Suchergebnisse

The personalization of power-or leadership-is a recent phenomenon in present-day democratic societies. While it has been traditional in the US & in GB, leadership has now become influential in the continental democracies (Italy, West Germany, France). The substitution of this personalization for the institutionalization of power has upset the classical interpretation of democratic systems. This evolution has come about because of the natural tendency of individuals to see power incarnate in an individual, & also by a crisis in these democratic structures & by the establishment of new regimes following the end of WWII. However, all democratic leaderships do not look the same: Institutional leadership functions on a permanent basis in the US (presidential leadership) & in GB (party leadership); leadership personnel are of many kinds, without having yet succeeded in becoming integrated with existing institutions, even under the form of a national leadership which has been tried in France of the 5th Republic. A theory of democratic leadership is still lacking. Such a leadership is legitimatized by democratic prestige & a responsibility which is more moral than constitutional. The exercise of leadership cannot be derived from constitutional rules; its effectiveness depends essentially on the democratic conscience of the leader & the civic conscience of the citizens. Tr by J. A. Broussard from IPSA.