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SUMMARY:Political leadership and public administration in a post-democrati
 c and populist age - Nick Pearce (Director\, IPPR)
DTSTART:20140624T130000Z
DTEND:20140624T150000Z
UID:TALK52934@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Ursa Mali
DESCRIPTION:Contemporary political leaders are under sustained pressure: v
 ariously distrusted as “out of touch” elites\, inauthentic centrists w
 ho are “all the same”\, or ineffectual cyphers for global forces beyon
 d their control. Populist parties with charismatic leaders increasingly cl
 aim the mantra of authenticity and popular representation\, eschewing resp
 onsible government. It increasingly appears that the centre cannot hold. D
 ifferent responses to these trends are apparent\, including: political lea
 ders embracing populist sentiments\, and drawing these forces into governi
 ng coalitions: or politicians seeking to govern in a populist register fro
 m a core base\; or political leaders seeking to reinvent political parties
  and forms of mass engagement in political processes. A common response ha
 s been to depoliticise government and policymaking\, by shifting power in 
 key areas like monetary policy\, competition law or climate change target-
 setting to technocratic\, expert bodies or committees\, and in so doing in
 sulate policy from short-term populist pressures. A very different respons
 e\, currently being debated by some UK politicians and intellectuals\, is 
 to disperse power and reconfigure the state: empowering city leaders and o
 thers at a sub-national level in order to overcome gridlock and incapacity
  in national government.\n\nEach of these responses points towards differe
 nt ways in which political leadership is being reconceptualised. In this t
 alk Nick Pearce asks whether these represent plausible strategies for over
 coming the crises of political leadership in contemporary democracies. Or\
 , is more fundamental economic and societal transformation required? What 
 would competing normative theoretical perspectives – including political
  theories that propose a ‘realist’ approach to politics – suggest th
 at we can expect to see happening in the years ahead?
LOCATION:Room S3\, Alison Richard Building
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