Political Leadership in New Zealand: Theory & Practice

Abstract

Political leadership theory development has progressed only narrowly in New Zealand. This is due to the centrality of Cabinet Government doctrine in the indigenous literature. The doctrine has dominated scholarly discourse, where the primary focus has centered on the collective decision-making nature of Cabinet Government and/or its concomitant rules and procedures. Gaps emerge however when the doctrine is contrasted against a wider reading of the political leadership literature. This study therefore seeks to extend our theoretical understanding of political leadership by constructing an Integrated Political Leadership Model, one that introduces a diverse range of essential leadership ideas into the New Zealand literature. The model encapsulates the idea of leadership as a dynamic interaction that occurs between a leader or leaders, the situational milieu, and the citizenry. The primary unit of analysis chosen in this dissertation is the New Zealand Prime Minister. Through conducting two critical case studies - on the Prime Ministerial leaderships of Robert Muldoon and David Lange - against which the Integrated Political Leadership Model is then tested, it will be shown that a Prime Minister is preeminently located to disrupt the political system. These disruptive effects are cumulative. A Prime Minister's faculty of discernment, which is mediated by their character, emerges as the master skill of effective political leadership. Successful political leadership occurs when the application of a leader's strategy and skill matches the opportunities and constraints afforded by their contextual milieu. Other key findings include the under-utilization of the Prime Minister's rhetorical function to prepare the citizenry for change, or as an instrument to build precious capital into the Office to provide future Prime Ministers with the unifying power required to articulate shared concerns in times of uncertainty or crisis.