He, however never used this expression himself and it does not properly present his thinking for the natural goodness of all humankind. His idea concerning natural goodness is complicated and thus, very easily misunderstood.
References
Aquinas, T. (2004). On the Government of Rulers. In J. Thomas Wren, Douglas A. Hicks & Terry L. Price (Ed.) The International Library of Leadership: Traditional classics on leadership. Volume 1. (pp. 23-31). NY: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Rosseau, J.J. (2004). The Social Contract. In J. Thomas Wren, Douglas A. Hicks & Terry L. Price (Ed.) The International Library of Leadership: Traditional classics on leadership. Volume 1. (pp. 75-82). NY: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Political theory is the study of antiquity that is. It borrows heavily from history. Historical epoch explains the contemporary political phenomena. A political scholar by the name Karl Mannheim suggests that knowledge cannot exist in a vacuum, it is found in the social milieu of the thinker. The environment informs the knowledge base of individuals in a particular society.
The environment contextualizes and gives meaning to the line of thinking of a particular given theorists. Political theory views history as the context within which all political phenomena should be and must be explained. Without history therefore, there will be no meaning nor understanding of a given socio-political enquiry. Study of history is not all in vain since it provides a foundation for the understanding of society. It offers explanation as to why things are the way they are (Barry 101).
This paper tries to compare the views of two theorists, one from the Muslim world (Ibn Khaldum) and the other from Western world (Plato).The political idea compared is justice and equality, the paper tries to describe the ideas of the two scholars as far as justice is concerned.
Political Idea: Justice
Plato
Many issues received pride in the works of Plato. His famous contribution was on the best rule and conceptualization of justice. According to Plato, justice is virtuous that is, all men must avoid evil and do well always. Whenever man is faced with a choice between doing good and evil, the former must prevail.
His understanding of justice is closely related to what he derived from his friend and teacher, Socrates. Socrates was a man of virtue. He lived at a time when Greece was divided into two, Sparta and Athens. Sparta was under oligarchy while on the other hand Athens was under direct democracy implying that the population was directly involved in formulation and implementation of public policy.
It was the rule of the thirty tyrants (demos) that disillusioned Plato because they falsely accused Socrates of inciting the youths against the ruling class (Aristocrats). According to Plato, Socrates was the most justice of all men, a virtuous person and a man who was more sinned against than sinning (Plato 301).
Plato strongly believed that democracy is unjust system of governance; it is the tyranny of the multitude, rule by unfit, rule by emotions and rule by the populace. It is the worst form of government since it is not virtuous. It is the rule by the least qualified in the society. It is the rule by the bronze, which is not to be embraced by those interested in good leadership.
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldum had a well-travelled life described by many as a habit of learning; he was able to develop empirical historical approach with rationality free from moral value judgments. His ethnic and city experience gave him a dynamic reasoning of social transformation that was later used in bureaucratic organizations.
He was interested in studying labor especially division of labor and how labor determine pricing in the market. He proposed for a liberal economy because it was self-regulating and that people interacting through trade would coexist peacefully. Liberalism allows participative governance where the people are involved in the management of public affairs (Bogdan 180-181).
He suggested that scholars should make attempts of meeting regularly for them to exchange views since it improves their individual orientation to the world. Human beings obtain their opinions and virtues through study, instructions, lectures and personal contact with teachers (Bogdan 183).
He makes a clear distinction between religion and the state. He argues that Mohammed came to teach the word of God as his messenger but was not interested in the affairs of the world. When the two are combined, there is a possibility that one will not succeed in fulfilling its obligations. Religion offers divine nourishment while the state is in charge of administration. He condemns the religious leaders who are interested in the affairs of the state and refers to them as power mongers.
His major works were on bureaucracy, he regarded it as functional and it was the real meaning of authority as it is the necessary form of organization to humanity (Bogdan 184). Authority can only be gotten through participative politics where everyone is given a chance to vie for positions they want.
He is against autocracy since it destroys group feelings and corrupts the leader who represents the public good. The leader to be chosen by the people should be imbued to service delivery meaning that the leader must be tolerant to advice, fair in allocation of resources accept divergent views and respect scholars and be straightforward in policy formulation.
He notes that in traditional societies, leaders are interested in the affairs of the subjects; there is no class formation where the rich exploit the poor. The modern society has some conditions that guide bureaucratic organizations, which include knowledge and skills, competent judiciary for efficient arbitration and freedom of expression. The state has a cordial relationship with bureaucracy; the state strengthens it for economic development.
