Inventing Leadership: The Challenge of Democracy (New Horizons in Leadership Studies series)

`Tom Wren's book is a masterpiece of intellectual history. It explores the philosophical and historical foundations of democracy in a compelling way. Wren is a sparkling and graceful writer. He makes a potentially dry subject come alive with wit and insight. The issues Wren addresses are extremely timely, as the United States endeavors to advance democracy in the Middle East.' - George Goethals, University of Richmond, US `In this important analysis of democratic thought and treatise on leadership, historian Tom Wren drills down to the essential intellectual paradox: that ''leadership'' and ''democracy'' are inherently hostile concepts. Wren brilliantly strips down our ''fictions'' concerning these domains in his extensive deconstruction of both classical and modern thought. What emerges is a dialectical awakening and a practical new vision of citizen participation and enlightened leadership.' - Georgia Sorenson, James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, University of Maryland, College Park and US Army `An excellent scholarly work that is well written and highly relevant within the context of contemporary politics. Although essential reading for teachers and students of political theory, it will also interest the general reader and armchair politician.' - First Trust Bank Economic Outlook and Business Review `Wren is to be commended for attempting to lay bare the underlying assumptions and premises that inform any approach to politics. . . an important contribution to an ongoing conversation about what contemporary leadership should look like. Undergraduates will benefit from his review of important theorists, and practitioners should be challenged by Wren's own theses about leadership. Highly recommended. All readership levels.' - M.J. Watson, Choice The tension between ruler and ruled in democratic societies has never been satisfactorily resolved, and the competing interpretations of this relationship lie at the bottom of much modern political discourse. In this fascinating book, Thomas Wren clarifies and elevates the debates over leadership by identifying the fundamental premises and assumptions that underlie past and present understandings. The author traces the intellectual history of the central constructs: the leader, the people, and, ultimately, the relationship between them as they seek to accomplish societal objectives. He begins with a discussion of the invented notion of the classical paragon of a ruler. Next he pursues the invention of the countervailing concept of a sovereign people, and finally, the need for the invention of a new construct - leadership - which embodies a new relation between ruler and ruled in regimes dedicated to power in the people. In doing so, he draws upon the giants of the Western intellectual tradition as well as the insights of modern historians, political scientists, sociologists and leadership scholars. The book concludes with a proposed model of leadership for a modern democratic world. Elegantly written and masterfully argued, this comprehensive study will be essential reading for students and scholars of leadership and democracy. The classical ideal of the leader Plato Thomas Aquinas Conclusion : fictions and implicit theories The classical ideal in republics Aristotle Niccolo Machiavelli James Harrington The implicit theories of the classical republicans Toward a new implicit theory and a new fiction A new conception of the people. The emergence of 'the people' 'The people' as a protean fiction The implicit leadership theories of popular sovereignty Two fictions in need of a third fiction A new social relation The emergence of the fiction of leadership The implicit leadership theories of the leadership relation Inventing the fiction of leadership The challenge of democracy A republican prelude The transition to democracy The implicit leadership theories of democracy Introducing the fictions of leadership James Madison and the classical ideal Madison's core values Challenge #1 : the threat to the common good from the people Challenge #2 : the threat to the common good from the leaders Challenge #3 : the threat to the common good from the people and their leaders The implicit leadership theories of James Madison Alexis de Tocqueville and the challenges of democracy The nature of democracy The problems of democracy Solutions for the problems of democracy The implicit leadership theories of Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis de Tocqueville and the fiction of leadership Inventing liberalism John Locke John Stuart Mill John Rawls Robert Nozick Two liberalisms Conclusion : the liberal fiction in leadership terms Inventing communitarianism Aristotle G.W.F. Hegel Jean-Jacques Rousseau Modern communitarian thought A new fiction of leadership What is the leadership challenge? What is the end or purpose of leadership? What is the epistemology of leadership? How is the matter of diversity and minority interests addressed? What is the perception of human nature? Are the people capable of governing? What is the role of the people? What is the role of the leader? How should leaders and the people interact? What institutions and processes are needed? Let the games begin. Inventing Leadership......Page 1 Contents......Page 7 Foreword......Page 10 Preface......Page 11 Acknowledgments......Page 18 Prologue: of fi ctions, implicit theories, and leadership in a democracy......Page 19 1. The classical ideal of the leader......Page 31 2. The classical ideal in republics......Page 64 3. A new conception of the people......Page 113 4. A new social relation......Page 149 5. The challenge of democracy......Page 165 6. James Madison and the classical ideal......Page 189 7. Tocqueville and the challenges of democracy......Page 221 8. Inventing liberalism......Page 255 9. Inventing communitarianism......Page 314 10. A new fi ction of leadership......Page 353 Index......Page 411 "The tension between ruler and ruled in democratic societies has never been satisfactorily resolved, and the competing interpretations of this relationship lie at the bottom of much modern political discourse. In this book, Thomas Wren clarifies and elevates the debates over leadership by identifying the fundamental premises and assumptions that underlie past and present understandings. This comprehensive study will be essential reading for students and scholars of leadership and democracy."--BOOK JACKET