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Democracy, development, and career trajectories of former political leaders

Baturo, Alexander ORCID: 0000-0002-1108-5287 (2016) Democracy, development, and career trajectories of former political leaders. Comparative Political Studies, 50 (8). pp. 1023-1054. ISSN 1552-3829

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Abstract

One of the obstacles to democratic development is the reluctance of political leaders to leave office. This paper argues that alongside democratic constraints and accountability, leaders’ career concerns — specifically, the possibility of post-tenure careers — is an important factor behind their rotation in office. While literature exists about leaders’ exit and fate, we lack a systematic understanding of their careers and whether former rulers retire, remain in politics, pursue civil service, business, international, or non-profit careers after leaving office. Drawing on the new data on the prior and post-tenure occupations of leaders from 1960–2010, the paper explains how democracy, personal background and the economy influence what ex-leaders can do, and why. In turn, over time the post-tenure careers of prior rulers may strengthen the precedent behind the institutional routinization of the rotation in office norm — an important component of democratic consolidation.

Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Leadership; Comparative democratization; Career concerns; Rotation in office; Data on leaders
Subjects:Social Sciences > Political science
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > School of Law and Government
Publisher:SAGE Publications
Official URL:http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1177/0010414016666835
Copyright Information:© The Author(s) 2016
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License
ID Code:21314
Deposited On:08 Dec 2016 09:55 by Fran Callaghan . Last Modified 20 Aug 2019 15:17

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