Ibn claims that Prophet Mohammed was not against leaders but he was against the negative actions of leaders. Mohammed was against leaders who used state resources to satisfy their own pleasure and desires. The strength of a leader depends on the support he/she receives from the subjects hence peoples wishes and interests must be catered for if a leader is to excel. Leadership therefore requires tranquility and quietness (Bogdan 188-191).
The leader must be in full control of the territory, he does this by appointing the officials believed to be loyal. The leader consults whomever he/she feels is competent to offer advice to him/her. The leader should be highly unpredictable; the subjects should not understand the behavior of a leader (Baal and Ali 445). The leader uses all available means to achieve the victory of the state.
There are times that call for reason, other situations demand force because it reaches a time that the only language understood by man is violence. Certain institutions of the state such as the police and military apply force especially when the security of the state is under threat. The leader may also choose persuasion because with perception even the hardest of all hearts cools.
Comparison
Leadership
The two scholars have similar viewpoints concerning the qualities of a leader. The leader must have undergone basic formal training because education improves an individual worldview. According to Plato (1994), education system assigns roles in any society. The most qualified are gold and are led by reason.
Plato (1994) postulates that good men will not govern for cash or honors &.the worst penalty for refusal is to be governed by someone worse than themselves&.all wise men would prefer the benefit of this service at the hands of others than the labor of affording it to others themselves (90). Ibn on the other hand claims that scholars should be given a stake in the management of state affairs. The state should respect the views of scholars since they have wider understanding of societal problems affecting people.
Plato and Ibn have the same reasoning when it comes to leadership style; they both argue that the leader can apply either reason or courage. Plato (1994) further argues that rationality allows a leader to distinguish between applying reason and courage. Ibn postulates that a leader needs to be highly unpredictable, those viewing him/her as soft spoken must be subjected to the reality of leadership by not showing mercy to them.
Concept of Justice
The two scholars differ in a number of ways one being conceptualization of justice. Plato argues that only the few who happen to be qualified should rule with the assistance of soldiers.
The leader should not involve the public in the management of affairs because it might lead to tyranny of the multitude. According to Thrasymachus (1994), Each type of government enacts laws that are in its own interests&&.a democracy democratic laws, a tyranny tyrannical ones and so on&..and in enacting these laws they make it quite plain that what is right, (78).
He therefore recommends aristocracy where a small elite class is trusted with leadership. This kind of rule results to class society where the society is differentiated by wealth that is, the owners of the means of production and the workers. It makes it possible for the rich to exploit the poor by misusing their labor without involving them in decision-making process. Ibn on his side saw that justice would be attained only if everyone is allowed to contest for leadership positions.
He cautions that a leader should be carefully assessed before voting for him/her. The leader at all times must strive to represent the interests of the majority for there to be justice since he/she is part of the feeling of society. Both scholars condemn autocracy because it does not please those concerned with justice. Both do not also want monarchy since it promotes the wishes and desires of minority.
Economy
The two theorists had the same perspectives concerning the market; the government should not try to control economic activities. The market operates according to its own internal logics; consumers coexist with producers by checking each other in the market. This means that producers manufacture those goods that consumers are willing to consume only. Ibn argues that liberalism guarantees happiness and peace.
Plato on the other hand postulated that the philosopher king however much appetitive they might be, must protect citizens. They are taxpayers therefore, they should be allowed to exchange goods and services freely, this guarantees justice since wealth is spread to all members of the society. The state according to both of them is more of a utility that facilitates individual fulfillment of potentials (Baali and Ali).
Political Community
Plato argued that a just society was one that promoted the general well-being of all citizens. The important feature of such society was strong sense of community that its members shared. There was no favor extended to any member of the society, all members were granted equal share in the accrued benefits. The philosopher ruler was the right kind of person to rule, for he was not interested in capturing power.
Plato tried to replicate automatic command and obedience as a model of the ruler-subject relationship, which was rejected by others such as Aristotle. Ibn unlike Plato recommended for equality, the ruler is to mingle freely with the masses since the power that he/she holds comes from the people. For real justice, Ibn saw that the subjects especially the learned had a stake in the economy. The government should be responsive to the needs of people by providing opportunities to them.
