1980 Book Reviews: Political Theory and Methodology 153

different interests. Here other parts of the our time. As he says: "If we know all too much
executive branch capable of sustained bureau- about leaders, we know far too little about
cratic effort need to receive consideration. leadership. We fail to grasp the essence of
Self-monitoring by professionals with a homo- leadership that is relevant to the modern age
geneous world view and source of funds has not and hence we cannot agree even on the stan-
been very impressive elsewhere. Why should dards by which to measure, recruit or reject it"
models, games and simulations be an excep- (p. 2).
tion? While a large amount of money is spent This is the task Burns has set for himself and
on them annually (over 30 million dollars), the in this work has provided a revaluation of the
issue of whether or not these expenditures concept and a provocative analysis of its signifi-
matter in a special sense seems moot. The cance. The posture that he adopts is to describe
discussion of policy use in this book does not various leaders, e.g., Wilson, Mao, Lenin, Hitler,
get to the point of induced policy variance. Nor not in order to "solve" leadership problems or
is the relative contribution compared with necessarily to predict what kind of a leader a
other methods addressed, i.e., have models, person might become, but to raise questions
games and simulations introduced more distor- inherent in the complexity of leadership pro-
tion and erroneous judgment than would other- cesses (p. 25).
wise prevail? Clearly these are difficult ques- Burns has been a student of leadership for
tions to answer, but they are cardinal questions some time. Indeed, it has been the principal
for those with any but the most immediate theme of his distinguished work. From his early
interest in the MSG industry or efficient expen- outstanding political biography of Franklin D.
diture. Unfortunately, the numerous descrip- Roosevelt through his other notable works on
tions of MSGs provided stop before the authors the presidency and American politics in general,
treat the national security merits of their the problems of and the need for leadership
conclusions. have been a central concern. This book is,
therefore, a distillation of Burns' prodigious
DAVIS B. BOBROW scholarship and concerned reflection on the
University of Maryland subject.
The book is divided into four parts. Part 1,
entitled "Leadership: Power and Purpose,"
includes two chapters in which the author
Leadership. By James MacGregor Burns. (New evaluates the state of our present understanding
York: Harper and Row, 1978. Pp. ix + 530. of leadership, presents his rationale for its
$15.00.) redefinition, and states his own. Part 2, consist-
James MacGregor Burns contends that for ing of three chapters, is devoted to the various
some time we have lacked a theory of leader- factors that contribute to the selection and
ship, not only one appropriate to democracy, recruitment of leaders. These chapters examine
but a general theory of universal application. In the prevailing conceptions of the psychological,
American thought, this deficiency is under- social bases of leadership, and the crucibles of
standable, since our political roots lie in the leadership in the social and political oppor-
revolt against arbitrary executive authority. We tunity structures. Part 3 discusses transforming
created the position of chief executive in our leadership in its historic and comparative roles
Constitution, but constrained it as though to in England, France, China, the USSR, and the
defeat what we had created. Throughout our United States. Part 4, the largest section,
history, our view of leadership has been nega- appraises the extensive literature on political
tive, largely because of our experience with leadership as it is manifest in various roles:
varieties of political bossism. We, therefore, opinion leadership, group leadership, party lea-
never generated an affirmative theory or doc- dership, and legislative and executive leader-
trine of political leadership "that recognized ship. The concluding section pulls it all together
the vital need for qualities of integrity, authen- and explores the implications of the conception
ticity, initiative and moral resolve" (p. 25). of leadership that is offered and its practical
Moreover, the term "leadership" has become implications. A separate section on sources at
hackneyed. It is a favorite nostrum, perhaps the end of the book is itself an illuminating
because of its confused and conflicting concep- compendium of the extensive literature that the
tualizations. author has consulted.
