Eva Sørensen Roskilde University Denmark

 Approach the question of the future role of the state from a governance research perspective A state that seeks to govern through the mobilization of public and private actors through interactive forms of governance  Governance theory has introduced the concept of meta-governance understood as ‘the governance of governance’ to describe this new role  Meta-governance is exercised through the institutional design and facilitation of interactive governance arenas

 Meta-governance theories tends to reduce public leadership to a meta-management that aims to ensure efficient and effective governance  In consequence they under-emphasize that meta- governance also involves the exercise of political meta-leadership  Recent theories of political leadership can inspire efforts to strengthen the political aspect of meta- governance

Explore how recent theories of political leadership can contribute to developing an analytical framework for studying the role and functioning of political leadership of interactive governance processes

 Political leadership aims to lead a political community  Robert C. Tucker: Leadership as Politics (1995). Political leadership is a function rather than a position, and the role as political leader is obtained through the ability to serve this function rather than through formal authorization Three leadership functions:  Construction of a problem diagnosis that calls for political action  Proposition of a strategy for dealing with the problems  Mobilization of support for the problem definition and strategy for solving it

 Joseph Masciulli et al: Political Leadership (2009).  Adaptive political leadership: Reactions to changing conditions that take the form of marginal adjustments of existing problem definitions and policies (reform)  Innovative political leadership: Proactive development of a new problem diagnoses and strategies (revolution) Radical political innovation is risky because it tends to disregard contextual factors in the quest for a new beginning

 Political leadership is basically about story telling  Political story telling is a necessary element in government as well as in interactive governance  Political leadership is not a prerogative of formally authorized politicians, but can be performed by other actors  Empirical studies must investigate how these functions are carried out and by whom  Political leadership both involves adaptive and innovative policy making

 Political leadership involves the mobilization of the political community in formulating problem diagnoses and political strategies – as well as in realizing the strategies  Benefits of involving the political community in policy making: Contributes to a contextual and negotiated problem understanding Helps to develop and test new political solutions Builds political ownership

 Political ambitions determine the space for political leadership Adaptive meta-politics overlaps with meta- management Innovative meta-politics is different from meta- management Innovative political leadership Meta- management Adaptive political leadership

 There is currently a happy marriage between adaptive political leadership and meta-management  Politicians can either engage in adaptive policy making or become marginalized – while seeing other actors take on the role as innovative political leaders  Theories of meta-governance have consolidated the marriage but should instead highlight the constitutive role of political leadership in interactive governance  New experiments with interactive policy innovation in Denmark indicate that politicians’ ability to serve as innovative political leaders is promoted through new interactive governance arenas (Agger & Sørensen, 2014)

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