Political Leadership

This research stream is primarily concerned with the relationship between predominant leaders and institutional change in the core executive, and the wider impact of predominant leaders. The research, argues that prime ministerial predominance in Britain under Tony Blair and Australia under John Howard can be analysed through a framework that blends the personal capacity with the institutional capacity of a leader. The research published in April 2012 by Palgrave Macmillan in the Political Leadership Series as a book entitled Prime Ministers in Power: Political Leadership in Britain and Australia | adds to the developing body of comparative political analysis of leadership and in particular prime ministers in parliamentary democracies. Research is ongoing on the British Prime Minister, comparative political failure, rhetoric and oratory in the Labour and Conservative parties . Dr Bennister is currently engaged in a collaborative project investigating ‘political capital and the ebb and flow of leadership capital’ with Dr Ben Worthy, Birkbeck University and Prof Paul ‘t Hart, Utrecht University. This research seeks to model ideal types of political leadership exploring the under-theorised notions of political and leadership capital using contemporary exemplars of political leadership in western liberal democracies.

For Dr Mark Bennister's research publications, see: 
http://create.canterbury.ac.uk/view/creators/Bennister=3AM=2E=3A=3A.html