Presidents, prime ministers, and chancellors : executive leadership in western democracies

How have the American presidency, the British premiership and the German chancellorship changed over the last half-century? Has there been convergence or divergence in the development of political leadership in the United States and in the two largest democracies of Western Europe? And what difference can individual leaders make in an ever-more complex political environment? Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chancellors addresses these questions by looking at the leadership performance of more than two dozen American presidents, British prime ministers and German chancellors of the post-1945 period. In so doing, it offers a unique perspective on the nature of executive leadership in Western democracies that takes into account both the international and the historical dimension of comparison. How have the American presidency, the British premiership and the German chancellorship changed over the last half-century? Has there been convergence or divergence in the development of political leadership in the United States and in the two largest democracies of Western Europe? What difference can individual leaders make in an ever-more complex political environment? Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chancellors addresses these questions by looking at the leadership performance of more than two dozen American presidents, British prime ministers and German chancellors of the post-war period. In so doing, it offers a unique perspective on the nature of executive leadership in Western democracies, which takes into account both the international and the historical dimension of comparison Front Matter....Pages i-xii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Studying Executive Leadership....Pages 3-23 Front Matter....Pages 25-25 The United States: Variations of Presidential Predominance....Pages 27-57 Britain: Prime Ministers, Cabinets and the Struggle for Supremacy....Pages 58-89 Germany: Chancellor Dominance and Coalition Rule....Pages 90-123 Front Matter....Pages 125-125 The United States: Providing Leadership in an ‘Anti-Leadership Environment’....Pages 127-160 Britain: Executive Leadership from the Top....Pages 161-190 Germany: Governing a ‘Semi-sovereign State’....Pages 191-222 Front Matter....Pages 223-223 Making Sense of Complexity: Comparative Perspectives and Conclusions....Pages 225-261 Back Matter....Pages 262-315 Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chancellors focuses on the leadership performances of the political chief executives in the United States, Britain and Germany since the end of the Second World War. Drawing on a wide range of material, Ludger Helms provides a genuinely comparative perspective on the conditions and manifestations of executive leadership in three of the world's largest established democracies. The study looks at long-term trends in the historical development of leadership conceptions on either side of the Atlantic and examines the opportunities and limits for political leadership

This book focuses on the leadership performances of the political chief executives in the United States, Britain and Germany since the end of the Second World War. Drawing on a wide range of material, Ludger Helms provides a genuinely comparative perspective on the conditions and manifestations of executive leadership in three of the world's largest established democracies.