How Power Changes Hands: Transition and Succession in Government(Understanding Governance)

How can we strengthen the capacity of our governments and key political parties to manage arrivals and departures at the top? Democracy requires reliable processes for the transfer of power from one generation of leaders to the next. How does power pass from leaders to their challengers? What patterns of political and social organization emerge from the comparative study of the passage of power from possessors to successors? This collection represents the findings of a research team investigating the pathways of power in transitions, when one political party or team replaces another in political office, and in successions when internal generation changes one set of leaders for another. The authors bring many academic disciplines to the task, including political science, history and social psychology.

Table of Contents:
Power Transitions and Leadership Successions in Government; P.'t Hart & J.Uhr PART I: UNDERSTANDING TRANSITIONS Ruling Elite Transitions in Australia and the United States; J.Higley & J.Pakulski Managers or Messiahs? Prime Ministerial Leadership and the Transition to Government; J.Walter Establishing Prime Ministerial Leadership Style in Opposition; W.Errington Bicameralism and the Dynamics of Contested Transitions; J.Uhr, S.Bach & L.Massicotte Westminster Norms and Caretaker Conventions: Australian and New Zealand Transition Debates; M.Simms PART II: UNDERSTANDING SUCCESSIONS Seeking and Keeping the Hot Seat: a Comparative Analysis of Party Leader Successions; M.Laing & P.'t Hart Holding Party Leaders to Account: the Westminster Cases; W.Cross & A.Blais The Firing Line: When and Why do Prime Ministers Fire Ministerial Colleagues?; K.Dowding & E.McLeay Power Consolidation in Leadership Change Contexts: a Social Identity Perspective; E.SubaA!iAa & K.J.Reynolds Building Trust at the Beginning of a New Leadership Role: the Role of Learning and Collaboration; P.Atkins 'The Tideless Pond that Seemed Waiting for Me': the Afterlife of Australian Prime Ministers; P.Strangio How Power Changes Hands: Concluding Reflections; P.'t Hart & J.Uhr

About the Author :
PAUL 'T HART Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University and Professor of Public Administration at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. He is a core faculty member of the Australian New Zealand School of Government as well as of the Netherlands School of Government. His recent books include Governing After Crisis (2008), Dispersed Democratic Leadership (2009), The Real World of EU Accountability (2010). JOHN UHR Professor of Public Policy in the Crawford School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. He also directs the Parliamentary Studies Centre at the ANU. His recent books include Terms of Trust (2005) and Public Leadership (2008, co-edited with Paul 't Hart.)

Review :
"The transfer of power is fundamental to the proper functioning of our political and administrative institutions. Yet, students of government and practitioners have little in the way of literature to guide their understanding of how power changes hands. This book fills a void in a comprehensive and insightful fashion. It brings a theoretical, empirical and comparative perspective to planning government transitions." - Donald J. Savoie, Canada Research Chair in Public Administration and Governance, Universite de Moncton, Canada