An Exploratory Investigation of Stakeholders' Perceptions of Political Leaders' Behavior and Outcomes
Ed.D. dissertation completed in 2011 for Olivet Nazarene University.
Abstract
This was an exploratory and descriptive study on stakeholders’ perceptions of political leaders’ behavior and outcomes. A purposeful sample comprised of 471 respondents whom were highly engaged in the political process was conducted on five distinct stakeholder groups, consisting of government employees, elected officials, union-building trades, business professionals, and college students. Two emergent results were identified: political party affiliation was a major indicator of stakeholder differences, and the inversion of agency theory. Contributing factors of the inversion of agency theory whereby a political agent begins to acts as a principle have led the researcher to develop the Corrupt-Unethical Behavior (CUB) model. Future research would focus more on the salient differences between political party affiliations rather than differences between stakeholder groups.