Property Ownership
Platos society was highly structured, ordered and hierarchical in nature; everyone had specific duties and roles to perform. Roles were allotted to individuals according to their gender, social positions and order of birth. Plato allowed women for the first time in history to participate in politics and own property.
Property was owned individually according to Plato, he was against sharing of women and property. He opened up societal activities to all members of society. His argument was that Each generation of children will be taken by officers appointed for the purpose who may be men or women or both&.for men and women will of course be equally eligible for office (Plato, 1955, p. 241).
Ibn had the same views but he was against women owning property since it was against Mohammeds teachings. Only men were allowed to own property and participate in active politics. Roles were assigned to individuals basing on skills and knowledge. The more an individual was educated the better position they could occupy in government.
Education
Plato recommended a state-controlled and compulsory scheme of education. Basic education helped individuals to cope up with society by preparing the soul to search for truth. The kind of education would not discriminate women. All young people of the same age were to receive the same education.
Klosko (19986) argued that Platonic education is primarily a molding of souls&&.the virtue of anything including the soul is a matter of regular and orderly arrangement (118). Ibn did not restrict educational system to the state; individuals were to choose what were right for them. Women neither were not to receive military education because it was against the culture of society.
Conclusion
It is eminent that Plato and Ibn had the sole purpose of changing societies in which they were members. They arrived at their findings after studying what was going on in the society. They were not concerned with what was to happen in future but were pragmatic by asking what needed to happen presently (Goodin and Pettit 189).
They wrote at a time when religion was intertwined with the state. Religious leaders were both temporal and spiritual leaders. What comes out clear in their works is the idea about justice. They tried to explain the best ways in their societies in which people could liberate themselves. The theorists offer a foundation that could be utilized in explaining the perpetual struggles in human political history. Theories can only be applied after understanding the society with its aspirations.
Works Cited
Baali, Fuad and Ali Wardi. Ibn Khaldan and Islamic Thought-Styles: A social Perspective. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1981.
Barry, Brian. Theories of Justice, Berkeley: University of California Press. 1989.
Bogdan, Mieczkowski. Ibn Khaldums Fourteenth Century Views on Bureaucracy. American Journal of Islamic social Sciences, 4.2 1987: 179-199.
Goodin, Robert and Pettit Philip. Contemporary Political Philosophy: An anthology, 2 Ed. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, Part I. 2006.
Plato, Republic trans, Robin Waterfield, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1994.
Hurricane Katrina exposed the shocking degree of unpreparedness of the Federal Government, FEMA, various local and state officials, and the residents of New Orleans when it comes to dealing with hurricane-force winds and massive flooding brought by the said storm. In the initial days of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina many questions were left unanswered.
Why was there no effective and efficient evacuation plan? Where were the Army and the National Guard? Where was FEMA? And as the questions kept piling up, it became clear that local and state officials failed to plan, and they underestimated Katrina. Thus the local residents paid dearly for this oversight.
Synopsis
The basis for the discussion on what went wrong in the attempt to contain, manage, and deal with the impact of Hurricane Katrina is Frontlinesdocumentary entitled The Storm. Frontlines investigative journalists led by Martin Smith attempted to probe deeper into the emergency and disaster response fiasco.
They used video footages taken by New Orleans residents, amateur videos taken by local officials, news footages and combined these with excerpts of video clips taken from one-on-one interviews with experts in the field of emergency disaster preparedness as well local and state officials supposedly in-charge of the disaster. At the end Frontline concluded that there was a failure of leadership and the cost of unpreparedness was the significant loss of lives and damage to property worth billions of dollars.
Lessons Learned
In the first chapter of Frontlines documentary, Martin Smith interviewed an emergency disaster preparedness expert and he said that for many years prior to Hurricane Katrina there were no catastrophic event of that magnitude that hit mainland USA. He said that FEMA had to study events that occurred in other countries in order to help in the preparation for such an event. In other words no one knew what to expect and there was no urgency to make serious preparations because for many years nothing has happened.
This was a major factor that was overlooked by the planners who tried to lessen the impact of Katrina. They were unaware of the high level of complacency that exists within the government when it comes to emergency disaster preparedness. This attitude created a chain reaction of events that would lead to the worst natural catastrophe in this nations history. This should never happen again.
Since there was this attitude regarding emergency disaster management the Federal Government and even local and state officials found little value with a federally funded agency such as FEMA. As a result past presidents would appoint the next FEMA chief not on the basis of qualifications but as a way to return a favor.