Accordingly, Burns has set out to redefine Burns lays the foundation for his conceptu-
leadership in the hope that a better understand- alization by arguing that the academic literature
ing of the phenomenon and an appreciation of on leadership is fragmented and has not really
what it can contribute may clarify the needs of followed the direction of its insights. "Scholars
154 The American Political Science Review Vol. 74
have worked in separate disciplines and subdis- finds the psychological grounding for a satisfac-
ciplines in pursuit of different and often unre- tory theory of leadership. In Maslow's concep-
lated questions and problems" (p. 3). But tion, human needs are ranked hierarchically. In
modern psychology, sociology and psychiatry the development of motivations, physiological
have for some time discredited an instinctual needs are primary, followed by needs for safety
and non-interpersonal conception of leadership and developmentally by stages where the needs
based on traits held by some. Leadership is not for affection and belongingness become dom-
a thing, but a relationship between leaders and inant. Once a lower need is met, a person can
followers. And this relationship, to Burns, is give priority to the next higher level. The
primarily a psychological one. author concedes that Maslow's theory is "im-
Burns rejects the conception of leadership precise and confirming empirical studies are
that equates it exclusively or solely with power limited," but nevertheless states, rather surpris-
and domination. He proposes a conception ingly, that "such evidence exists and has been
that, he believes, offers a richer and deeper supported by historical experience" (p. 70).
grasp of human relationships than conceiving of Leaders and followers are located at various
them only in terms of power. Too often, Burns need levels which determine their orientations
maintains, the latter equates leadership with toward politics. Thus "individuals whose needs
coercion and exploitation. But "not all human for safety are dominant are likely to react to
influences are necessarily coercive or exploita- political events with uncertainty and insecurity
tive. The most powerful influences," he con- when dealing with normal political processes,
tends, "consist of deeply human relationships and with a yearning for a leader who may serve
in which two or more persons engage each as a guide and a simplifier" (p. 66). The
other" (p. 11). need-level of followers, therefore, determines
To be sure, leadership is a power relationship their response. Thus, FDR's popularity in the
that rests on more than motives and resources. thirties came about when workers, "their im-
It must also include purpose. Intent and pur- mediate needs satisfied, felt secure enough to
pose can open up the mutually supportive or throw their collective weight into the economic
symbiotic aspects of leadership. Power without struggle over industrial unionism" (p. 70).
purpose is naked power, which is not leadership The research that Kohlberg and others have
at all. True leadership consists of "leaders done on moral development furnishes a theory
inducing followers to act for certain goals that that complements Maslow. In this theory,
represent the values and motivations, the wants moral development occurs in stages. In the
and needs, the aspirations and expectations of earliest stage, human conduct is moved to
both leaders and followers. Leadership is in- compliance out of fear of punishment from
separable from followers' needs and goals" (p. superior power. Then follows a stage of adoles-
19). cent conformity and conventionality. On the
Burns is critical of much of the literature on most mature level, morality is the result of
the psychology of leadership. Of limited value rational choice and adherence to rationally
is psychoanalytic theory with its emphasis on chosen principles. These two theories are com-
oedipal conflicts. These may result in guilt and plementary, so that progressive moral develop-
wounded self-esteem for which wishes for ment and progressive need development ani-
power provide defenses. The striving for politi- mate leadership, "politicize it, and enliven it
cal influence may flow from motivations other with moral purpose" (p. 73), defining its goal
than a wish for power: for example, the need and greatest contribution.
for self-actualization. Indeed, Burns denies that Leadership plays its proper role in elevating
any single factor explains the motivation of people from lower to higher levels of needs and
leaders or would-be leaders. Psychoanalytic moral development. And true leaders come
theory has other limitations. It slights "the role from self-actualizing individuals who are moti-
of followers who closely mold the behavior of vated by a desire to grow, to be efficacious, and
leaders" (p. 61). It also makes insufficient to achieve, rather than to be famous; in short,
allowance for learning and fails to "provide an to fulfill themselves. Self-actualizers are true
adequate explanation of the dynamic biological leaders because they are sensitive to the needs
and social interaction in personal growth or of of others and learn from others. Therefore,
healthy or rational potentials in human beings" "self-actualization means the ability to lead by
(p. 63). Skinner's behaviorism is also inade- being led" (p. 117), and self-actualizing leaders
quate because it "minimizes motivation and can lead followers toward their self-actualiza-
overemphasizes environmental factors" (p. 63). tion by helping them to become aware of their
In Maslow's theory of motivation, which "true" needs.
