Political Skills and Context in Prime Ministerial Leadership in Britain

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12804697
AutoresKevin Theakston (autor de correspondencia)
Año2002
Volumen30
Número2
Páginas283-323
Fecha de publicación2002-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPolitics & Policy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1555-5623 • E-ISSN: 1747-1346
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1747-1346.2002.tb00124.x
OpenAlexW2019476904
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas18

This article discusses the experience of the four prime ministers who have held office in Britain since 1976 (James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair) in order to explore the scope for, forms of and constraints upon prime ministerial leadership. The focus is on four key factors: party leadership, ideology and aims, political style and skills, and political and economic context. A favorable match of skill and context is crucial in determining the effectiveness of prime ministerial leadership. High‐level skill(s) deployed in a favorable situation make major achievements possible; accomplished statecraft and political astuteness in an unfavorable context may account for the difference between political survival and disaster; political misjudgments, a lack or loss of feel for the situation, or ineptness can aggravate problems and make a difference for the worse. Though structural, institutional and contextual factors are important, individual prime ministers' personalities, political skills and leadership styles are key and relevant variables

Context (archaeology · Economics · Ideology · Leadership style · Order (exchange · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Prime (order theory · Public relations · Scope (computer science · Sociology · Computer Science · History · Law · Policy Transfer and Learning · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research · Finance