Transcript Leading Good Governance

Tuesday Morning Group ~ January 29, 2008
Leading Good Governance
Presenter: Chloe Schwenke, Ph.D.
Washington, DC
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Leadership is not a person or a position. It is a
complex moral relationship between people,
based on trust, obligation, commitment,
emotion, and a shared vision of the good.
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Ethics lie at the heart of all human relationships
and hence at the heart of the relationship
between leaders and followers.
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Joanne Ciulla
Presentation Summary
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A brief “worst case” ~ Somalia
Linking good governance to leadership
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Definitions
As essential to “good” governance
Some questions for USAID
Leadership on the development agenda
USAID program areas and leadership
Conclusions
Fieldtrip to a failure of
ethical leadership ~ Somalia
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Can ethical leadership save Somalia from
approaching a Hobbesian fate?
Somalia:
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An ethical vacuum ~ Traditional Somali ethics and
culture uprooted
Extremely weak leadership - in ethical terms
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The weak and vulnerable exploited
Even the code of the warrior is meaningless
Instead of fighting to protect and defend, leaders and their
warriors in Somalia have fought to exterminate
Governance and the moral
duties of a state
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Where do Somalia’s leaders begin?
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Stopping the bloodshed
Addressing technical and administrative obligations
Addressing the moral priorities of human well being
and survival
Means and ends ~ governance is a means, not
an end
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“The state exists to enable the individual to realize
the highest quality of life of which he or she is
capable…”
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Aristotle
Quality of governance
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Measured by quality of life enjoyed by citizens
Leadership:
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Claim a sense of the public good
Build a deliberative society
Bridge across deep divisions
Offer hope
Success directly linked to moral character and integrity
of leaders, and their ability to build strong institutions
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Institutions with leaders who articulate and model moral values
Checks and balances (against periods of weak leadership)
Defining leadership
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Leadership is an influence relationship among
leaders and followers who intend real changes
that reflect their mutual purpose.
Leadership has two characteristics:
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it is multidirectional, influence flows in all directions
and not just from the top down; and
it is noncoercive, it is not based on authority, power,
or dictatorial actions but is based on persuasive
behaviors, thus allowing anyone in the relationship
freely to argue or disagree and ultimately to drop into
or out of the relationship.
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Joseph Rost
Leadership ≠ Management ≠
Rule
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Leaders exert influence to transform the status
quo in a way that reflects the purposes that they
hold mutually with their followers
Managers are responsible for efficient and
effective transactions, and operate in
relationships based on authority.
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Managers maintain the status quo.
Rulers exert their will through force, fear,
intimidation, exploitation, or deceitful
manipulation to coerce others to achieve the
ruler’s goals.
Political will
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“Political will is the level of commitment that the
country – particularly, but not exclusively
national government leaders – demonstrates to
decentralization and the development of
democratic local governance.”
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USAID Decentralization and Democratic Local Governance
Programming Handbook, May 2000
Does “commitment” = influence = transformation of
the status quo?
Is “political will” a good proxy for “ethical leadership”?
Some questions
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Whose “political will” is USAID seeking to
support in its efforts to foster good governance?
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Leaders?
Managers?
Rulers?
Does answering “Good governance for who and
what?” help to clarify what kind of, and whose,
political will to pursue?
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Means and ends
Supporting a shared vision of the public good, or
simply creating a secure strategic ally?
Leader?
Manager?
Ruler?
Amilcar Cabral
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Cosmopolitan, yet rooted in his cultural context
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Influence ~ Outstanding personal attributes: intelligence,
charm, athleticism, idealism, vision, humility
Ethical orientation
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Product of both Bissau and Cape Verde
Strong, politically active family
First class education, widely traveled
Deep concern for plight of the poor
With Portuguese, resort to violence was a last choice
Fatal flaw: inability to retain control of elite power base
Yoweri Museveni
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Non-elite upbringing, good education
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Strong personal attributes:
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Charm, charisma, intelligence, excellent memory, visionary,
disciplined, courageous, innovative
Exemplary early transactional leadership
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Early political awakening advocating for grazing rights of
peasants
Attended University of Dar es Salaam
Provided security after years of turmoil
Introduced radical decentralization
In power since 1986, but
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Trending from early leadership to management towards growing
authoritarianism …rule
John Garang de Mabior
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Elite Dinka family, foreign education, widely traveled
Career military officer, southern patriot
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Active in the South’s first uprising in 1972
Led the 1983 uprising
Died in helicopter crash in 2005
Courageous, strong, resourceful bush commander,
intolerant of dissent, aloof, manipulative
Focused on the ends - his personal vision - with little or
no concern for the morality of the means
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Serious human rights abuses
Exploited child soldiers
Where is “leadership”?