rests on a conception of human needs, Burns The true leadership relation is not limited to
1980 Book Reviews: Political Theory and Methodology 155
politics. It is a powerful educative relationship ty, fairness, and the nonoring of commitments.
that helps followers to rise to higher levels of Transformational leadership is concerned with
fulfillment and moral development. As Burns the end-values, such as liberty, justice, and
writes: "It is only when leadership itself is seen equality. In our time, Wilson and FDR are
as pervading virtually every level and sector of examples of the more principled types of
society, rather than being limited to the formal leadership.
institutions of government, that one can say The leadership Burns seeks then has several
with confidence that it is mainly in the crucible characteristics. It is collective-"as followers
of leadership that the transmutations of 'lower' respond, symbiotic relationship develops that
needs into higher and the refinement of politi- binds leaders and followers together into a
cal demands takes place" (p. 119). social and political collectivity" (p. 452).
Leadership is thus manifest in two basic Leadership is dissensual because "conflict pro-
types: transactional leaders and transformation- duces engaged leaders, who in turn generate
al leaders. Transactional leaders have an ex- more conflict among the people. Conflict rele-
change relationship with their followers. Such vant to popular aspirations is also the key
leaders respond to and further the interests of democratizer of leadership" (p. 453). Leader-
their followers. Transactional leaders resemble ship is causative; it makes a difference. "The
the broker politicians who commonly charac- most tangible act of leadership is the creation
terize American politics, the prototype of the of an institution—a nation, a social movement,
politician in a democratic pluralistic politics. a political party, a bureaucracy—that continues
The function of transactional leaders, in what- to exert moral leadership and foster needed
ever association they are found, is adaptability. social change long after the creative leaders are
Although transactional leaders respond to hu- gone" (p. 454). And yet, "the most lasting and
man wants and needs, the relationships are pervasive leadership of all is intangible and
superficial because "they are dominated by non-institutional. It is the leadership of influ-
quick calculations of costs and benefits" (p. ence fostered by ideas embodied in social or
258). Transactional leadership is, therefore, religious or artistic movements, in books, in
constructive, but limited. great seminal documents, in the memory of
By contrast, transformational leadership is great lives greatly lived" (p. 455).
leadership at its highest level. "Such leadership Leadership is morally purposeful and trans-
occurs when one or more persons engage with forming leadership is elevating. Thus, the most
others in such a way that leaders and followers dramatic test in modern democracies of the
raise one another to higher levels of motivation power of leaders to elevate followers and of
and morality" (p. 20). Their purposes become followers to sustain leaders was the civil rights
fused. The best modern example is Gandhi, struggle in the United States. There were those
"who aroused and elevated the hopes and who pandered to base instincts, the very nega-
demands of millions of Indians and whose life tion of leadership, but many more who ap-
and personality were enhanced in the process. pealed to the spirit of a "moral commitment of
More explicitly such leaders operate at need the American nation to high ideals," as Myrdal
and value levels higher than those of their said years later (p. 455).
followers" (p. 43). They can, therefore, appeal Leadership is a provocative and stimulating
to the more widely and deeply held values, such book. It presses for a new perspective on
as justice, liberty and brotherhood. They can leadership, uses wide-ranging examples, and is
redefine aspirations and gratifications to help written in an earnest and, at times, impassioned
followers see their stake in new, program-ori- style, diluted by redundancy. It expresses a
ented social movements. Yet, Burns recognizes, deeply felt social urgency and concern that give
too, that means and ends may conflict. "Some force to its message. In a sense, this is not only
of those believing in equal opportunity today a book about leadership; it calls for new,
may also believe in certain modes of conduct, intensified, and uplifting political relationships.
endless debate, for example, or elaborate proce- Burns seeks more of the intense commitment
dures for judicial review, that make the attain- that is found in social movements. Leadership,
ment of equal opportunity far less certain" (p. in this sense, is the chosen instrument to that
43). Nevertheless, "essentially the leader's task end.
