Leadership As An Obstacle To Democratic Problem Solving

Abstract

The predominant contemporary conception of public leadership rests on a "consumerist" model of democratic politics. Because in practice this approach to democratic decision making has shown itself to be woefully inadequate to the task of solving public problems, we would do well to question whether the conception of leadership so closely associated with it deserves to be perpetuated.

The conventional view of leadership makes effective public decision making a function of good leadership. I reverse the equation, suggesting that good leadership is a function of a healthy practice of deliberative democratic politics. I conclude that effective public leadership consists of the ability and willingness to enable and encourage one's fellow citizens to form a public perspective, deliberate together, reach a shared judgment, and make a collective choice about what to do.

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References

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10.

A genuine public choice doesn't require that literally every citizen participate actively all the time. What is essential, is that (1) everyone has the opportunity to participate actively, should he or she want to; (2) everyone feels that deliberating with his or her fellow citizens is the most effective way of ensuring that his or her concerns and interests are addressed; and (3) even if a person doesn't participate actively, he or she feels that his concerns, interests, and needs have been understood, appreciated, and acknowledged as a result of participation by people like himself in the process of defining the problem, establishing priorities, and setting a policy direction.

11.

Citizens and Politics: The View From Mainstreet America (1991); Meaningful Chaos: How People form Relationships with Public Concerns (1993). Dayton, Ohio : The Kettering Foundation. Prepared by the Harwood Group, Bethesda, Maryland.