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Rural Women's Leadership in Atlantic Canada: Firsthand Perspectives on Local Public Life and Participation in Electoral Politics, Louise Carbert, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006, pp. 177, index.In her latest work, Louise Carbert peers beneath the surface of formal electoral processes to explore how rural, female community leaders in Atlantic Canada view politics. She focuses on this group to explain a curious pattern: rural women are much less likely to secure public office than women located in urban areas, and this holds true at all three levels of government. Through interviewing women representing the typical recruitment pool from which political parties draw candidates, the author aims to identify the presence of barriers to female electoral participation specifically salient to rural women. This is no easy task in part because such an objective necessitates sifting through the inconsequential details of grassroots politics to locate and interpret underlying patterns of power. Carbert's approach is innovative and provocative, and many scholars will appreciate this work's inductive method and rich anecdotal basis. At the same time, readers scouting for clear answers may be left frustrated by the work's complex set of conclusions concerning exactly why few rural women successfully navigate the "slushy intersections" of politics, family life and the economic environment in pursuit of a political career.

Abstract.In the literature on leadership, the Certainty Axiom holds that leaders exercise leadership through reassuring uncertain citizens. It is thought that policy entrepreneurs particularly must supply much certainty to lead people to adopt new policies. A new theory—the Strategic Manipulation of Uncertainty (SMU) model—challenges this axiom. Its propositions hold that political leaders may strategically address public uncertainty to secure specific objectives. Risk-averse, traditional ("transactional") leaders communicate more certainty, and less uncertainty, than their transformational counterparts. Risk-acceptant, entrepreneurial ("transformational") leaders supply less certainty, and more uncertainty, than their transactional counterparts. Testing these hypotheses through analyzing the public speeches of Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow and Alberta Premier Ralph Klein supports the SMU model. As a transactional leader, Premier Romanow communicated more certainty, and less uncertainty, than Premier Klein. Premier Klein communicated less certainty, and more uncertainty, than Premier Romanow. The results challenge the utility of the Certainty Axiom and suggest that leaders address citizens' uncertainty strategically, increasing it or reducing it, in pursuit of particular policy objectives.Résumé.Dans la littérature sur le leadership, l'axiome de la certitude stipule que les dirigeants exercent leur leadership en réassurant les citoyens incertains. On considère que les initiateurs de politiques publiques en particulier doivent transmettre beaucoup de certitude pour convaincre le public d'adopter de nouvelles politiques. Une nouvelle théorie—le modèle de la Manipulation stratégique de l'incertitude—remet en question cet axiome. Ce modèle propose que les dirigeants politiques puissent s'adresser stratégiquement à l'incertitude du public afin d'atteindre des objectifs spécifiques. Les dirigeants traditionnels, prenant peu de risques (" transactionnels "), communiquent plus de certitude, et moins d'incertitude, tandis que les dirigeants prenant des risques, entreprenant (" transformationnels "), offrent moins de certitude et plus d'incertitude. Ces hypothèses sont testées en analysant les discours publics du Premier Ministre de la Saskatchewan, Roy Romanow et du Premier Ministre de l'Alberta, Ralph Klein. Ceci confirme le modèle. En tant que dirigeant " transactionnel ", Roy Romanow était plus rassurant que son homologue, Ralph Klein, en ce qui concerne la restructuration fiscale. Les résultats contestent l'utilité de l'axiome de la certitude et suggèrent que les dirigeants entreprenants peuvent bénéficier de l'incertitude des citoyens.

A series of crises and traumatic events, such as the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 global financial crisis, seem to have influenced the environment within which modern political leaders act. We explore the scholarly literature on political leadership and crisis since 2008 to evaluate what sorts of questions are being engaged, and identify some new lines of inquiry. We find several scholars are contributing much insight from the perspective of leadership and crisis management. Several analysts are investigating the politics of crisis from a decentralist perspective, focusing on local leadership in response to challenging events. As well, studying how citizens interpret, respond to, or resist leaders' signals is a developing area of inquiry. While our study reveals some debate about the nature of crisis, and whether the context has changed significantly, most of the scholarship reviewed here holds modern politicians face large challenges in exercising leadership within precarious contexts.

A series of crises and traumatic events, such as the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 global financial crisis, seem to have influenced the environment within which modern political leaders act. We explore the scholarly literature on political leadership and crisis since 2008 to evaluate what sorts of questions are being engaged, and identify some new lines of inquiry. We find several scholars are contributing much insight from the perspective of leadership and crisis management. Several analysts are investigating the politics of crisis from a decentralist perspective, focusing on local leadership in response to challenging events. As well, studying how citizens interpret, respond to, or resist leaders' signals is a developing area of inquiry. While our study reveals some debate about the nature of crisis, and whether the context has changed significantly, most of the scholarship reviewed here holds modern politicians face large challenges in exercising leadership within precarious contexts.