ISSN 1392-3110 (Print) ISSN 2351-6712 (Online) Socialiniai tyrimai / Social Research. 2016, Vol. 39 (2), 5–15 https://doi.org/10.21277/sr.v39i2.77 Leadership at Local Level: Approach to an Impact on the Democratization Processes in Latvia Inese Abolina University of Latvia Faculty of Social Science Political Science Department Riga, Lomonosova 1a, LV-1019 E-mail: [email protected] The article has been reviewed. Received on 3 October 2016, accepted on 15 December 2016 Abstract the structure of local government and leadership The leader’s role is decisive when developing a style. On 13 January 1994, the Parliament of Latvia strategic vision and strengthening democracy at local as (Saeima)2 passed the City Council and Municipality well as at highest level. Local government leaders should Council Election Law which was amended several develop new approaches to further development, be able times, the last time on 12 September 2013, and to adapt to the time of frequent change and thus enhance came into force on 1 January 2014. It lays down the effectiveness of organizations and leadership at local level. that local government shall be elected by local The aim of the paper is to examine the development citizens; the chairman of the council shall be elected of leaders’ skills and competences. Most often leadership by the members of the council. Collective decision skills are being developed at school, within NGOs and making shall be strengthened thus making political society. It is important to be organized and have good leadership professional (Larsen, 2005). communication skills, be able to generate and disseminate The aim of the paper is to examine the ideas. development of local leaders, to describe skills and Leaders’ characteristics, leadership skills and their competencies development. Leadership skills are development, future challenges are discussed in the first being developed at school, in NGOs, society. It is part of this paper. important to be organized, have communication In the second part, the impact of local government leaders on democracy strengthening at local level are skills, be able to generate and disseminate ideas. analysed. The actuality of this paper is the leadership process, This research shows that the activity of local how leaders develop their skills in order to be government leaders has a huge impact on democratization prepared to deal with obstacles, how they integrate processes in Latvia therefore motivation for further their talents when determining actions, as that is development, lifelong learning and competence an important aspect of leadership at all levels. The development play a very important role. scientific concern of the research is that public, Keywords: leader, political leadership, democracy. despite hard work of local self-government leaders and frequent communication, does not trust local Introduction self-governments (Market, public opinion and media On 4 May 19901, Latvia was declared an research agency TNS, 2015). The research sample is independent democratic republic and began changing two local self-government leaders. 1 The Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Re- The tasks are: public of Latvia was adopted on 4 May 1990 by the Supreme • to describe leaders and leadership, what a leader Soviet of the Latvian SSR. On 21 August 1991, the Supreme is, what leaders do; Council of the Republic of Latvia enacted the Constitutional • to identify what challenges political leaders will Law on the Statehood of the Republic of Latvia marking the end of transition to the de facto independence of Latvia (Pleps, face in the future; 2008). 2 http://www.saeima.lv Copyright © 2017 Šiauliai University Press 5 • to evaluate local self-government leaders in propositions, it greatly improves the theory of the practise; democratic process. • to enhance the impact of self-government The democratic principles that justify local leaders on democracy development and decision government do not differ from those pertaining to making. the national level (Mill, 1861, ch. xv) although local The methodology applied is the analysis government has a greater capacity to educate people of theoretical literature on leadership theories about representative government. The implication and leader development, the analysis of the semi- is that everyone by definition is competent, no structured interviews using open questions with particular skill, expertise or education is required in local leaders to find out the impact of leadership on order to participate (Offerdal, 1989). Although there democracy strengthening at local level in Latvia. is no such profession as a leader but already at the The qualitative analysis of the interview data with time of ancient philosopher Socrates (470/469-399 local self-government leaders is the primary data for BC) it was deliberated that politics is self-interested the research. These methods allow to gain scientific rule by the powerful. According to classical Greek knowledge of leadership and its process in local philosopher Plato (428/427-348/347 BC) politics self-government. The level of this investigation is to and statesmanship are not only the exercise of understand the impact of local leaders on democracy power for power’s sake but also common good for development and decision making. the citizens (Plato, 1961, 513ᵉ). Plato described an This topic has been investigated by the art of political leadership: statesmanship or ruling, Expert Group of State President for Governance that emphasizes natural talent, rigorous training, the Improvement in 2013, when H.E. Andris Bērziņš held possession of arcane expertise and responsibility for the office of the President of the Republic of Latvia. providing directive guidance to human communities. Experts (Bāra, Kalniņš, Pleps, Vilka, 2013) point out The abuse of power is avoided not by external that local self-government is generally referred to constitutional restraints on the leader authority but as the cradle of democracy and a particular mirror by internal restraints of character, education and a of democracy because the more local governments profound sense of duty. According to German social develop, the greater democracy is in the country. The scientist Max Weber (1864-1920), three types of Council of Europe evaluates local democracy and political leadership have been distinguished: prepares proposals in order to improve the situation • charismatic domination, which is usually a in accordance with the European Charter of Local transitory stage. Charismatic leaders emerge in Self-Government. The recommendations are mainly times of change and as long as they deliver they directed towards improving the legal system. remain leaders. If they stop delivering, charisma The novelty is to study how social network is taken away. It is difficult for charismatic leader Twitter followers’ posts impact the decision making to establish the ongoing system of charismatic of local self-government leaders. authority, as it is difficult to transfer all personal The paper concludes that the activity of charisma to somebody else; local self-government leaders and its impact on • traditional domination – leadership is legitimate, the democratization process are driven by high based on dominant power; motivation for further development, lifelong learning • legal domination – bureaucracy power over and competence accumulation and usage. people, based on rules. This leads to the current understanding that Leaders and leadership people in politics with managerial skills are meant to This part of the paper describes leaders and be leaders, as leaders have ethical and power profiles leadership, leader’s identity, duties and future that are necessary for a political leader. challenges. Leadership is a multifaceted term and there According to Joseph Schumpeter (2003), are different points of view on leadership. This people hold a definite and rational opinion about paper describes two theories of leadership, the trait every individual question and express their opinion theory and the path-goal theory, which leads to the about democracy by choosing those representatives analysis of formal local level leadership and such who support this opinion. Thus, the selection of leaders who are driven by responsibility, risk taking, representatives is a secondary purpose, a primary self-confidence and motivation of the subordinates one being democratic arrangements of vesting to accomplish designated goals. the political power in the electorate. Defense and The development of the leadership potential, explanation of this idea shows that as to both, in most cases, starts at school, in the family, within plausibility of assumptions and tenability of NGOs and society. Young leaders enhance their 6 skills and competences by participating in school language), listening skills (how to interpret verbal councils, at youth parliaments, by volunteering for and non-verbal messages), negotiation (how to different organisations. They become organized, arrive at a win-win situation), problem solving skills responsible and improve their communication skills. (how to define a problem and find a solution working Later, they get competence and after graduating the in a group), decision making skills (how to explore university and getting their first job they can create and analyze a situations before making a decision), leadership ideas which can be disseminated. Leaders assertiveness (how to express values, ideas and need to be prepared to face many challenges that