Lecture 3: Leadership and Power

Question 1

standard definition of power

Answer 1

power is the capacity for influence and that influence is based on the control of resources valued or desired by others

Question 2

John C. Turner on power

Answer 2

• Explaining the nature of power is a three-process theory
• Defining power is complicated because it is difficult to differentiate consistently from related constructs of influence, compliance, control, dominance, authority, status, and rank

Question 3

How do individuals or groups influence and control other people to carry out their wishes, suggestions, or commands?

Answer 3

power through persuasion & control (authority & coercision)

Question 4

Turner’s work

Answer 4

Proposes “a new theory emphasizing group identity, social organization and ideology rather than dependence as the basis of power. It proposes that power is based on persuasion, authority and coercion. A key point is that the theory changes the way these processes have been understood by reversing the causal sequence of the standard theory. The latter argues that control of resources produces power, power is the basis of influence and that mutual influence leads to the formation of a psychological group. The three-process theory argues that psychological group formation produces influence, that influence is the basis of power and that power leads to the control of resources.”

Question 5

Northouse’s 5 types of power

Answer 5

• referent power
• expert power
• legitimate power
• reward power
• coercive power

Question 6

referent power

Answer 6

based on followers’ identification and liking for the leader

Question 7

expert power

Answer 7

based on followers’ perception of a leader’s competence

Question 8

legitimate power

Answer 8

associated with status or formal authority

Question 9

reward power

Answer 9

derived from the capacity to bestow awards

Question 10

coercive power

Answer 10

derived from the capacity to punish others

Question 11

Keohane on democracy, leadership, and power

Answer 11

• Leadership and asymmetrical influence – how is this consistent with robust popular decision-making or with sovereignty residing in the people as a whole?
• Representative or liberal democracy: responsibilities for making and implementing decisions delegated to leaders chosen by the people (leaders are held to account)
• Problems in a democracy arise when leaders extend or abuse their power
• Also, concerns when certain groups of people are excluded from leadership in democracies (often because of socioeconomic disparities and inequalities) – why discussions of representation are so pressing

Question 12

the Canadian archetype

Answer 12

Male, white, middle-class, middle-aged, Christian, Canadian-born, and majority-language-speaking political leaders remain

Question 13

Indigenous systems of government

Answer 13

In Canada, Indigenous peoples have long had their unique laws and systems of governance
Today is focused on the settler colonial state and how leadership is defined in that context

Question 14

New France and the franchise

Answer 14

extremely undemocratic (absolute monarchy)

Question 15

British North America and the franchise

Answer 15

control lay in the hands of the governors appointed by the British Government, and elected assemblies had little power, resulting in the Rebellions of 1837–38 and other efforts for reform, which ultimately led to the colony’s adoption of responsible government

Question 16

the franchise in the early 19th century

Answer 16

• During the 19th century, only a small group of privileged men and property owners could vote for the elected assemblies (the Constitutional Act of 1791 did not address the issue of gender, but few examples of women voting in Lower Canada and none in Upper Canada, which followed the tradition of English common law in which women did not exercise the franchise)
• Vote severely restricted; women and Indigenous people were almost completely excluded from voting and few minorities were represented in legislatures; initially, Roman Catholics were banned; enslaved people were banned (1834)

Question 17

the franchise and confederation

Answer 17

inherited the system of responsible government, but elections continued to be rife with corruption and vote buying (until 1874, all voters had to announce their vote publicly)

Question 18

the franchise in the 1870s

Answer 18

calls to end property requirements in voting (not until 1920 that property requirements were eliminated from federal elections, but in some places continued – PEI continued until 1964)

Question 19

the Indian Act and the franchise

Answer 19

In 1876, the Indian Act elected chiefs and band councils (only allowed adult males to vote); also declared Indigenous people must become enfranchised to vote in a federal election (must give up Indian status – a tool of assimilation). Not until 1960 that status Indians gained the right to vote; Inuit men and women had the vote in 1950 (but ballot boxes were not in all communities until 1962)

