olivia severn presentation on muldoon
TRANSCRIPT
Muldoon’s Political Personality, the 1981 Springbok Tour and Erwin HargroveOLIVIA SEVERN
Presentation layout 1. Events of 1981
2. Context of tour 3. Sources 4. Hargrove’s analysis 5. Why study the tour?
What happened in 1981?
Also in 1981…
Thesis Politically motivatedSought re-election Gave decision to Rugby Union,
took anti-interventionist stanceDefended the rights of Kiwis
Gleneagles Agreement
Anti-tour
Pro-tour
Views of Muldoon Pro-tour “Ordinary Blokes” Cabinet members Rural areas - Protecting democratic rights in NZ
- Just want to watch the rugby
Anti-tour Colleagues Heads of governments Urban areas - Racist - Politically motivated - Power hungry
Sources - different views Information on the tour, the impact it had on NZ and the 1981 election. Primary and secondary sources consulted: documentaries, newspaper articles, protest pamphlets, books, journal articles
Biographies: Bob Jones, Hugh Templeton, Barry Gustafson, Gerald Hensley Protestors: Trevor Richards, Geoff Walker Autobiographies: Muldoon, Number 78Documentaries: 1981, The Tour: Ten Years On, 1981: A Country at War and
The Grim Face of Power Leadership analysis: Jon Johansson’s Two Titans: Muldoon, Lange and
Leadership and Erwin C. Hargrove’s The President as Leader: Appealing to the Better Angels of Our Nature
HargroveContemporary sources • James MacGregor • Burns• Richard Neustadt
Ancient sources • Niccolo Machiavelli• Aristotle
Hargrove and Muldoon?
- Written for presidents- Based on Roosevelt, Johnson and Regan’s presidencies - Identifies skills that differentiate successful
presidents from ineffective ones - Applicable to Muldoon’s leadership in 1981,
the skills he demonstrated helps explain his anti-interventionist stance – his concern for political power and democratic rights
Neustadt and Burns on Reputation Neustadt: the political actions a political leader makes in the present will affect the actions they make in the future Burns: “transactional” political leaders can learn from previous politicians and outperform them Muldoon: not following in Kirk’s footsteps
Outline of Leadership Skills Strategy and Skill 1. Bargaining 2. Rhetoric 3. Heresthetics - Character
Cultural Leadership
- Discernment
Teaching Reality
- Machiavelli v Aristotelian route
1. Strategy and Skill 1. Bargaining Purpose: bargain to win the support of the people. Combines with rhetoric. 2. Rhetoric Purpose: convince people to support you via verbal and written persuasion Example: appeal to Rugby Union, defence of democratic rights
1. Strategy and Skill cont. 3. Heresthetics Purpose: out-maneuver your rivals Example: Muldoon attacking anti-tour protestors verbally
“Technical fascists” “Extreme-left”
A “disruptive, anti-establishment, anti-government movement”
2. Cultural leadership Discernment: the ability to judge well
Discernment does not require the politician to read the future, which no one can do, but only to have a good sense of the possibilities in a given situation. (Hargrove, 41)
Seats Won
National Labour Social Credit
Counter-argument Bob Jones: Muldoon was not politically motivated. He did not predict that he would win the 1981 election with the support of the better half of New Zealand
47
43 2
3. Teaching Reality – describing one’s environment to his people
Aristotelian method Telling people an impartial, honest perspective of reality Pros: easier to tell truth than lie Cons: less popular method, less likely to win the support of the people
Machiavellian method “Demagoguery:” telling a version of reality that is tailored to the opinions of the large sector of society
Pro: more chance of success, people don’t want to hear the truth
Cons: may be seen as manipulator
What route did Muldoon take?
Muldoon’s Teaching of Reality DistractionDesensitised view of a costly tour and risk to protestors
"feeling about the whole thing is a relaxed one. No one, as far as I'm aware was killed nor seriously injured. Some property damage was done, there was some cost in police time.” - Muldoon
"Those who do not learn history are
doomed to repeat it."
- George Santayana