Traditional or trailblazing?

The trajectory of Australia's foreign policy during the 2010s was set remarkably early in the decade. Over a period of just five months, beginning in April 2010, then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd abandoned his Emissions Trading Scheme, Rudd's Labour colleagues subsequently dumped him as leader in favour of Julia Gillard, and Hugh White's essay Power Shift: Australia's Future between Washington and Beijing was published.1 These events decisively framed three enduring and unresolved national questions that defined the past decade of Australian foreign policy: how should we respond to climate change?; are our political leaders still capable of delivering large-scale reform in the national interest?; and how do we navigate a world in which our key security partner and our key economic partner are not the same?

Political entrepreneurship is an oldest approach proposed by Schumpeter in early 20th century and its opportunity is still alive nowadays. Entrepreneurs as innovators and leaders create their own knowledge creation, their own learning processes and own their culture's construction. The contribution of this paper is to study the leadership impact on learning organisation of political entrepreneurs as the relationship between the leadership styles (change and altruistic) and the performance of their decisions created on knowledge processes. Applying this conceptual approximation to a case of a political party in the Spanish democracy with more than four decades of history and five leaders, we analyse the relationship between political entrepreneurship and leadership succession.

We compare a re-study of the cultural identities of 83 leaders in 1974, twelve years after Jamaica's political independence, with a study completed just before independence in 1962. With a largely slave-descendant, black population, Jamaica has a mixed Creole culture with Anglo-European and African features combined with local modifications and innovations. Historically, cultural domination followed political domination, and the Anglo culturalfeatures were most influential and positively correlated with social class. Over the last several years, however, the African elements have been asserted by a number of groups, including Black Power advocates. From 1962 to 1974, Jamaican leaders became dramatically less Anglo-European and more West Indian in their cultural identities. Also, a smaller increase in favorable attitudes toward the African heritage may have occurred among the leaders. In 1962, West Indian identified leaders were younger; light brown or medium brown in skin color; less well educated; political or labor leaders; relatively not wealthy; and favorably disposed toward political democracy, political independence, a large role of the state in the economy, and social equality. In 1974, only age maintained its correlation; others were smaller. Path models were constructed explaining 55 percent of the variance in West Indian cultural identity and 57 percent in attitudes toward the African heritage in 1962, but only 12 and 11 *We gratefully acknowledge financial assistance from the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant No. 5-TO1-MH12133) that supported the Yale Comparative Sociology Training Program, of which this study is part; from the Concilium on International and Area Studies, Yale University; and the American Philosophical Society for a small grant to the first author (Penrose Fund, Grant No. 7454). We also thank our colleagues Juan J. Baldrich, J. William Gibson, Jr., and David L. Stevenson for their important contributions, including some of the interviewing of Jamaican leaders. Finally, we thank Professor Charles C. Moskos, Jr., Northwestern University, who kindly made his 1961-62 data available to us; Jamaican Vernon L. Arnett who gave us advice throughout the project; and Leonard W Doob and Carol S. Holzberg who made comments on a preliminary draft. This is a revised version of a paper we gave at the annual meeting of the International Studies Association, 1977. C) 1979, University of North Carolina Press. 0037-7732/79/010249-79$03.10

The Maghreb states and their societies share many similarities, nevertheless, the level of political activity of women and the scale of female political leadership is not one of them. Women’s participation in political life is highly diversified and differs significantly among the countries of the region. The key aim of the article is to outline and analyse the scope and forms of women’s political activity and leadership in the four Maghreb countries: Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. The paper focuses on women’s presence in the parliament and in the government as well as their political leadership, including party leadership. The analysis is based on critical review of scientific literature, analytical studies and news presented by reputable media outlets. For the purpose of showing both similarities and differences between the four states comparative approach is adopted. Major changes that took place in Maghreb’s political sphere during the last decade are recalled in the paper as well as social and cultural context in which they are located. Historical perspective is also taken into consideration in the course of the analysis.

The universal design movement arrived in Australia well before the turn of the century. A handful of individuals, often working as lone voices, are doing their best to incorporate the concepts into their everyday work and promote the concepts more widely. As is often the case elsewhere, the term “universal design” is misunderstood and confused with special and separate designs for people with disability rather than inclusion for everyone. Compliance to legislated disability access standards has created further confusion and as a consequence many myths about universal design have emerged. Such myths have held back the implementation and understanding of universal design and inclusive practice. Australian governments at all levels have shown little interest in promoting universal design principles, save for a casual mention of the term in policy documents. This is in spite of changes to disability and ageing policies promoting more autonomy and independence for individuals. When political leadership is absent, leadership often defaults to the community, or to be precise, to a handful of people with a passion for the cause. In 2013 a chance meeting of two unrelated individuals set the wheels in motion to establish a centre for universal design in Australia. This paper charts the development and progress of the organisation through volunteer effort, harnessing community support, maintaining international connections, using social media, and establishing a resource-rich website and newsletter