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If ethical leadership is so important, why isn’t it
more prominent in development?
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Political ramifications of “us” judging “their”
leadership ethics
Lack of familiarity with ethical analysis, and fears of
relativism
The Realist dismissal of ethics as irrelevant
Are current “leaders” the product of their unethical
political systems, or are these systems the products
of their “leadership”?
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Can we groom leaders?
Can corrupt leaders be salvaged?
A new global focus on top
leadership
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Global Integrity Alliance
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Facilitated by the World Bank
World Ethics Forum, Oxford, 2006
Paul Collier’s focus on “helping the heroes”
A growing literature on leadership: Joseph Rost, Joanne
Ciulla, James MacGregor Burns, Al Gini, Bernard Bass…
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Leadership as influence
Transformational and transactional leaders
Followership
Character and virtue
Recognizing leadership throughout society, not just at the top
Democratic principle of holding leaders accountable
USAID ~ A new global focus on
top leadership?
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Small beginnings:
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USAID a major donor for the World Ethics Forum of 2006 in
Oxford, England, that focused on ethical leadership
USAID Egypt : The Leadership for Education and Development
(LEAD) scholarship program, American University, Cairo
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Creation of an elite cadre of 54 students, all pledged to improve the
lives of the people in their home regions.
4 components: academics; leadership; community involvement;
ethics and values.
Conference for Ministers of Local Government, Kigali, Rwanda:
June 2005.
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Funded by UN, USAID, and the Netherlands, with delegations from
DFID, GTZ, World Bank, CIDA, SDC, SIDA, and the EU.
The focus included strengthening leadership integrity and ethics
Rule of Law
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Where is leadership?
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“In Africa, there is great need for stronger rule of law
systems, but many African countries still lack
sufficient political will for legal reform or judicial
independence. This situation, sadly, is true in many
countries around the world.”
“The Agency supports CSOs whose advocacy efforts
give voice to citizens and expand their influence on
the political process.”
“Political will is now widely recognized as an essential
prerequisite for judicial reform.”
Elections and Political
Processes
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Where is leadership?
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“USAID programs are designed to help ensure that
elections are competitive and reflect the will of an
informed citizenry.”
“Election commissions may not yet exist or they may
lack the technical capacity or political will to
administer a fair election.”
“Political parties in countries across the globe are
viewed as distant, elite organizations unable or
unwilling to articulate or represent most citizens’
concerns.”
Civil Society
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Where is leadership?
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“As the nexus for participation in governance, civil society is
essential in a democracy for political expression and influencing
government policy choices.”
“The Agency supports these CSOs whose advocacy efforts give
voice to citizens and expand their influence on the political
process.”
”Strengthening civil society is increasingly seen as a way to
counterbalance the exercise of excessive authority by
governments and economic and political elites, and as a way to
encourage more open dialogue about public policy matters too
often decided behind closed doors.”
Governance
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Where is leadership?
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“In the past, governance issues were too often tackled in
a strictly technical way with attention paid solely to
improvements in administration and service delivery in
spite of the fact that political issues underlay the poor
performance. The result was a lot of failed public
administration, decentralization, and civil service reform
projects.”
Conclusion
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Leadership as influence
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Leadership as a moral relationship – high
expectations, high standards
Leadership and followership, one process
Leading “political will” with a shared vision
Leading advocacy on behalf of the public will, the
public concern
Transforming society and institutions beyond
“political issues”
Making the most of both transformational and
transactional (efficient) leadership
Finding ethical leaders and supporting them
Some Ways Forward
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An explicit focus in DRG programming on the
qualities of ethical leadership
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Foster local dialogue to articulate these values
Continue to support international dialogue on
universal traits of ethical leadership
Consider Paul Collier’s governance charters
Training in ethical leadership
Celebrating and supporting ethical leaders
Holding bad leaders morally accountable
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Charles Taylor, Slobodan Milosevic
Joseph Kony