is consciousness-raising on a wide plane" (p. Burns' redefinition of leadership stems from
44). a psychological approach which is highly con-
Both transactional and transformational troversial. Sometimes called "The Third Force"
leaders contribute to human purpose. Transac- in psychology (alongwide psychoanalysis and
tional leadership relations teach or express behaviorism), humanistic psychology, which
those moral values embodied in means—hones- questions the preeminence of both the rational-
156 The American Political Science Review Vol. 74
istic and empirical in psychology, has attracted challenging perspective for all of us to ponder.
a devoted following, as well as vigorous critic- LESTER G. SELIGMAN
ism. The differences it has with other schools of
psychology stem not only from methodological University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
grounds, but also from fundamental philo-
sophical assumptions. Within the scope of this
review, such differences cannot be discussed Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defense. By
adequately. Our concern must be limited to its G. A. Cohen. (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
relevance to political science.
University Press, 1979. Pp. xv + 369.
It must be said at the outset that despite the $18.50.)
coherent linkage between Burns' conception of
leadership and the theories of motivational and Whatever its merits, much of the recent
moral development, they lack the precision of a scholarship on Marx's philosophical humanism
theory. How shall we proceed now or in the puts off the reader from the more controversial
claims of Marx's theory of history. In this
future to test the validity of many of the regard, G. A. Cohen's elaboration of an "old-fa-
propositions, other than impressionistically? shioned view" of historical materialism is a
Burns' conception of leadership as a means major tour de force. Cohen takes seriously
for progressive change from lower to higher Marx's "guiding hypothesis" that the level of
levels raises certain questions. Because my development of the productive forces explains
orientation is more scientific and pragmatic, I the historical development of production rela-
regard this new conceptualization with con- tions, class struggle and other noneconomic
siderable skepticism. To put it bluntly, I think activities. As a writer schooled in Marx and in
of political leadership as a means toward Anglo-American philosophy, he provides a
"getting things done," and this may be enough. clear, unconventional and powerful account
In our times, we have seen leaders and move- and defense of Marx's theory of history. To his
ments that aimed at transcendence of "lower" credit, Cohen has already inspired books by
needs succumb in the end to self-interest, two of his students on a similar theme (William
corruption, and abuse of power. What is the H. Shaw, Marx's Theory of History, Stanford,
defense against such developments in Burns' 1978; John McMurtry, The Structure of Marx's
conception? It can also be argued that durable, World-View, Princeton, 1978). Cohen's own
moral change has resulted from the more argument, however, is far more interesting.
limited exchange relationships of transactional
leaders, with perhaps less cost, than from Cohen pursues a pivotal distinction in Cap-
transformational leaders. ital between material and social aspects of
production, the material being defined as the
The conceptual difference between transfor- physical labor process itself, the social as the set
mational and transactional leaders is clear, but of production relationships in which this pro-
in reality how much difference is there? The cess occurs. The material aspects are the human
broker and the great reformer are often com- content of the productive process, the social its
bined in the same person. relatively transient historical forms. This dis-
In the end, for all the importance that the tinction enables Cohen to capture Marx's per-
study of leadership deserves (and we are in debt sistent emphasis on the laborers' skill and
to Burns for reminding us of present confusions applied scientific knowledge as part of the
and inadequacies), one wonders whether hu- material development of human productive
mane purposes are as good a defense as are powers (despite the confusion of some critics,
constraints of means. Perhaps there is wisdom Marx does not use the term material as opposed
in our ambivalence toward leadership. Excessive to mental but as opposed to social). Given this
hopes for and reliance on leadership may well distinction, Cohen also offers a novel interpre-
be at the cost of institutionalized norms that tation of communism as the abolition of social
defend us against the vagaries of authority. roles and the emergence of richly diversified
Fundamentally, democracy and liberalism must human individuality.
rest not on personal and elevating leadership, According to Cohen, Marx defends a func-
but on institutional leadership and conditional tional theory: the production relations come to
attachments to them according to their govern- be as they are through an historical process
ing competence checked by their accountabili- because such relations are suited to develop the
ty. Isaiah Berlin once said that it was character- productive forces. He follows Marx in suggest-
istic of the twentieth century to treat problems ing that certain productive forces and social
not by solving them, but by redefining them. classes will encourage or select items coherent
Burns' redefinition has opened a new and with their needs from the relatively autono-