Leadership and Knowledge
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1. The relationship between leadership and knowledge of political and policy processes is a clear and direct one: one cannot be an effective leader without that knowledge, whether intuitive or learned. In this age of non-heritable leadership, "leaders are made, not born" ("PPSI," p. 7). Such a leader might be self-taught in the school of hard knocks, in the mode of a Harry Truman, or the product of a well-studied, often academic approach to leadership, as with Bill Clinton. There are no guarantees, of course. Learning alone might not foster leadership and, indeed, prove inimical to it, according to Gardner's theory of "anti-leadership vaccine" (p. 10). Nevertheless, the skills needed to exercise effective leadership are such that no individual with a talent for leadership can progress far in this field without them - and they can be learned (p. 11). Those skills include a developed "ability to sense problems, to mobilize human resources, to plan, to communicate effectively, and to have sound knowledge of the operation" (pp. 10-11).Leadership is a fluid characteristic: as few individuals wield unrestricted power, most leaders are followers in part, persuaders and, as often as not, administrators as well. In the political sphere, leaders must have a good sense of the systems within which they are operating (p. 11); a knowledge of process is indispensable to effective leadership. 2. Within the context of Greenstein's (1968) definition of political socialization, t
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f the highest caliber. Consequently, the only practical solution is to develop and enforce higher standards of certification for education professionals.
The fifth social issue is adult literacy. With this issue, the process comes full circle: without cared-for, educated children, the society as a whole cannot endure in the future - without literate adults, people able to function within the system and not peripheral to it, the society cannot function in the present.
4. David A. Stockman's The Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan Revolution Failed is a political novel of economic idealism and political reality. It is the ideal vehicle for examining how political socialization is necessary for effective leadership. David Stockman was director of the Office of Management and Budget in the first years of Ronald Reagan's presidency. He was also one of the conservative architects, with then-Senator Jack Kemp and other ideologues, of a Supply-Side theory that advocated simultaneous cutbacks in federal taxation and spending as a stimulus to the U.S. economy. Reagan received conservative support in 1980 by accepting the Supply-Side platform; Stockman's job was to work within the administration to implement the necessary policie
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Approximate Word count = 3001
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)
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