Models of Leadership and Power in Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom
James H. Read
Professor of Political Science
College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University
St. Joseph, MN 56374
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Delivered to the American Political Science Association
August 31-Sept. 3, 2006
Abstract
The paper draws on Nelson Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom to
understand Mandela’s perception of the racial power conflict in South Africa, and his
own role as a leader in attempting to resolve that conflict. Mandela consistently saw the
South African conflict in variable-sum rather than zero-sum terms: it was in all sides’
interest to avoid civil war, but without risk-taking acts of leadership civil war was the
likely outcome.
The paper draws parallels between Mandela’s leadership and the strategies for
resolving variable-sum (or mixed-motive) conflict set forth in Thomas C. Schelling’s The
Strategy of Conflict. Mandela understood and practiced several of Schelling’s strategic
moves, including rendering oneself powerless to make further concessions and realizing
when it is prudent not to push an opponent too far. But Mandela’s accomplishments as
political leader also highlight the limitations of Schelling’s analysis, which minimizes the
role of creative leadership in resolving conflict.
The paper then discusses Mandela’s own leadership metaphors (herdsman leading
a flock, chess player, gardener) and connects them to Mandela’s unique ability, over the
course of nearly four decades, to articulate for the widest possible audience the
principles, methods, ultimate goals, and even the strategies of the anti-apartheid
movement. Mandela’s frankness about his reasons for turning to violent resistance in the
early 1960s reflects paradoxically his own faith in the power of open dialogue about the
nation’s future.
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