Political motives and leadership qualities of local political elites

Abstract

The elites in politics is one important topic in the field of Political Science. It has been a consistent subject of studies by writers and scholars because of these elites'" great part in the fife and history of every society. In the Philippines, there are political elites who did excellent job as leaders. There are also political elites who abused their powers in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government. Leaders' motives and their qualities became a recent issue in the country. It is ironical that top officials from the elites and who are considered as the best and finest are the ones- facing different cases and criminal charges. It is the researcher's aim that while in the process of this study, it will be a time for evaluation and learning for the politic(ii elites, their subordinates and constituents. This will also make the electorate get to know whom they have voted or will vote in the coming elections. The result of this study will also help aspiring leaders in preparing them to possess necessary qualities would be beneficial in the pursuit of good governance. This research focused on determining the motives and leadership qualities of the local political elites of Salcedo, Ilocos Sur. Specifically, it sought answers to the following questions: 1. What are the motives of each municipal official in entering politics? 2. How are the local political elites described as to their leadership qualities in relation to the transformational and transactional leadership model? 3. How do the following variables relate to the development and practice of transactional and transformational leadership? a. Socio-economic status i. Educational attainment ii. Income/wealth b. Length of service "The researcher made use of the descriptive method and the case study approach for this research:. The researcher conducted a semi-structured interview with the key informants and also looked at documents including officials' profile with their economic record and minutes of meetings The multi-factor leadership questionnaire was administered to the respondents and the researcher got the average score of each political elites in the transformational and transactional leadership qualities. The following are the major findings of the study: 1. The Municipal Mayor, Vice - Mayor and seven (7) Sanguniang Bayan members are economically stable and one(l) Sanguniang Bayan member declared that he is not economically stable. 2. The political elites of Salcedo got a higher average score in transformational leadership qualities than transactional leadership qualities. Two of the political elites got a relatively low score in transformational leadership qualities than the other political elites. 3. The Municipal Mayor, Vice Mayor and six (6) Sanguniang Bayan members are college graduates, two of them with post-graduate units and college undergraduate and the other two (2) Sanguniang Bayan members did not reach college. The Sanguniang Bayan members who did not reach college got a relatively low score in the transformational leadership qualities. Nine (9) of the political elites are socio-economically stable and only (1) is not economically _table, The. Municipal Mayor and the eight (8) Sanguniang Bayan members had been in the local politics of Salcedo for more than five years while it is the second year of the Municipal Vice Mayor. In light of the findings of the study, the following are the conclusions: 1. The Municipal Mayor of Salcedo Ilocos Sur, Vice Mayor and seven (7) Sanguniang Sayan Members have a "live for" motive in politics and only one political elite has a "live off" motive in politics. 2. All of the local political elites of Salcedo, Ilocos Sur have transformational leadership qualities than transactional leadership qualities. 3. Educational attainment of the local political elites of Salcedo is significant in developing transformational leadership qualities while wealth and income and length of service are not factors in developing neither transformational nor transactional leadership qualities. In relation with the findings and conclusions of this research, the following are recommended: 1. Since nine (9) of the ten (10) political elites of Salcedo, Ilocos Sur are already considered to have "live for" motive in politics and only one (1) has "live off" motive, the leadership could take an action to help their colleagues to find ways to have source of income other that what politics can give him. 2. Since all of the local political elites of Salcedo ranks higher in the transformational leadership qualities than transactional, these local government officials should sponsor a seminar on transformational and transactional leadership that for all municipal employees and to all barangay workers so that they could equally possess this quality as they serve. 3. Since higher education can be a factor to develop transformational leadership qualities, local government officials are encouraged to get short courses on leadership or public administration. 4. Further research can be done on different political elites of the municipalities of Ilocos Sur, and all leaders around the country. 5. A study focusing on the relationship of educational attainment and length of service in the development of transformational and transactional leadership qualities can be done. 6. A contextualized material on transformational and transactional leadership qualities can be developed primarily for the political elites in the Philippines.