The issue of 'race' has assumed an extraordinarily salient position in Australian politics since the election of the conservative Howard government in 1996. Central to debate in the Australian policy has been the nature of the relationship between indigenous, or Aboriginal, Australians and the rest of the population, in particular over the issue of the land rights of indigenous people. Land rights, or 'native title', assumed a pre-eminent position in national political life in 1996/97 with the handing down by the High Court of the so-called 'Wik judgment'. The discursive management of the ensuing debate by Australia's political leaders is illuminative of key sites of interest in the analysis of political rhetoric and the construction of 'racially sensitive' issues. Taking the texts of 'addresses to the nation' on Wik by the leaders of the two major political parties as analytic materials, we examine two features of the talk. First, examine how the speakers manage their stake in the position they advance, with an extension of previous work on reported speech into the area of set-piece political rhetoric. Second, in contrast to approaches which treat social categories as routine, mundane and unproblematic objects, we demonstrate the local construction of category memberships and their predicates as strategic moves in political talk. Specifically, we demonstrate how the categories of 'Aborigines' and 'farmers', groups central to the dispute, are strategically constructed to normatively bind certain entitlements to activity to category membership. Furthermore, inasmuch as such categories do not, in use, reflect readily perceived 'objective' group entities in the 'real' world, so too 'standard' discursive devices and rhetorical structures are themselves shown to be contingently shaped and strategically deployed for contrasting local, ideological and rhetorical ends.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been intense interest in political leaders’ nonverbal communicative structures (NCS) during televised appearances. This study analyzes the effect of gender on leaders’ NCS and presents theoretical and analytical frameworks of gendered NCS. We analyzed 20 televised appearances by 10 heads of state (five males and five females) from democratic Western countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings revealed that gender had a significant effect on leaders’ NCS, indicating that leaders presented NCS that corresponded to their gender. Male leaders’ masculine NCS included competition, warning, threatening, and scaring behavior, broad proxemics, tension leakage, and illustrative gestures, while female leaders presented feminine NCS of cooperativeness, emotional communication, empathy, optimism, eye contact, and flexible expressions. Furthermore, the effect of gender on leaders’ NCS had an interaction effect with the situation of the pandemic, indicating that countries with a female leader had fewer diseased and severe cases and more calmness and healing NCS. The conclusions present theoretical and analytical frameworks that explain the central effect of gender on contemporary leaders’ NCS. This study develops advanced distinctive profiles for male versus female leaders’ NCS of emotions, cognition, and behavior during a crisis.

The dramatic injection of energy into the debate over the importance of nuclear disarmament in recent years presents a historic opportunity to make the world safer from the unacceptable risks posed by its most powerful weapons. We cannot allow this moment to pass. The positive steps taken by President Obama have added crucial momentum to the disarmament and non-proliferation agenda, but we cannot rely on him alone. No one leader, regardless of their vision, can carry such a burden. After the years of nuclear atrophy since the end of the Cold War, a sustained effort is needed at the highest levels to reverse the damage done by successive failures of political leadership. This article outlines the key features of political leadership, explains its importance, examines historical instances of leadership and highlights instances of successful political leadership. In this multi-polar world, it is only through multilateral action that we can achieve a world free of nuclear weapons, and this requires proactive multilateral political leadership.

Gender norms play a crucial role in shaping the dynamics of political leadership across the world. This study examines the role of gender norms in shaping political leadership in Bangladesh, focusing on the representation and participation of women in political institutions, the challenges posed by gender norms, the impact of gender equality policies, and the comparison of leadership styles between male and female leaders. Using a qualitative approach, the study relied on secondary data sources, including policy reports, academic literature, and historical documents. The analysis focuses on content analysis of the evolution of gender norms and their impact on political leadership, as well as the effectiveness of gender equality initiatives. The findings reveal that, despite progress in women’s representation, traditional patriarchal norms continue to limit women’s full participation in political leadership. Male leaders typically adopt an authoritative, transactional leadership style, emphasizing power and control, whereas female leaders tend toward a more inclusive, transformational style, focusing on social welfare and long-term policy planning. women face significant barriers, including societal scrutiny and the expectation to conform to both leadership and traditional gender roles. Gender equality policies, while present, have had limited impact due to deeply rooted societal norms and structural challenges. This study highlights the need for more effective policies and initiatives to address these gender-based barriers, encouraging a more inclusive political landscape and contributes to the broader discourse on gender and leadership, offering insights into how gender norms shape political leadership in developing countries like Bangladesh.

