Abstract
In the context of the Covid-19 meta-crisis, leadership styles have emerged as a key factor for determining a country’s ability to contain the contagion and recover. In what follows, we want to explore the features of such leadership styles by taking a gender perspective. This article argues that women leaders have successfully governed the crises originated by the pandemic not only because of their inherent ability to build relationships, enhance community bonds, and “tune” with the anxieties of citizens; the women leaders’ approach to science has proven to be decisive as well. Contrarily to common-sense expectations, when compared with men leaders, women have demonstrated to be more responsive and attentive to scientific advice, and to use their understanding of science as a factor of legitimacy. Our data are based on a wider research project granted by the Italian Ministry of Research and coordinated by prof. Saccà. We have analyzed the discourses of two case studies, Donald Trump and Jacinda Ardern, as they identify ideal-typical features of two opposing leadership styles as far as science is concerned. The analysis of rhetorical formulas and frames highlight the differences in their discourses and approaches and proves how the women leaders’ ability of listening to experts’ advice and the needs of specific sectors of the population has been decisive for the success of the measures of containment of the virus.
Highlights
As some have already pointed out, the pandemic can be read as a meta-crisis, i.e. a crisis that comprehends many other sub-crises, such as the crisis of the Welfare State, the crisis of economy, and most of all the crisis of political legitimacy and decision-making when confronted with science
We move on a double track: from the one side, we aim at comparing how men and women leaders have communicated during the pandemic; from the other side, we investigate how their communication and performance of power has contributed to diverging representations of science and politics
The analysis of Donald Trump’ and Jacinda Ardern’s discourses on the pandemic crisis underlines how much they differ from each other; in this sense, they represent the purest form of their respective ideal-types of leadership
Summary
WOMEN POLITICAL LEADERS IN PANDEMIC TIMES: The essay is based on a Research Project of National Interest (PRIN2017) funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, carried out by Tuscia University’s research unit, coordinated by Prof. Flaminia Saccà, within a wider national research network “The Transformations of Democracy: Actors, Strategies and Outcomes in Opposing Populism in Political, Juridical and Social Arenas”, coordinated by prof.
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