A Model of Political Leadership

Human Relations, 59(4): 483-504, 2006

Posted: 19 Jun 2012

See all articles by Kevin Morrell

Kevin Morrell

University of Warwick - Warwick Business School

Date Written: June 19, 2012

Abstract

In this article we develop a model of political leadership. In doing so, we analyse the challenges facing political leaders in local government in England and Wales. We use this analysis as a basis for broader theorizing: about leadership at other levels of government, and in other countries. The scope for applying extant accounts of leadership in these domains can be enhanced by considering the relational complexities that characterize the environment within which political leaders act; by doing so we offer an agenda for research. We describe the context for political leaders in terms of figurational sociology, where figurations denote interdependent networks of social relations. These take shape in different arenas of action, and are partly influenced by the different roles that political leaders undertake. These figurations are also constituted differently given the diversity inherent in the context for enacting political leadership. We propose a conceptual model that serves both as a heuristic framework to organize conceptualization of this understudied area, and to orient future research.

Keywords: figuration, government, local government, political leadership, elias

Suggested Citation

Morrell, Kevin, A Model of Political Leadership (June 19, 2012). Human Relations, 59(4): 483-504, 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2087541

Kevin Morrell (Contact Author)

University of Warwick - Warwick Business School ( email )

Coventry CV4 7AL
United Kingdom

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