In the case of former president George W. Bush he appointed his campaign manager to this post. From the time of Reagan up to the time of Bush all appointees had no background or any type of expertise related to emergency disaster preparedness. This should never happen again.
Local and state officials were also infected with this complacency problem. In the early phase of the documentary the commander of the National Guard who called from Baton Rogue contacted a subordinate stationed at Jackson Barracks asking for a status report and in the middle of their conversation the soldier said to hold the line because he is going to inspect something and then he returned saying that he did not know why but water is rising fast and in a few moments he said that the cars in the parking lot were already afloat. This was a revealing interview because it shows that no one was prepared.
It was all right for a New Orleans resident to be ignorant of what was going on around him but the National Guard, the commanders and the soldiers should have been given an update that there are levies preventing the city from being engulfed in a massive flood but the moment those levies were compromised, New Orleans will be swept away. They should have known but no one knew. So everyone was caught by surprise. This should never happen again.
The primary problem is failure in leadership. There are at least two aspects in leadership failure that contributed much to magnify the disaster in New Orleans. First, no one knew the identity of the coordinator, the person in-charge, the one who can rally the troops and make decisions that would be followed by all. They knew there was FEMA, the local officials, and the U.S. President but it seems that everyone was just reacting to the situation, what was needed was a true leader leading the charge and no one was there.
The second aspect is the lack of communication from the ground up to the highest levels of government. According to emergency disaster management experts, local officials often told them that &figuring out whom they were supposed to work with in the federal government was taking so much time that it hurt their ability to save lives and protect property (Blackstone, Bognanno, & Hakim, 2005) The same thing can be said about the Katrina incident. There was an urgent need for interoperability but it was not available to the first responders.
The major consequence of failure in leadership coordination, planning, decision-making, and communication is unpreparedness. And the cost of being unprepared was staggering. It devastated the Gulf Coast, and flooded New Orleans. But the price of failure was paid in the deaths of 900 people (PBS, 2010). Imagine a community full of a thousand residents and imagine a town flooded and all the people gone, that was what happened during and after Hurricane Katrina.
Finally, one of the most important lessons of this event was to never underestimate the impact of organizational management. In this case there are a lot of questions and a lot of speculations with regards to the fact that FEMA was absorbed into the Department of Homeland Security.
According to one commentary, it took FEMA nearly 15 years and several reorganizations to effectively coordinate and deliver the full resources of the federal government to support state and local governments in responding to major disasters (Bullock & Haddow, 2006). FEMA could have done better if it remained as an independent government agency.
Reactions and Observations
There were many factors that contributed to the mismanagement of the disaster. First, FEMA and the Federal Government were not ready to deal with a hurricane and then massive flooding of that magnitude. (Rodger, 2006) Second, everyone from the Federal Government down to the ordinary New Orleans resident underestimated the power of the storm, even in the footage shown by Frontline one can see some soldiers laughing when Katrina already made landfall.
And third, there was no interoperability between the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, state and local government (Burns, 2007). In other words it was not just FEMA, or Washington, or Homeland Security or even the local officials responsible for New Orleans, everyone contributed to the problem and only a few were able to help solve it.
It is important to go back to what was previously stated regarding the absence of killer storms and other natural calamities that affected other countries but not the U.S. mainland. This has created a false sense of security and the lack of examples or scenarios that government officials can use to request for more funding or to plan ahead.
Yet even with this particular problem there was still no excuse because it was not really the first time that coastal areas of America experienced such disasters. In the said video Frontline touched briefly on the storm that hit Miami, Florida and there was devastation there and it should have been enough warning for the government and the people to take seriously the thereat of hurricanes and flooding.
Another major factor in increasing the number of dead people and the number of New Orleans residents who experienced extreme hunger, infected with disease, and injury was due to the underestimation of the impact of the storm. This is because FEMA and the Federal Government made basic plans regarding future catastrophes and they even tried to evacuate the residents and yet their warnings were not taken seriously.
If the whole of New Orleans would have been evacuated then it was possible that the number of affected people and the number of deaths would have been much lesser.
The National Guards would have diverted resources to monitor the levies and water levels since it is a well-known fact that New Orleans is situated below sea level. If the Federal Government did not underestimate the strength of Hurricane Katrina then the Coast Guard and the might of the U.S. military would have been ordered on standby to assist trapped residents in the aftermath of the storm. But no one was near enough and quick enough to respond effectively.
