Government is basically a leadership phenomenon. It consists of the rulers the leaders. Like every other machinery, governmental machinery needs a man at the steering wheel. Whatever may be said of the State in theory, in practice it means the government, which means a group of persons whose decisions are legally binding on the community. The government, as Laski says, “are the trustees and governors and it is their business to glean the needs of society and to translate those needs into terms of effective laws. The purpose of the State finds its personification in them.” But government is a complex machinery, consisting of three distinct parts, viz., the legislature, the executive and the administrative departments. Each part needs different “types of leaders, for each has its own peculiar nature, purpose and functions.
The selection of political leaders is effected differently in different States. In parliamentary democracy, it is made through popular election as well as the work in the legislature. The first test of a political leader is the election. But the real test is his skill and superiority as revealed in facing the questions and criticism in the parliament, where he faces a watchful opposition. In popular elections, a mere “showman” or an “orator” might succeed.
But when he stands to address the parliament, he may soon be deflated, for it tests not only his skill in public speaking but also his ability in handling technical, personal and political issues under the gaze of an opposition which will exploit any sign of weakness or failure. Those who survive this test become the real political leaders of the government. For this selective reason, the cabinet system with parliamentary responsibility of the ministers and two-party system is found to be the best means of choosing government leaders. The American system is defective.
The President and other political leaders in the U.S.A. are selected, not because they had a long training in leadership in the legislature but because they prove to be the best vote-catchers in the general elections, or have been first-rate leaders in some walk of life other than political.
Administrators
Finally we come to the bed-rock of government, the administrators, who run the administrative departments. While the governmental leaders need initiative, imagination, vision and a spirit of innovation, the administrative officers need qualities of routine, specialisation and integration. They are expert in their own fields. They must be men of insight and intelligence. Good administrators are men of wide social understanding, and intellectual vigour. They are capable of finding the best method to transform legislative policy into administrative practice.