Question 20

women and the franchise

Answer 20

Women fought for the vote and some women won the vote in municipal elections by 1900, but not until 1916 that women won the first provincial vote in Manitoba (other provinces and territories followed; in Quebec, not until 1940); some women voted in a federal election in 1917 (Wartime Elections Act), and in 1918, a federal law was passed that ensured no one could be denied the right to vote in a federal election due to gender (still denied for other reasons)

Question 21

voting restrictions into the 20th century

Answer 21

Many voting restrictions after 1918; in BC, Indo–Canadians and Chinese Canadians were denied the vote until 1947, and Japanese Canadians could not vote until 1949; the federal government banned Japanese Canadians until 1949; religious restrictions applied to Mennonites and Doukhobors (Doukhobors were banned federally from 1917-1920 and 1934-1955)

Question 22

voting restrictions into the 21st century

Answer 22

• Courts ruled that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) protected everyone’s right to vote, but Canadians with intellectual disabilities were disqualified until 1988; judges until 1974 and prison inmates until 2002.
• Issues of accessibility continue

Question 23

Reid & Ng on power and leadership

Answer 23

“The mechanism that makes power come to life is communicative: to ensure success leaders must use language to create, justify, depoliticize, and routinize power… [language] is an active co-player in the realization of power.”

Question 24

selection of representatives

Answer 24

makes a statement about role models and legitimacy

Question 25

The Electing a Diverse Canada collection demonstrates that:

Answer 25

• Canadians are ready to entrust the leadership of national institutions to persons of “diverse, “non-traditional” identities.”
• Lists many appointed positions (Governor Generals, Lieutenant Governors) that have been members of minority groups, but notes that “Canada’s electoral system falls well short of producing political leadership that reflects this country’s great demographic diversity.” (255)
• Research shows a narrow cross-section of Canadians dominate elected public office in major cities and in Parliament–the archetype continues

Question 26

electoral representativeness in Parliament

Answer 26

overall numbers far from representative

Question 27

Of a total of 552 municipal, provincial, and federal elected positions available across these studies:

Answer 27

• 1 is held by a person under 30 years of age
• 3 are held by persons of Indigenous ancestry
• 30 are held by persons of non-Christian religious affiliation
• 48 are held by visible minorities
• Women elected range from 21 to 30 percent of the population
• For each of these groups, the proportion of seats held is well below their share of the population

Question 28

shifts in previously marginalized groups

Answer 28

Note important shifts and some success among previously marginalized groups (politicians of Italian and Jewish descent; a greater proportion of women elected among visible minority politicians; a significant proportion of foreign-born politicians in Toronto and Vancouver)

Question 29

weakness of the Electing a Diverse Canada study

Answer 29

Did not collect data related to disability or sexual orientation

Question 30

diversity in Canada

Answer 30

Canada is among the most demographically diverse countries in the world, but not reflected in its political leaders

Question 31

root of privilege and disadvantage

Answer 31

identity

Question 32

example of Electing a Diverse Canada contradicting earlier studies

Answer 32

For example, ideas that traditionally under-represented groups have a better likelihood of electoral success municipally than federally or provincially (ex. Women on municipal councils) data in these studies show women had greater proportional representation federally and/or provincially than on municipal council

Question 33

is Toronto the most diverse city in terms of elected officials?

Answer 33

• Toronto is not necessarily the most diverse in identities of elected officials (ex. Calgary and Edmonton had virtually identical combined rates of racial and religious minority representation as Toronto in 2004 – elected in greater proportion to their share)
• This demonstrates that nothing inevitable about arriving at more equitable electoral representation

Question 34

representation in the 2021 House of Commons

Answer 34

• Slow and steady increases in terms of both candidates and elected MPs
• But notable disparities remain

Question 35

what factors influence representation in the House of Commons?

Answer 35

Important factors include how groups are concentrated in specific ridings, the proportion who become citizens, their general political habits, and whether their ethnic media encourage political participation

Question 36

visible minority representation in the House of Commons in 2021

Answer 36

• Visible minorities represented 18.2 percent of all the candidates from the six main parties (in comparison to 16.8 in 2019 and 13.4 in 2015)
• Near doubling in percentage of Black candidates; Filipinos most under-represented