As it is the lack of preparation and the lack of leadership before and after the storm caught everyone by surprise and the reason why many residents were trapped with the city. They were unable to get out and was vulnerable when the power lines went down and when the floods came in to restrict their movement.
This terrible scenario was made worse by the lack of interoperability in terms of communication between first responders. This means that resources were not used effectively because the rescue and relief operations were not coordinated.
Conclusion
Hurricane Katrina exposed the unpreparedness of the Federal Government and state and local officials to deal with a crisis of such magnitude. The failure in leadership was the main reason why no one was prepared to handle the impact of the storm.
The reason why no one knew that the levies would break in a city that was below city level and the reason why first responders cannot coordinate their rescue and relief operations. People were angry because no one was helping and the residents of New Orleans trapped in their own homes were angry why no one came.
So many things had happened in the past that added one layer of problem after another but in truth there was no particular agency that was at fault. It was the fault of the Federal Government, the Department of Homeland Security, the local and state officials and even the people of New Orleans. The fingerpointing as described by Frontline, must stop and different agencies must learn to work together in dealing with future natural disasters.
References
Blackstone, E., M. Bognanno, & S. Hakim. (2005). Innovations in E-Government: The thoughts of governors and mayors. MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Bullock, J. & G. Haddow. (2006). Introduction to Homeland Security. MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Burns, L. (2007). FEMA: An Organization in the Crosshairs. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2010). FEMAs Mission. Web.
Public Broadcasting Service. (2010). The Storm. Frontline. Web.
Rodger, E. (2006). Hurricane Katrina. New York: Crabtree Publishing.
The fact that leadership is an inherent component of better control and regulation of law and order in the public sector is undeniable. Public officers, therefore, should follow all the established norms and take corresponding responsibility for safety of citizens.
More importantly, law enforcement offers should acquire leadership skills to cope with community-based problems in the 21st century. While considering leadership and behavioral patterns established by law enforcement establishment, ethics and moral values are among the most frequently emerged concerns. On the one hand, law enforcement officers relying on morale and ethic fail to obey the main principles of law and order.
On the other hand, unethical behavior may generate negative consequences, including racial discrimination, bribery, unequal enforcement, and corruption. With regard to the above-presented considerations, that ethical behavior and leader constitutes a serious challenge to law enforcement officers unless specific ethical standards of conduct, ethical principles, and correlation between law and morale limits are imposed on them.
Ethical concerns emerged in the sphere of public managers are explained by a failure to establish new unconventional approaches to leadership training. In this respect, Burrell (2007) re-conceptualizes the definition of ethical leadership and argues that it should be primarily based on effective decision-making and problem-solution. Specifically, integration of a set of ethical concerns related to legal practices (race equality and gender concerns) is indispensible to create a consistent framework for legal enforcement.
Reluctance of law enforcement officer to follow the main principles of ethics and moral can bring in corruption to justice. Specifically, ethical perspectives of law enforcement are largely connected with the crisis of identity (Brown, 2011).
Public officers are often challenged by their obligation to protect the community and serve the community in accordance with the provisions of the U.S. Constitution. These challenges have been significantly intensified by the terrorist attacks happened in September 9, 2001. As a result, many policy officers face a conflicting situation while deciding what interests meet their loyalty.
What is most threatening is police organizational culture often &often sabotages its officers and presents the most significant obstacle to change (Brown, 2011, p. 675). Though militaristic principles contribute to safety and welfare among the community, it hardly meets the generally accepted standards of ethical leadership and behavior.
While highlighting the major frictions between ethical leadership and legal enforcement, specific emphasis should be placed on the analysis of illegal behavior, which is often congruent with unethical issues. In this respect, ignorance of ethical and moral principles will not contribute to adequate regulation within the content of legal system (Seaton, 2010).
What is more important is that most illegal and unethical practices come from the higher levels of police hierarchy generating more ethical misconceptions and illegal conduct at the lower levels. In this respect, ethical behavior must be taken in account while considering leadership training programs for law enforcement officers.
In conclusion, it should be stated that ethical leadership and behavior can create a number of problems and conflicting situations for law enforcement officers if no transparent and clear ethical codes of conduct are introduced.
