Political leadership is a symbol of a generality and the sample of political behaviour of group (groups), ability to realise (their) its interests by means of the power

Thomas Karlejl

The true essence of all social processes consists in erecting to a throne of the most capable person

POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

I. Leadership as the social and political phenomenon is universal. Political leaders are most the men of weight, capable to mobilise a society or its considerable part for achievement of socially significant purposes. The leader in translation from English (leader) means "leader", “a specifying way”. The sense of this word reflects mission of the person-leader, its place and a role in a society, processes in which it is involved, its functions. For the leader ability of influence on other people, ability to organise their joint activity for achievement of socially significant purposes is characteristic. The political leader, personalising power and management system, personifies this power in the opinion of all society or groups of citizens:

Political leadership as the phenomenon is a way of interaction of the leader and weights in which process the leader makes considerable impact on this weight. It, in essence, represents a special sort of the power consisting in ability of one person or several persons, being on top of an imperious pyramid, to force others to do that positive or negative that they, most likely, would not do in general;

Political leadership is a kind of the political activity representing process of interaction in which course one people (leaders) know and express requirements and interests of the followers and owing to it possess prestige and influence, and other (supporters) voluntary give them a part of the imperious powers for realisation of purposeful representation and realisation of public interests;

Political leadership is a constant, priority influence from the certain person on all society, the political organisation or the big social group;

Political leadership is an administrative status, the social position connected with acceptance of imperious decisions, it is a supervising post;

Proceeding from such understanding of a phenomenon of leadership, the political leader can be defined as the person who carries out functions on management of a society, the political organisation or movement, is capable to change a course of events and an orientationof political processes in the country. Political leaders put forward the programs defining a course of historical development of a society. Each leader is original as a policy phenomenon, but at all their variety at them it is possible to find out important general properties in all:

- A passionarity as Lev Nikolaevich Gumilev has defined (1912-1992) known redundancy of biochemical energy at some people. Ten thousand the people, actively politicising in any country, hardly incur responsibility for destinies of the people only for the sake of the power, glories or riches as hope to catch them often do not come true. At all at them, most likely, the aspiration to change world around exceeds a self-preservation instinct. However an orientation of energy of many пассионариев quite often appear not at the right time and out of place, they perish as the high-grade seeds which have got to unprepared soil. But those from them, whose offers find the response in a society as correspond to its actual requirements, become political leaders;

- Initiative or acceptance on itself of responsibility for the initiative of political actions, a direction and mobilisation of political force. Thus it is impossible to assert that the deep understanding of laws of development of a society is peculiar to all leaders. The history has shown that many leaders were not the cleverest and the most formed of the contemporaries, some in general appeared adventurers;

- Possession certain political intuition. She allows leaders to seize that others cannot see or calculate in concrete situations. The intuition appears much more important scientific knowledge, theoretical preparation. Outstanding political leaders were not scientists, political scientists even if them and called “coryphaeuses of all sciences”;

- Ability to convince, is faster - to carry away and to conduct behind itself people. It, most likely, display of certain charisma.

Interest to leadership and attempts to comprehend this difficult social phenomenon originate in an extreme antiquity. Antique historians of Gerodot ( 484-420 BC), Plutarh ( apprx. 45 apprx. 127 ), Poliby ( apprx. 220 apprx. 120 BC ) paid the main attention to leaders, commanders, heroes, monarchs, legislators who for them served as a live embodiment of the power and history. In XIX century the French sociologist Emil Djurkgejm and a number of other scientists have put forward idea that in due course the role of persons in the power and a society will decrease, giving way to public structures and institutes. The forecast, however, has not justified. It has appeared, as in difficult organised state citizens it is easier and охотнее trust people being in power, than anonymous structures thanks to that similar leadership possesses a number of specific features:

- As a rule, between the national leader and a society there is no direct interaction, it is mediated by parties, political groups and movements, mass media;

- It has many-sided character as the leader is always focused on the coordination of various social interests, forcedly aspires to the justification of mass expectations of favorable results from its activity;

- Political leadership корпоративно;

- It to some extent институционализировано, that is activity of the leader is limited by existing social relations, norms, decision-making processes;

- The phenomenon of political leadership is based on abilities of the head among which the American sociologist E.Bogardus marks a strength of mind, will, charm (magnetism) of the person, resoluteness, hypnotic abilities, a keen intuition, sense of humour, a step, ability to draw to itself attention.

II. Having analysed various approaches to the leadership characteristic, the American scientific R.Stogdill has revealed that practically in all cases it was considered or as focus of group processes or as art to cause the consent, or from the point of view of role differentiation in power positions. Obvious personal character of political leadership induced many scientists at the characteristic of leaders to regard as of paramount importance those or their other personal properties and qualities. Thomas Karlejl in XIX century has managed to formulate the first teoretiko-conceptual constructions on problems of activity of leaders and leaderships as social phenomenon. Karlejlja consider as the founder rather popular in a science “theories of lines”.

Modern the theory of lines in leadership definition have arisen under the influence of researches of the English psychologist F.Galtona trying at a dawn of the XX-th century to explain leadership on the basis of a heredity. The belief was the basic idea of such approach that if the leader possesses the qualities distinguishing it from followers it is possible to allocate these qualities. Very many researchers carried to them a moral maturity, integrity of character, social boldness and enterprise, an insight, independence of strong harmful inclinations, will power, absence of excessive experiences. In 1940 American K.Berd has made the list of 79 lines mentioned by various researchers as ”лидерские”. Among them have been named initiative, sociability, sense of humour, enthusiasm, friendliness etc. But any of these lines did not take a strong place in the list: 65 % of the named lines have been mentioned only once, 20 % - twice, 4-5 % - three times and only about 5 % - four times.

