The role of leadership in transitional regimes is an issue that requires closer examination, given the ability of the leader to shape and determine the direction of the regime. This paper seeks to delineate some common features of leadership during such regimes and the factors influencing the ability of leaders to manipulate and shift the direction of the process. To illustrate, it adopts a comparative analysis of the leadership of Adolfo Suárez (Spain) and Boris Yeltsin (Russia). It will be shown that, despite the different outcomes of these cases, there are clear similarities that point to the existence of a form of transitional leadership. Central to the paper is an adoption of the notion of structure and agency to determine the extent actors in this position can affect change within the constraints faced.
Adeney, K., & Wyatt, A. (2004) `Democracy in South Asia: Getting Beyond the Structure—Agency Dichotomy', Political Studies52: 1—18.
2.
Alexander, G. (2001) `Institutions, Path Dependence, and Democratic Consolidation', Journal of Theoretical Politics13(3): 249—70.
3.
Barnes, A. (2001) `Property, Power, and the Presidency: Ownership Policy Reform and Russian Executive—Legislative Relations, 1990—1999', Communist and Post-CommunistPolitics34(1): 39—61.
4.
Biryukov, N., & Sergeyev, S. (1997) Russian Politics in Transition: Institutional Conflict in a Nascent Democracy. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
5.
Blondel, J. (1987) Political Leadership: Towards a GeneralAnalysis. London: SAGE.
6.
Breslauer, G. (1993) `The Roots of Polarization: A Comment', Post Soviet Affairs9(3): 223—30.
7.
Breslauer, G. (2002) Gorbachev and Yeltsin as Leaders. New York: Cambridge University Press.
8.
Burns, J. (1978) Leadership. New York: Harper and Row.
9.
Carr, R., & Fusi, J. (1981) Spain, Dictatorship to Democracy (2nd ed.). London: Allen and Unwin.
10.
Collinson, D. (2005) `Dialectics of Leadership', Human Resources58(11): 1419—42.
11.
Colton, T. (1995) `Superpresidentialism and Russia's Backward State ', Post-Soviet Affairs11(2): 144—8.
12.
Dietz, T., & Burns, T. (1992) `Human Agency and the Evolutionary Dynamics of Culture', Acta Sociologica35(3): 187—200.
13.
Dunlop, J. (2001) `Sifting Through the Rubble of the Yeltsin Years ', in A. Brown (ed.) Contemporary Russian Politics: A Reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
14.
Elgie, R. (1995) Political Leadership in Liberal Democracies. London: Macmillan.
15.
Giddens, A. (1979) Central Problems in Social Theory. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
16.
Giddens, A. (1984) The Constitution of Society. Cambridge: Polity Press.
17.
Giddens, A. (1995) Politics, Sociology and Social Theory. Cambridge: Polity Press.
18.
Haggard, S., & Kaufman, R. (1995) The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
19.
Heywood, P. (1996) `The Emergence of New Party Systems and Transitions to Democracy: Spain in Comparative Perspective', in G. Pridham and P. Lewis (eds) Stabilising Fragile Democracies: Comparing Party Systems in Southern and Eastern Europe. London: Routledge.
20.
Hopkin, J. (2005) `From Consensus to Competition: The Changing Nature of Democracy in the Spanish Transition', in S. Balfour (ed.) The Politics of Contemporary Spain. Oxford: Routledge.
21.
Huskey, E. (1995) T'he State-Legal Administration and the Politics of Redundancy', Post-Soviet Affairs11(2): 115—43.
22.
Kellerman, B. (1984) `Leadership as a Political Act', in B. Kellerman (ed.) Leadership: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
23.
Layder, D. (1993) Understanding Social Theory. London: SAGE.
24.
Linz, J. (1990) `The Perils of Presidentialism', Journal of Democracy1(4): 51—69.
25.
Linz, J., & Stepan, A. (1996) Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
26.
Linz, J., & Valenzuela, A. (eds) (1994) The Failure of Presidential Democracy. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
27.
Mainwaring, S. (1993) `Presidentialism, Multipartism, and Democracy: The Difficult Combination', Comparative Political Studies26(2): 198—228.
28.
Maravall, J., & Santamaría, J. (1986) `Political Change in Spain and the Prospects for Democracy', in G. O'Donnell , P. Schmitter and L. Whitehead (eds) Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Southern Europe. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
29.
McFaul, M. (2002a) `The Fourth Wave of Democracy and Dictatorship: Noncompetitive Transitions in the Postcommunist World', World Politics54(2): 212—44.
30.
McFaul, M. (2002b) `Evaluating Yeltsin and His Revolution', in A. Kuchins (ed.) Russia After the Fall. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
31.
Medhurst, K. (1984) `Spain's Evolutionary Path from Dictatorship to Democracy', West European Politics7(2): 30—50.
32.
O'Donnell, G., & P. Schmitter (eds) (1986) Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative Conclusions About Uncertain Democracies. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
33.
Pasquino, G. (1990) `Political Leadership in Southern Europe: Research Problems', West EuropeanPolitics13(4): 118—30.
34.
Pierson, P. (1999) The History of Spain. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
35.
Preston, P. (1986) The Triumph of Democracy in Spain. London: Methuen.
36.
Preston, P. (2005) `The Monarchy of Juan Carlos: From Dictator's Dreams to Democratic Realities', in S. Balfour (ed.) The Politics of Contemporary Spain. Oxford : Routledge.
37.
Przeworski, A. (1991) Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reform in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
38.
Robinson, N. (2000) `The Presidency: The Politics of Institutional Chaos', in N. Robinson (ed.) Institutions and Political Change in Russia. London: Macmillan.
39.
Saskin, M., & Rosenbach, W. (1993) `A New Leadership Paradigm', in W. Rosenbach and R. Taylor (eds) Contemporary Issues in Leadership (3rd ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
40.
Schumpeter, J. (1976) Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. London: Routledge.
41.
Shevtsova, L. (1996) `Parliament and the Political Crisis in Russia, 1991—1993', in J. Hahn (eds) Democratization in Russia: The Development of Legislative Institutions. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
42.
Shevtsova, L. (1999) Yeltsin's Russia: Myths and Realities. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
43.
Shugart, M., & Carey, J. (1992) Presidents and Assemblies: Constitutional Design and Electoral Dynamics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