Crisis of identity and corruption of organizational structure are among the most serious consequences of this problem. In this respect, there should be strict norms and standards that would not allow legal authorities surpass the boundaries of morale and ethics. At the same time, it is a necessary to strike the balance between ethical principles and laws.
References
Burrell, D. N. (2007). Nontraditional leadership training for public managers. Public Manager, 36(3), 62-66. Web.
Brown, C. A.J.D., (2011). Divided loyalties: Ethical challenges for americas law enforcement in post 9/11 america. Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, 43(3), 651-675. Web.
Seaton, L. J. (2010). The effect of law enforcements socialization process on the whistle-blowing behavior of police officers. Allied Academies International Conference.Academy of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict.Proceedings, 15(2), 33-33. Web.
When Hillary Clinton went head-to-head with Barrack Obama for the right to represent the Democrats in the previous presidential elections, she did something that no other American woman was able to do before.
She wanted to be the next president of the United States. It was unprecedented in this country but not in the world. However, in the modern age when it was expected that women should rise up and be treated the same as men, few dared to do so. There were some who succeeded and yet many failed. And yet women can do so much.
There are things that they alone can accomplish with great results. With issues like reconciliation and social justice they can contribute greatly. Nevertheless, there are challenges up ahead and the report on PBS, as narrated by Maria Hinojosa, speaks about the reality and the difficulties faced by women leaders who believe that they can indeed make a difference if only the citizens of their nation will give them that chance.
Synopsis
Senior Correspondent Maria Hinojosa begins by talking about women in politics and the failed bid of Hillary Rodham Clinton to earn the right to be the most powerful leader in the United States and the most influential leader in the free world. She then went on to say that the United States ranks 69th in the world when it comes to women holding national political office (PBS, 2010, p.1).
This prompted her to investigate even further and in the course of her investigation she realized that while it is extremely difficult for a woman to get elected she also found out that women leaders may be the solution to many of the problems that plague society that for many decades was never resolved by men in power. There is a certain talent, skill and insight that women bring to politics.
In many countries around the world, its citizens are aware of the importance of women in politics. Citizens of Chile and Rwanda knew why there must be women in politics but it seems that in the United States not everyone is convinced that women, politics, and power can be placed in the same sentence. Hinojosa tried to explain this by taking a closer look at the lives of world leaders and why they succeeded and what were the challenges that they had to deal with in order to reach the top.
Aside from that she also studied the behavior and aspirations of up and coming leaders of American society, the next generation of women leaders, and for that she went to where young women leaders tend to meet in a debate contest. At the end Hinojosa had to admit that much work needs to be done in order for women to be at par with men in terms of nationally elected offices but she had to admit that women, power, and politics is a rising tide.
Women and Leadership
Hinojosa chose to follow Jeanne Shaheen to start her report. The reason for doing so is that Shaheen had the right combination of achievements and attributes that would make her a suitable example to show what Hinojosa had in mind. Shaheen was a former school teacher who at first glance was suited to work as a housewife and not a politician.
However, Shaheen was the first woman to be elected as governor of New Hampshire and afterwards decided to run for the U.S. Senate (PBS, 2010, p.1). Hinojosa considers her as a prime example of the possibilities that women bring to U.S. politics. Nevertheless, the correspondent had to concede that compared to the rest of the world America is a few steps behind when it comes to electing women to national office.
As a matter of fact, this was not the first time that Shaheen decided to run for the Senate, in 2002 she ran against John Edward Sununu and she lost. Shaheen explains that it is because the events of September 11 were fresh from the minds of the people. They believe that security is the priority issue and as a result they voted for a man rather than a woman because they also believe that a man would be able to handle those issues much better than a woman (PBS, 2010).
What exactly can women do in order to prove that they can do a better job than men? It is possible for n can do a better job but there are issues and they are problems that can be considered a perfect fit for them and arguably there are others where they are perceive as lacking in capability.
While Clinton made history in the presidential race, another woman took center stage when McCain chose Sarah Palin to run as his vice-president. Immediately the impact of her candidacy was felt and according to Hinojosa her gender was a major factor to consider and that come election time her being a woman affected the way people decided to vote for McCain or not (PBS, 2010). It is clear that in America the people are not yet ready to entrust the highest position in the land to woman no matter how qualified she may be.
Shaheen argued that when people decided to choose their leaders it must not be about gender. She added that it must not be about their soft side that she can be treated like a mother to her constituents but because of her abilities and how she speaks regarding the issues that confront the nation (PBS, 2010).
