Barack Obamas conduct in office in the realm of domestic policymaking
Introduction
The personality taken for the study is Barack Obama, the President of United States. This paper focuses on the administrative and leadership style of Barack Obama in taking decisions related to domestic policy making. He is a well known personality, popular throughout the world. His legend is a momentous one in record, but in the middle of publicity and routine news bulletin phase, some imperative fundamental truth about the man are less recognized by the common people. What follows is a discussion about the leadership styles of President Barack Obama, which consists of soft power inspirational, hard power inspirational and smart power inspirational capabilities of his individuality and his style of functioning.
Effective leadership styles soft and hard power skills
Leadership is the process of influencing others by showing them the right way through which the predetermined goals can be achieved. This trait mainly comprises both soft and hard skills. In reality, each presidency has its own political dynamic, shaped by the size of the initial election victory, the contours of the economy, conditions of war or peace, public impressions, and legislative victories and defeats (From campaigning to governing Politics and policymaking in the new Obama administration, 2010, para.7). It is a matter of general knowledge that Obama took the oath of office on January 20 facing a most daunting set of immediate policy challenges (From campaigning to governing Politics and policymaking in the new Obama administration, 2010, para.3).
He has responded well to these changes and implemented appropriate policies which manifests his dynamic capability to lead the country in an effective way. When one examines its aftermath it becomes evident that the immediate changes in the policies have had only positive impacts on the country. Political resources cannot be seen just as a limited commodity created in the election and then swiftly exhausted in the conflict to endorse a guiding principle program. The leadership capability of the president can be explained in detail by taking all the inspirational aspects into account.
Soft power (inspirational)
Emotional IQ
Emotional IQ refers to the ability of a person to manage his own feelings in such a way that it can be expressed to others in an effective and appropriate manner. Barack Obama has a good amount of self control and remains calm during all the pessimistic confrontation and whenever mudslinging from any corner occurs. It seems that he always keeps a check on his emotions. Self-control and self-awareness, thats two out of three for Obama (Posten, 2009, para.17).
His high degree of patience shows that he has strong self control which serves as an important quality for a leader. His charisma and the message of hope he gives to the public has greatly influenced Americans and also helped in creating a sense of feeling in their mind that he will do great things for the country.
2. Communications
President Obama exerts a pull on followers by using his striking tone that plunge the citizens back as people of promise. His oratory skills are excellent and his speech usually has the power to mesmerize the audience and this imbibes trust and belief in them. He has an extra- ordinary style of leading people which makes the whole population feel at ease. His speech also encourages the public to dream again, encompass confidence, and feel and believe in themselves in a self assuring manner. He deploys his wordings and conveys his message in such a way that the audience instantaneously shifts from inactive listener, and remains proactive contributor who understand what he says. He inspires us to be fully persuaded that Kennedy Camelot can return and that Reagans shiny city on a hill is not so far off in the distance (Evans, 2010, para.2). These traits reflect Obamas capabilities to stand up to his responsibilities, and to continue the hopefulness that the nation possesses as a whole, as bestowed by his predecessors
Vision
The first and the foremost thing that President Obama considers is the protection of the Americans. He firmly believes that when a certain issue arises in any country, it must be considered as the problem of Americans because it may affect the US at a later stage. He also believes that America alone cannot eliminate the menace of terrorism, but there is no doubt that it is not possible to erase this threat without the involvement of America. He focuses strongly on building relationships and associations besides forging partnerships to tackle common challenges like these.
Hard power skills of Barrack Obama
Leadership and Power are interrelated. To be an effective leader, one needs power that he can use. He employs his commanding skills to inspire people to follow him for getting things done efficiently and effectively.
Organizational capacity
Barrack Obama uses his hard and transactional powers in combating terrorism and in assisting overseas aiding program. He has used hard power tools to run the country and institutes appropriate policies like in state department and foreign support budgets which are together known as 150 federal budget function These hard power instruments of 150 policy are defined here, somewhat subjectively, as those with direct and near-term security relevance such as security aid and the Office of Stabilization and Reconstruction at the State Department (OHanlon, 2009, p.129). He manages both administration within the country and also the international community with certain ease as can be seen in the instances of the handling of economic recession as well as handling war region issues like Afghanistan.
