Life After Politics? The post-leadership activities of New Zealand premiers and prime ministers, 1856-2008

<p>Political leadership has been a nebulous concept in New Zealand, one that has grown and changed as we have matured as a nation. Scholarship on political leadership in New Zealand has also matured, particularly over the last several decades, to now stand in its own right. Absent from this scholarship, however, has been a focus on what our leaders do after leaving office and why they undertake such activities. This thesis looks at the collective activities of New Zealand’s Premiers and Prime Ministers from 1856-2008. Drawing upon the influence of both individual and situational variables, it highlights a series of patterns within three distinct groups of leaders. Firstly, the Colonial Premiers (1856-1893), who carved out a range of post-leadership activities, though the choice of many of these activities often reflected a need to stabilise their financial position, which had deteriorated during their time as Premier. The Kiwi Prime Ministers (1856-1960), whose choice of post-leadership activities was marked by the transformational events occurring during their lifetime: two World Wars, a Great Depression and a series of significant industrial disputes. Many of these 20th century Prime Ministers suffered significant physical or psychological decline during their time in office. Finally, the Modern New Zealand Prime Ministers (1960-2008) have set a distinct new trend in post-leadership activity. Though some have still suffered from the emotional and physical demands of office, many leaders within this cohort have used their time as Prime Minister as a stepping-stone to greater activities upon leaving office. This trend, noticeable in our last five Prime Ministers, is important in that signals that post-leadership activities will now become a significant feature of a leader’s lifetime. Yet these illustrious post-political careers have occurred mainly outside of New Zealand, or behind the closed doors of the business world. This thesis suggests that we are losing a rich societal asset by not drawing upon the distinct skills and experiences of our former leaders and enabling them to become elder statesmen and women. The presence of such a community could contribute greatly to the future, as New Zealand navigates it way through debates of national significance and future crises.</p>

Life After Politics? The post-leadership activities of New Zealand premiers and prime ministers, 1856-2008

<p>Political leadership has been a nebulous concept in New Zealand, one that has grown and changed as we have matured as a nation. Scholarship on political leadership in New Zealand has also matured, particularly over the last several decades, to now stand in its own right. Absent from this scholarship, however, has been a focus on what our leaders do after leaving office and why they undertake such activities. This thesis looks at the collective activities of New Zealand’s Premiers and Prime Ministers from 1856-2008. Drawing upon the influence of both individual and situational variables, it highlights a series of patterns within three distinct groups of leaders. Firstly, the Colonial Premiers (1856-1893), who carved out a range of post-leadership activities, though the choice of many of these activities often reflected a need to stabilise their financial position, which had deteriorated during their time as Premier. The Kiwi Prime Ministers (1856-1960), whose choice of post-leadership activities was marked by the transformational events occurring during their lifetime: two World Wars, a Great Depression and a series of significant industrial disputes. Many of these 20th century Prime Ministers suffered significant physical or psychological decline during their time in office. Finally, the Modern New Zealand Prime Ministers (1960-2008) have set a distinct new trend in post-leadership activity. Though some have still suffered from the emotional and physical demands of office, many leaders within this cohort have used their time as Prime Minister as a stepping-stone to greater activities upon leaving office. This trend, noticeable in our last five Prime Ministers, is important in that signals that post-leadership activities will now become a significant feature of a leader’s lifetime. Yet these illustrious post-political careers have occurred mainly outside of New Zealand, or behind the closed doors of the business world. This thesis suggests that we are losing a rich societal asset by not drawing upon the distinct skills and experiences of our former leaders and enabling them to become elder statesmen and women. The presence of such a community could contribute greatly to the future, as New Zealand navigates it way through debates of national significance and future crises.</p>

Written Heritage of Transylvanian Princes in the Archival Funds of Ukraine

The written legacy of the Transylvanian princes preserved in Ukrainian archival funds is a less researched area. The aim of the article is to shed light on the documentary heritage of two Transylvanian princes preserved by the archival funds of Ukraine. The methodology of the research is based on the description of the sources, with the help of which new data is introduced into the scientific stream. Archival-descriptive methods were applied that can be used to exploit the historical data in the records. The scientific novelty of the article is about exploring sources that have not been published so far or have already been mentioned in the foreign literature, but are less known in the historical literature of Ukraine. Conclusions: The present study covers the documentary legacy of two princes, György Rákóczi I (1593-1648) and his great-grandson Ferenc Rákóczi II (1676-1735), examining the letters in the State Archives of the Transcarpathian Region, which were signed by them. Although the Transylvanian princes were not independent rulers, they left a significant mark in European history in the administrative, military and political spheres. Their military-political careers had an impact on the peoples of the region, the Ukrainians, the Hungarians, the Poles and the Germans alike. Of all the princes of the Rákóczi dynasty, the documentary legacy of the princes mentioned above is the richest in the State Archives of the Transcarpathian Region. The princes in question were suffering in the European space between the two great powers of the time, the Habsburgs and the Turkish Empire, and could succeed only with great effort. Letters, decrees, and other orders written or issued in the princely chancelleries, the description of which appears in this article, are essentially the result of the present research. These expand the image of the relationship between the peoples living in the principality and the Rákóczis, who often acted in political coercion. A detailed examination of the princes' letters of donation, the treaties with the rulers, or the relations with the poor peasantry may be of interest for further research