But when Hinojosa went to Chile and Rwanda she discovered the opposite. Women leaders outside the United States where chosen not simply because they have the same qualifications as men but they were chosen because the people believe that they can resolve the problems that for many years men in their country were unable to solve.
The people of Rwanda and Chile believe that it is the mother instinct present in women candidates that made them effective against issues like health reform, social injustice, and the need to heal the land from strife such as what the Rwandans experienced in the 1994 genocide that killed close to a million people.
The success of foreign leaders like Bachelet and Inyumba is not only attributed to their skills. This is what can be understood from the PBS report. Their success is linked to their womanhood. Their being a woman played a crucial role in their candidacy because they came at the right time and the right place.
In Chile, Bachelet rose to power after her country suffered from a brutal dictatorship and a failed government and the reason why Chile is considered a poor country. The leaders that came before her were all men and they succeeded in bringing the country even lower while the people suffered.
When Bachelet came in she was considered as the best alternative and the citizens were willing to gamble on her. Her being a woman did not come as a liability but it was an asset.
Aside from that one can understand from watching the video that the people of Chile felt that they were neglected by past leaders who were preoccupied only with politics and the need to increase their power so when Bachelet took to the campaign trail and showed her soft side then the people responded positively to her and one person even commented that she was seen as a mother to the nation (PBS, 2010). The same thing can be said about the women politicians of Rwanda who were elected to Parliament.
The Rwandans had to deal with a terrible experience that they went through as a nation. Fifteen years ago genocide left almost a million people dead in racial attack that occurred in one hundred days (PBS, 2010).
One can just imagine the pain and the suffering of the people. This is linked to the fact that they elected women to Parliament, almost half of the lawmakers are women (PBS, 2010) Many believe that women are better at reconciliation, better at maintaining peace and less prone to corruption (PBS, 2010). These are the factors and the circumstances that made women leaders in Chile and Rwanda succeed where their U.S. counterparts failed.
Reactions and Observations
It is easy to understand why Hinojosa had to go to Chile and to Rwanda and why she had to spend a few days studying and following an all-women high school debate team. She went abroad to show America that if it is possible to elect a woman as president in an economically challenge country then it is possible to elect one in the United States.
She went there to show Americans that if it is possible to elect a great number of women lawmakers in a war-torn country then it is possible to also do the same in the United States. She also went to the High School debate team to know the struggles that women face.
But Hinojosas travel and other activities failed to produce a solution to the problem why American women failed to secure elected positions especially the highest office in the land (Zeinert, 2002). She also failed to show that there is a reason why Bachelet and Rwandan women were elected to the Parliament and it has something to do with their history and circumstances (Worth, 2008).
If this can be used as a comparison then it can explain why Americans are reluctant to vote for a woman as Senator or as President. First of all American politics is fairly stable compared to that of Chile. Secondly, although there is a need for unity and healing the problem in America never reached a point where 1 million citizens were massacred because of their ethnicity. In other words Americans are happy with the way things are so why would they change it?
Aside from that there are other challenges like finances and how to lead an effective campaign (Carroll, 2003). There is also a problem on how American women can explain what difference will they be able to make if they get elected and can they really do a better job than men (Gelb & Palley, 2009).
Many are protesting inequality but there can be another reason (Rhode, 2003). But the first thing that has to be looked into is the way voters perceive women and the fact that for more than a century the men are the leaders of this country and not the women.
Conclusion
Hinojosa tried to show that there is something wrong with America because women are not elected into sensitive posts such as the Presidency and the U.S. Senate. She contrasted this with the presidency of Bachelet, a single mother who made history by being the first elected woman president of her country.
She also pointed to Rwanda and the number of women in Parliament. However, she did not devote time to explain that there is a big difference between Chile and the United States, the history and political factors are different and what made it possible for Bachelet to succeed may not be present in America and the reason why Clinton and Palin failed not because they are women.
References
Carroll, S. (2003). Women and American Politics: new Questions, New Directions. New York: Oxford University Press.
Gelb, J. & M. Palley. (2009). Women and Politics Around the World. CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc.
Public Broadcasting Service. (2010). Women, Power, and Politics. Now.. Web.
Rhode, D. (2003). The Difference Difference Makes: Women and Leadership. MA: Haravard University Press.
Worth, R. (2008). Michelle Bachelet. New York: Chelsea House.