Barack Obama is a credible leader and he insists on strong policies in terms of both military as well as economic development. He is a believer of equality which is an essential quality of being a leader. He states that United States should build a community where, at the very least, everyone has the chance to work hard, get ahead, and reach their dreams (Dupuis Keith, 2008, p.106).
Obama is a much focused political leader, because of which he wants to secure wins right from the beginning of his presidential career through his direct and indirect leadership abilities. His direct leadership traits are evident from the choosing of staff for his team where he has considered only intelligent people for filling the official posts. He is a very good manager of the reward system and immediately recognizes the achievements of his employees, without any bias or prejudices. He always keeps himself updated on the information systems and stresses the use of new information systems which are innovative.
Machiavellian skills
Obama is a Machiavellian leader which means that he is a well groomed person who efficiently blends skill and power according to the specific needs to desire optimum results. He has excellent bullying, buying and bargaining skills which are evident in his approach to foreign policies in which he wants to secure all nuclear weapons from states that sponsor or harbor terrorism. He is an able leader in building and maintaining coalitions, which are of utmost benefit for the country. He is a strong leader in winning the coalitions beneficial to his state. He is a very good diplomat in buying process and a good negotiator in the bargaining or negotiation of deals. His international coalition skills are evident because he wanted to advocate a policy for North Korea when it wanted to handle nuclear weapons and was quite successful in the venture. His hard powers of Machiavellian skills are very helpful in formulating domestic policies where dominant authority is needed for taking administrative decisions. Obama uses his hard power skills in order to smoothly handle various responsibilities and govern the state administration efficiently.
According to Joseph Nye it is more important that a leader has the diplomacy to get things done through gentle persuasion rather than use of coercion or force. He believes that by using seductive methods it is possible to win over opponents and detractors rather than using aggressive and violent methods. But Nye also hastened to add that though soft power skills are better and more effective than hard power skills, it may not be applicable at all times and in dealing with all kinds of people. He also opines that with some dictators and autocrats likes Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Adolf Hitler, etc, soft power would not have worked and it becomes necessary to resort to tough bargaining and perhaps, Machiavellian methods. Moreover, in the present day context, there is need, in certain situations to show ones true powers in order to conquer challenging or threatening situations.
Perhaps one of the major victories that President Obama has been able to achieve is the closing down of the notorious Guatemala prison and the directives to FBI not to use torturous methods on prisoners. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which the President signed less than a month after taking office, was the boldest countercyclical fiscal action in American history. Together with Administrations Financial Stability Plan, its actions to aid distressed homeowners, and actions by the Federal Reserve and other regulators, the Recovery Act is generating one of the sharpest economic turnarounds since World War II (Romer, 2010, para.2). Besides the above, the effectiveness of Obamas leadership can be gleaned regard to the enforcement of the 787 Billion economic recovery plan, which sought to rejuvenate the staggering economy and bring it into the path of quick recovery and progress. The main aspects of this plan is to reduce the tax burden on the middle class people and seeking better relief for the unemployed, very much in line with the stated principles of Joseph Nye, in terms of soft power display. The break up of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 2009, ARRA as it is called, marks a significant departure from the conservative methods adopted by his predecessors, and perhaps augurs a more unconventional and path breaking kind of reforms package that is believed to stimulate the economy and bring it well within the path of progress. It is believed that ARRA laws would benefit the nation greatly and would also help to bring the economy back into the rails and to a large extent, and help in taking care of all the ills that plagued the economy. Besides these economic packages and other reform measures would show the American President in the true soft power light that Nye desires, in order to save and create jobs, get our economy moving again, and transform it for long-term growth and stability(Current legislation American recovery and reinvestment act, n.d., para.1).
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