Authoritative and widespread way of the description of political leadership are situational concepts according to which occurrence of the leader always is result of a place, time and circumstances. The situational theory of leadership underlines a relativity of lines which should be inherent in the leader and assumes that qualitatively different situations and circumstances can demand qualitatively different leaders. Separate scientists (for example, M.Shlessindzher Jr.) absolutise such dependence, the nations, progress, general will, etc. J consider the leader as "the toy", carrying out certain a problem on behalf of a class. Schneider asserts thereupon that the number of military leaders in England was always proportional to number of conflicts in which the country has been involved. To remove from the situational theory of suspicion that it represents leaders puppets, E.Hartli has assumed:

- If the person becomes the leader in one situation it is not excluded that it it becomes and in another;

- As a result of stereotypic perception leaders in one situation are considered by group as “leaders in general”;

- Becoming the leader in a certain situation, the person gets authority which its election as the leader and promotes next time;

- The leader choose the person having motivation to achievement of this position is more often.

The theory of lines and situational concepts as two extreme approaches in a leadership problem have given birth in a science to the third, more or less compromise lichnostno-situational explanation of the nature of leadership. In 1952 G.Gert and S.Milz was allocated with four factors which were necessary for considering by consideration of a phenomenon of leadership:

Lines and motives of the leader as person;

The image of the leader and the motives existing in consciousness of its followers, inducing them to follow it;

Characteristics of a role of the leader;

Institutional context, that is those official and legal parametres in which the leader and its followers works, solving those or other problems.

With the advent of the lichnostno-situational concept leadership began to be considered as human relations, instead of as the characteristic of a separate individual. Supporters of the lichnostno-situational approach try to find the compromise in a recognition of identical importance of a role of the internal and external factors determining activity of the leader. The most typical concept of this kind is “the theory конституэнтов ”, asserting that the leader - not who other, as the spokesman of expectations external in relation to it of group of followers. Conformity of the leader to the status is in that case defined not so much by its personal qualities, how many its abilities to satisfy interests of those who promoted its eminence.

One of the most indicative modern treatments of political leadership is “the market theory”. From the point of view of this theory the leader acts as original special type of dealer as the blessings (safety, justice, well-being, etc.), and its purpose is reception of the income of a difference between мобилизуемыми and really spent for the decision of certain problems resources. To the influential modern doctrines explaining the nature and appointment of leadership, the relational theory concerns also. In it arguments and arguments are under construction on the basis of the complex, system account of the factors concerning environment, individual and personal qualities of the dominating person, and also to features of a situation and other circumstances defining behaviour of the leader. Within the limits of the given theory numerous techniques of effective selection and preparation of leaders are created.

III. Functions of the leader are mainstreams of its activity. Their quantity depends on such factors as type of political culture of a society, the political mode, a maturity of a civil society, a standard of living of the majority of the population etc. Among the basic functions of the leader are allocated:

- интегративная;

- ориентационная;

- инструменталистская;

- The mobilisation;

- Social arbitration and home nursing;

- легитимации a political order.

The variety of functions carried out by the political leader, conditions of their realisation, and also other external and internal factors of activity finds the reflexion in different типологиях leaderships. So, political leaders distinguish on:

- To level of their control over the power (correcting and oppositional);

- To activity scale (national and regional);

- To style of behaviour (authoritative and democratic);

- To character of a management (formal and informal);

- To the relation to social changes and reforms (conservatives, reformers, dogmatic persons, fundamentalists);

- To role relations to the purposes of political movement (ideologists, idealists, pragmatists);

- To the relation to opponents (compromisers, fanatics).

Classical типологизация political leaders belongs to Max Veberu who allocated their following types: traditional, is rational-legal and charismatic. The American political scientist K.Hodzhkinston has allocated among leaders of leaders-careerists, leaders-politicians, leaders-technicians, leaders-poets. On the basis of the emotional relation to the leader of its followers S.Dzhibb has allocated three types: the leader-patriarch, the leader-tyrant, the leader - "ideal". It is rather popular in a science and the classification offered by the American researcher of M.Hermann:

The leader-standard-bearer possessing high public prestige, offering plans and programs of radical transformations;

The leader-dealer embodying style of behaviour who allows it to conduct the auction on an exchange of services for support;

The leader-attendant successfully operating in routine conditions for the sake of interests of the population;

The leader-fireman showing ability to operate in the conditions of crises, any unexpected complications in internal life of the country or in its world situation;

The leader-puppet dependent on will and interests of the nearest environment.

V. Considerable interest represents studying of styles of leadership as set of methods and methods of activity of the political leader, character of interaction with members of groups supporting it and followers. Three styles of leadership are traditionally allocated:

Authoritative - for it the emphasis on strict measures and management methods - categorical orders, uncontested instructions, barefaced threats is characteristic;

Democratic - for successful achievement of the purposes activity and initiative is encouraged, in an arsenal of methods encouragements, compensations, a praise, support dominate;

Not interfering or discharged style of leadership is based on position of the detached onlooker which is occupied usually with the leader who is not showing aspirations to any activity, but watching closely an event.

VI. To new tendencies in development of the leadership, one of the most ancient and universal institutes of mankind and existing everywhere where there is a power and the organisation, it is possible to carry:

- Consideration by political leaders of internal policy in the countries headed by them as component of global process;

- Increase of a role and influence of informal leaders;

- Strengthening of concentration of activity of leaders on the decision of economic and social problems;

- Reduction of probability of occurrence of political leaders-heroes and leaders-antiheroes;

Дата добавления: 2014-01-04