• Tuesday 11 March 2014, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  
  An introduction. Political leadership  what it is, what does it do and what do we need it for?
  
  
• Wednesday 12 March, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  
  Elected and ejected  How is political power achieved, obtained and lost? A comparison of party leader selection and ejection in Finland and Britain from the 1960s until the present.
  
  
• Tuesday 18 March, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  
  Pathways to power: Female politicians  breaking the glass ceiling. What were the societal discussions and historical processes that preceded womens breakthrough to presidency and party leadership in Finland and other Nordic countries?
  
  
• Wednesday 19 March, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  
  Personalisation of political power  Political leadership in the media democracies. Success stories and failures in political campaigning and media strategies from the late 1950s until the present in the U.S. and Finland.
  
  
• Wednesday 26 March, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  
  Students present an abstract and the first notions for their essays and get advice and constructive comments from the lecturer and fellow students to improve their ideas and complete their work. A closing discussion and feedback on the course will be given. 

The course introduces students to the phenomenon of political leadership from a variety of perspectives. Students are encouraged to analyse political leadership as a process taking place in a particular historical and societal context and being always defined by the political system in which it appears. After completing the course, students will have tools to both understand and scrutinise the process phases including pursuing, achieving, using and losing political power.   In addition to lectures, students share their ideas and experiences with their fellow students in workshops. To provide a wide scale of examples and viewpoints for the discussions, the course warmly welcomes students from different cultural and academic backgrounds including (but not limited to) political science, history, gender studies, journalism and media studies.  

Email registration to mari.k.niemi@uta.fi by March 3 essential

Students are expected to attend the lectures and participate actively and constructively in workshop discussions, read in advance the additional literature provided by the lecturer, write an essay (10-12 pages, in English) and present a summary of the essay to fellow students.