Monday, August 4, 2025

Review: Political Party & Government Leadership & Succession Globally by Mandla Skhosana


 

Genre: Non-Fiction/Politics

Description:

“Hillary Clinton-Donald Trump, Trump-Biden (Part 1&2), the demand by niinenteen Democrats Representatives and one Senator for Biden's withdrawal as Democrats' presumptive nominee for the November5, 2024 presidential election, Rishi Sunak- Keir Starmer, Jacob Zuma-Cyril Ramaphosa (Part 1&2), Bolsonaro-Lula Da Silva, Uhuru Kenyatta-William Rutto (Part 1&2), fragmenting, fracturing and splintering political parties and countries like Sudan and the DRC, which are in ICU, become comatose and live off oxygen and await medics' decision to turn off the machine (their demise), and the military leaving the barracks for political office all share one thing in common: politicians involved in a fight to death gladiatorial contest for conquest of power within political parties, the engine of democracy, and governments, the voice of the people in a representative government, a government of the people by the people, regardless of consequences..

The gladiators' fight to death in the arena downplays and disregards completely the truism that whenever two elephants fight the grass suffers. It begs these questions: Why so much bloodletting? Is there no middle ground (third way)?Is the tail wagging the dog?

Should ordinary members of political parties and citizens (Joe Soap and Jane Soap) not come first in leadership and succession contests because politicians, political parties and governments were made for the benefit of rank-and-file members and citizens, and not vice versa?

Leadership and succession processes mimic the multi-headed Hydra Hercules had to conquer. The elephant in the room merits re-examination and re-setting to put people first.”

Author:

Through years of experience in different work environments Mandla Skhosana has observed how leaders approach leading. He is married with six children and five grandchildren.

Appraisal:

In this first of a planned five-volume series the political landscape in multiple countries on at least four different continents is explored. Both how they function and malfunction, from the US, to UK, to a few countries on the African continent, as well as Brazil, the author looks at different methods and ways power gets passed from one leader to the next. It is, as the subtitle of the book, “Ascension-Exit-Ascension-Exit-Never-ending-Cycle,” indicates, the same kind of things over and over again. I found this to be an interesting read. While intended to be aimed for an average person, not an expert in politics and related subjects, I did find the language to feel more like a textbook at times than the books I normally read, but also interesting and something a person like myself, who is interested in politics around the world, would learn and get some new perspectives from reading. For those who want to dig deeper than this goes or question one of the facts provided, extensive footnotes are included to point the way for digging deeper and validating the facts presented.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 15-20,000 words

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