Addressing a highly intriguing question of the persistence of fear-based appeals in the Brexit context, the article provides the first comprehensive longitudinal analysis of such discourse in the British Prime Ministerial communication on Brexit across the post-referendum period (2016–2024). It draws on and adapts Lazarus’ appraisal theory of emotion and combines content analysis with the Discourse Historical Approach in Critical Discourse Analysis, applied to a large, multi-genre dataset. The study shows that fear did not dissipate after the referendum but evolved and was strategically redeployed across successive leaderships. While May and Johnson used a more confrontational and populist rhetoric, Sunak adopted a more technocratic and policy-oriented variant — yet fear remained a subtle but powerful element through the period. The analysis advances existing scholarship by demonstrating how emotional rhetoric adapts to changing political contexts and leadership styles and offering a broader perspective on the discursive instrumentalisation of fear.

One of the great characteristics of Chief Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli was that he was a devout Christian. He attributed his political commitment to his Christian commitment by saying “I am in the congress simply because I am a Christian.” He is remembered as one leader who held the interface between faith and the politics of struggle in a creative tension. Formany this accounts for his legacy as a successful and outstanding leader who went on to winmany accolades for his leadership qualities, including being the first continental African to win the Nobel Peace Prize. This paper explores the influence of Christianity on his political leadership and the lessons gained from 20 years of democracy.

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to understand the issue of gender strategies of political leadership. Theoretical basis. The works of Ukrainian and foreign scholars helped to find out the specifics of male and female leadership. The article applied the latest methodology of androgyny-analysis. According to this methodology, sex has not only a biological, psychological and social, but also an existential dimension. So, the existential dimension of gender is soulfulness as an existential femininity and spirituality as an existential masculinity. These two beginnings may conflict and may be in harmony. Depending on this, we have constructive or destructive strategies for the development of both the personality and the relations between individuals. Constructiveness here means not only gender equality, but also gender partnership. Originality. In the context of modern gender anthropology and androgyny-analysis, it is found that as a result of the implementation of the strategy of existential sexism and existential hermaphroditism, political leadership becomes authoritarian, and sometimes also totalitarian, while the strategy of androgynism associated with gender partnership gives rise to constructive political leadership. Conclusions. Androgynous personality of a political leader, which balances the existential and psychological qualities of men and women, is able to reform the society and change the country for better.

Gender equality creates equal opportunities and is necessary for growth, society, and both international and domestic security. The goal of a structural interventional strategy in social work is to increase gender empowerment through the effective participation of women in politics. The challenges that women in Indian politics encounter were covered in this essay. The major objective of this essay is to evaluate the challenges faced by women in political leadership. To reach the purpose of this paper, secondary sources of data were utilised. For this purpose, a variety of publications and case studies on female leadership in politics are chosen and analysed. This study explores answers to these issues, such as the development of electoralreforms that promote the fair participation of women, the improvement of the political competency of women candidates, Government support for women's participation in politics should be strengthened. Social media and education should be used to change societal beliefs. The results of this study indicate that Indian women have a bright future in politics, despite thefact that there is still a long way to go before they are at the required 33% representation in the government. If India's democracy is to endure, there needs to be gender equality in the political leadership. The presence of women in Indian politics is advantageous to our culture

Nigerian women writers are becoming more and more deeply committed to the mistreatment of women in their country. The writers, particularly the female playwrights, use their creations to confront the problem of Nigerian women's political alienation. Their writings shed light on a number of sociopolitical concerns intended to elevate democratic principles and sound administration in Nigeria. However, this paper takes a critical excursion into Irene Salami-Agunloye’s More Than Dancing to establish the possibility of using drama as a means of projecting the quest for female political leadership in Nigeria. The study uses content analysis of the text to extract key issues captured by the playwright and discusses these issues in relation to female political participation and leadership in Nigeria. The study analyzes the text's substance to identify the playwright's main points and then analyzes them in light of Nigerian women's participation in and leadership in politics. The results show that a number of variables, including the party system's structure, ingrained cultural views, socioeconomic conditions, political godfatherism, thuggery, and gansterism, are working against women's attempts to unseat their male counterparts in Nigerian politics. The article concludes that Salami-Agunloye's play finally brings her vision of a female president in Nigeria to reality, notwithstanding her criticism of the practice of barring women from assuming positions of authority. Salami-Agunloye seems to be implying, then, that the feminist goal of having a female president of Nigeria is achievable.

This paper is a preliminary look at the recent emergence of the family as a major theme of Australian electoral politics. It shows that while both the Liberal and Labor Parties are attempting to make political capital out of the family, there are significant differences in their approach. While the Labor Party has been more inclined to accept diversity in the form of the family and the need to support primary carers, the Coalition has given priority to ‘strengthening the traditional family’ and its role as an alternative to welfare state provision. The paper deconstructs campaign material from recent federal and State elections in terms of message and intended audience. It notes the dangers of political discourse based on manipulation of highly charged symbols such as the family, the flag and the nation. The second half of the paper analyses some of the implications of using the family as a focus for social policy. It examines the contradictions between social policy based on the treatment of the...