GV308      Half Unit
Leadership in the Political World

This information is for the 2014/15 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof Torun Dewan CON 6.07

Torun Dewan

Availability

This course is available on the BSc in Government and BSc in Government and Economics. This course is not available as an outside option nor to General Course students.

This course is capped at one group. The deadline for receipt of applications is Friday 10 October 2014.

Pre-requisites

Students must have completed Public Choice and Politics (GV225).

Course content

Good leadership is central toward having effective organisations, well functioning institutions, and attaining desirable policy outcomes. But what is good leadership? What is successful leadership? Can we distinguish outcomes as causally related to the actions taken by good and successful leaders? And how important is a leader’s style? The course will look at both theoretical and empirical frameworks for analysing these questions developing in particular rational  choice accounts of leadership. Different notions of  leadership will be discussed including: (1) Leading by Example; (2) The Leader as a Focal Point and (3) The Leader as an information source. These will be illustrated by specific examples.

Teaching

20 hours of seminars in the LT.

Formative coursework

Students will be expected to produce 1 presentation in the LT.

Indicative reading

Ahlquist, JS. and M. Levi. 2011). ``Leadership: What it means, what it does, and what we want to know about it''. Annual Review of Political Science. vol. 14.

Besley, T and Marta Reynal-Querol (2009) ``Do Democracies Select More Educated Leaders?'', American Political Science Review, 105,3

Humphreys, M., Masters, W., and Sandbu, M. E. (2006). The role of leadership in democratic deliberations: Results from a field experiment in Sao Tome and Principe. World Politics,

Jones, B and Olken, B (2005) ‘Do Leaders matter? National Leadership and Growth since World War 2’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 120, 3, 835--864

Schelling, T (1980), The Strategy of Conflict,  Chapter 4

Shepsle, K and M. Boncheck (1997), Analyzing Politics, Chapter 14

 

Assessment

Essay (75%, 5000 words) in the ST.
In class assessment (25%) in the LT.

In preparation for each class, students will read one or two core texts on political leadership and write a one page piece that reflecting upon these readings. This will then be used as a basis for class discussion. This will be marked as follows: completion and quality of the weekly statements (10%) and in class participation (10%). Each student will also be asked to produce a brief outline and 5 min presentation on the final essay (5%)

Key facts

Department: Government

Total students 2013/14: Unavailable

Average class size 2013/14: Unavailable

Capped 2013/14: No

Lecture capture used 2013/14: No

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

PDAM skills

  • Leadership
  • Self-management
  • Team working
  • Problem solving
  • Communication
  • Application of numeracy skills
  • Specialist skills