Leadership And Deliberative Democracy In The Changing World: Competing Or Reconcilable Paradigms?

The paper explores the changing role of leadership in a modern organisational context. The objective is to pay attention to the relationship between traditions and dynamically changed realities in contemporary management. The relatively new phenomenon - deliberative democracy practices - and their use in modern governance are under scrutiny. The central thesis of this paper is that efficient leadership and deliberative democracy are not competing, but reconcilable paradigms and could exist in a good symbiosis. Classical research methods, such as comparative analysis of theories and practices, are used in the elaboration of the paper. The systematic approach to seek a holistic vision for the improvement of leadership in a democracy is also used. A small-scale qualitative survey among the random population about the role of leadership, public deliberation and their interaction in a time of intensive social processes adds extra value to the research. The biggest challenge faced by the theory and practice is identified - to instrumentalise the leadership and deliberative practices efficiently so that the decisions taken to be considered rational, legitimate, and protecting fundamental human and other rights of all affected who will feel respected and committed to their implementation.