Palace Coups in Russia: Comparative Typologization

This article considers palace coups as one of the key phenomena of Russian political culture, which intertwined traditions and innovations, accidents and patterns, personal and corporate interests, prudence and adventurism. It analyzes methods and mechanisms by which the Russian autocrats of the late 17th – 18th centuries ascended to the throne. The ways of ascension to the throne were different, but they had one thing in common – compliance with clear rules of succession was very far from ideal, which was significantly different from most European monarchies. In monarchies where inheritance was legally fixed by the principle of primogeniture, it was much more difficult to carry out palace coups. There was no such mandatory legal norm for the Romanov dynasty. Palace coups in Russia did not lead to changes in the social and economic sphere or in the mechanisms of functioning of the state, with the exception of the political careers of individual dignitaries. The last palace revolution in the history of Russia took place in 1801 and symbolically completed the 18th century for it. Most of the changes on the Russian throne during the 18th century took place in the form of a “palace coup” with the participation of representatives of the dynasty and, as a rule, the highest dignitaries. Such methods of changing rulers reflected a certain instability of the supreme power, disputes about the ways of modernizing the country, the consequences of Peter the Great’s reforms and, in fact, intra-dynastic contradictions.

Party membership, pre-parliamentary socialization and party cohesion

Party membership seems to lose relevance for political careers in many established democracies. Increasing numbers of parties are recruiting non-members as candidates. Yet, what are the implications of a lack of long-term party membership for party cohesion? In this paper, I argue that pre-parliamentary party membership is in fact crucial for cohesion. Using data from the Comparative Candidate Survey and voting behavior of ca. 2,000 MPs of the German Bundestag on free votes from 1953 to 2013, I examine the effect of length of previous party membership and the age of joining the party on indicators of party cohesion. Examining free votes allows for credibly controlling alternative explanations of unified voting behavior. Results are in line with expectations generated from social identity theory and underscore the importance of party membership for party cohesion. The paper concludes with a discussion on the findings’ implications in light of recent developments in parties’ candidate recruitment.

Between Frontline and Parliament: Ukrainian Political Parties and Irregular Armed Groups in 2014–2019

The short-lived Ukrainian armed volunteer movement and its interaction with electoral politics, in some regards did, and in other regards, did not fit patterns observed in research into irregular armed groups (IAGs). The brief life span of most Ukrainian IAGs as more or less independent actors, and their swift integration into Ukraine’s regular forces during the years 2014–2015, were both unusual. They were also one of the reasons for the relatively low political impact of the IAGs as such - a repercussion that is in contrast to the partly impressive individual political careers of some IAG commanders in 2014–2019. There were various forms of interpenetration of parties with IAGs in post-Euromaidan Ukraine. Certain parties, political activists, and MPs took part in the creation and development of IAGs in 2014. Some – to that point, mostly minor - politicians became soldiers or commanders of IAGs. Subsequently, a number of IAG members transited into the party-political realm, either joining older parties or creating new political organizations.

COVID and Federal Relations in Russia

The COVID-19 crisis has provided an opportunity to re-evaluate how the federal relations work in authoritarian Russia. In particular, the crisis has confirmed that the regional governors are an integral part of maintaining the stability of the non-democratic regime. Since the whole system and thus, the political careers of the incumbent governors depend on Putin’s popularity, they are interested in maintaining it, even at the expense of their own popularity with the population. In Spring 2020 the regional governors have demonstrated both loyalty and willingness to shield Putin from political responsibility for unpopular measures associated with the epidemic.

Elite clientelism in Nigeria: The role of parties in weakening legislator-voter ties

Political parties in Africa and other developing countries are known to forge clientelist rather than programmatic ties to voters. Yet this does not mean that parties reward strong legislator-voter ties. In this paper, I argue for the case of Nigeria that lawmakers seeking to advance their political careers are incentivized to direct public resources to party members and senior party elites rather than serve their constituents in general. I draw on interviews with 8th National Assembly (2015–2019) lawmakers as well as quantitative data on MP re-election, targeted bills and motions, and the use of constituency development funds to demonstrate the predominance of narrow clientelism in Nigeria. I also place the Nigerian case in comparative perspective to argue that the extent to which legislators devote attention to constituents is likely to exist on a continuum, with the causes and consequences of this variation requiring further attention from scholars.

Introduction: A Snapshot and a Story

Contemporary politicians in places as diverse as the United States, Spain, and the Philippines have built their political careers around claims that their society is in decline and they alone can restore it. These claims often depend not on evidence but on emotion and involve the interpretation of a snapshot using an emotionally resonant story. This rhetoric has a long history, most notably in the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire, and in later European states that claim a connection to Rome.