COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST - POLI 359: GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP

Course Outline

POLI 359 Governance and Leadership (2018/19)

Course Description and Objectives

This course examines the critical issues of leadership and governance which are very decisive for the success of any nation, institution or organisation in the world. A robust well-established governance system with the right leader is more likely to engender greater well-being and satisfaction for people in most political realms. The key issues to be discussed under this course include conceptualisation and evolution of leadership and governance; political leadership; components of good governance and why they matter; linkages between good governance and development; leadership and governance in Sub-Saharan Africa and Ghana.

By the end of the course, students would have developed skills in:

• Explaining the key issues discussed in the course;
• Gathering, organising and using information from a variety of sources;
• Developing reasoned arguments underpinned by evidence and critical judgement
• Communicating effectively and fluently, orally and in writing

·         Working independently, showing initiative, self-organisation and time management.

The main topics and reading lists include the following:

1.      Overview of the Course

This lecture discusses the key issues of the course and how it will be administered. Others issues include importance of reading key texts before coming to class, attending lectures regularly, taking assignments seriously, modes of assessments and any other administrative issues.

2.      Conceptualisation of Leadership

This lecture will look at the various meanings that people assign to leadership and the expectations that come with these. It will discuss leadership styles, characteristics, and various aspects of leadership based on research and case studies.

Joel M. Podolny, Rakesh Khurana, and Marya Hill-Popper (2006) ‘Revisiting the Meaning of Leadership’, in: Barry M Staw and Roderick M. Kramer, eds, Research in Organisational Behaviour, Volume 26, pp1-37.

3.      Leadership in the Political Arena

This lecture will focus more on leadership in the politics and the rules or regulations that govern these in different political regimes. However, greater emphasis will be placed on leadership in democracies.

Heineman, R A (1996) Political Science: An Introduction, New York: McGraw Hill (Chapters 12, 13, 14, 15)

Reffo, Gerry and Wark, Valerie (2014) Leadership PQ: How Political Intelligence Sets Successful Leaders Apart, London: Kogan Page Ltd.

4.      Leadership in Organisations

This lecture will discuss leadership in organisations and the expectations that come with it in both public and private sector institutions. Greater emphasis will be placed on leadership in the contemporary corporate environment.

Owen, Jo (2009) How to Lead: What you actually need to do to manage, lead and succeed, 2^nd edn, London: Pearson.

Owen, Jo (2009) How to Manage: The art of making things happen, 2^nd edn, London: Pearson.

5.      Evolution of Governance

This lecture will examine various issues such as capacity, competence, discretion, autonomy and other issues as they relate to governance in democratic regimes. The combination of these issues determines the quality of governance within a regime or political unit and by extension the level of development that it can engender.

Fukuyama, Francis (2013) What Is Governance? CGD Working Paper 314. Washington, DC: Center for Global Development. (http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/1426906)

6.      The Good Governance Agenda

This lecture looks at the importance of good governance and why it is necessary for the development of a country. It will draw on research from different countries to examine this topic.

Gisselquist, Rachel M. (2012) Good Governance as a Concept, and Why This Matters for Development Policy, Working Paper No. 2012/30, Helsinki (Finland),United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER).

7.      Academic Skills Week/Continuous Assessment

This week will be dedicated to discussion academic skills such as how to do effective reading, how to write academically, use of punctuations, headings, break up of words, structure, etc. It will also discuss basic referencing skills and citations, etc. (Some guidance notes will be provided).

8.      Components of Good Governance

The major components of good governance such as accountability, rule of law, transparency, effectiveness and efficiency, responsiveness, equity and inclusion, consensus-orientation and participation.

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the

Pacific (2007) What is Good Governance? (www.unescap.org/pdd)

9.      Public Administration and Governance

This lecture will broadly discuss the linkages between good governance and an effective and efficient public services delivery.

United Nations (2006) Public Administration and Democratic Governance: Governments Serving Citizens, New York, United Nations.

10.  Leadership and Governance in Africa

This lecture will focus on leadership in Africa and how it engenders the varying degrees of governance, and the different levels of development on the continent.

Rotberg, Robert, I (2014) Governance and Leadership in Africa, Philadelphia: Mason Crest.

Wanasika, Isaac, Jon P. Howell, Romie Littrell, Peter Dorfman (2010) Managerial Leadership and Culture in Sub-Saharan Africa, Journal of World Business 46 (2011) 234–241.

11.  Case Studies of Leadership and Governance in Ghana

Students will be asked to work on governance issues on some selected countries and make presentations in class.

12.  Plenary Session

This will be a session to discuss any outstanding issues in the course, to receive feedback and to prepare for the exams.

Teaching and Assessment arrangements:

The course will be taught mainly through lectures, discussions and readings that students will be expected to do. 13 Lecture sessions are planned to cover the various topics in this course. Lectures are compulsory and attendance will be checked against the official register. Students who attend less than 75% of the lectures will be removed from the course.

Assessment will follow the standards set by the University of Education, Winneba and the Department of Political Science Education. This will include continuous assessments and a final examination. Failure to complete the continuous assessments automatically disqualifies any student from writing the final examination. The continuous assessment carries 40 marks and final exam carries 60 marks. However, the overall pass mark is 50 out of 100 marks.

Plagiarism

The University regards cheating and plagiarism and other instances of academic malpractice with the utmost seriousness.

Plagiarism is defined as presenting someone else’s work as your own. Work means any intellectual output, and typically includes text (including lecture notes and handouts) data, images, sound or performance, or any combination of these.

The significance of plagiarism is that assessments are only of any use if the work you submit is your own: to present the work of others is dishonest. You may use information that you gather from journals, books, the internet, websites, lectures or other teaching sessions, contact with others, etc., but it must always be properly attributed and all sources used must be referenced (including lecture notes and handouts). Failure to attribute material which is not your own will be regarded as plagiarism, for which the University imposes strict penalties. All cases of plagiarism and cheating in coursework are reported to the University.

We recognise that you are often required to work together in classes or other assessments, and it is often good to discuss assignments with other students. If for any particular task you are required to work in groups you will be advised on how your work should be submitted and will be assessed.

Taught by: Dr Gabriel Botchwey 

Email: akob2000@gmail.com or gkabotchwey@uew.edu.gh