Overview

Political Science 400: Governance and Leadership provides students with an understanding of the common elements and differences that shape leadership in the public, voluntary and private sectors and the implications of these similarities and differences for the interaction among the three sectors on public policy issues. Students will have an opportunity to learn about the basic ideas and debates concerning the nature of leadership in each sector and how institutions and processes of management and governance in each sector shape the development of its leaders and their roles. From this basic foundation, students proceed to examine the interaction of ideas of leadership and of leaders themselves, among the three sectors in the context of the governance paradigm view of the world that sees the public sector increasingly entangled with the private and voluntary sectors. This view has emerged as pressures increase for governments to steer rather than row: establish partnerships with other sectors and with citizens; shrink the scope and nature of their activities; and to undertake their responsibilities using a wider range of tools for policy development and implementation.

The course will explore a number of key themes and topics. These include the following: different types of leadership and the challenges of leadership that have emerged from the governance paradigm, the role of sector-specific paradigms of leadership in shaping leaders and expectations of their interaction with leaders from other sectors. It examines the role of institutions in shaping leaders, their ideas of governance and their inter-action in the context of the governance paradigm, and how leaders from different sectors see their role and relationship to citizens, in the course of public policy debates. Selected cases of public policy making and implementation will demonstrate to students the similarities and differences in the role(s) and interaction(s) among leaders in the three sectors and the relationship of leaders to interest groups and to citizens. Finally, the course considers the implications of all of the above for the future of public leadership and for the institutions and practice of public governance.

Outline

Part I: Foundations

Part II: The Sectoral Dimensions of Leadership

Part III: Leadership in Practice

Part IV: Conclusion

Evaluation

Your final grade in POLI 400 will be based on the grades you achieve on the assignments and final examination. To receive credit for the course you must complete all of the assignments, achieve a minimum mark of 50 percent on your final examination, and obtain an overall course composite grade of “D” (50 percent) or better. The following indicates the assignments for credit and their weighting toward your final grade.

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbooks

Abele, Frances, Katherine Graham, Alex Ker, Antonia Maioni, and Susan Phillips. 1998. Talking with Canadians: Citizen Engagement and the Social Union. Ottawa: Canadian Council on Social Development.

Kellerman, Barbara. 1999. Reinventing Leadership: Making the Connection Between Politics and Business. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Other Materials

The course materials include a student manual, study guide, and a reading file.