ABSTRACT
This chapter summaries the scope of political management, before presenting an overall model of the four Ds of political management: deliberating, designing, doing and dancing. Deliberating is about getting information and reflecting on it, designing is about planning what to do, doing is about implementing strategies and managing the people involved, and dancing involves using tactical, artful and adaptive power sources and leadership approaches that are not always formal or official. Illustrated by interviews with high level practitioners, including the chiefs of staff to the Australia and New Zealand prime ministers, this chapter conveys how political management isn’t just about exercising formal authority because it involves both the unseen and the obvious. It is much more of a dance than a march, and reflecting and adapting, being artful and tactful when utilising complex and archaic rules, building positive norms and cultures and finding lesser known sources of power to influence others. It is about working with people and resources, but also rules, processes, institutional arrangements and policies, informally as well as formally. The chapter also discusses a future research agenda for political management, before re-iterating why we need to research and teach political management.
