Leadership dynamics and economic development : a comparative study of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Xi Jinping

Abstract

This research focuses on a comparative examination of the three Chinese leaders, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Xi Jinping, to understand the relationship between political leadership and economic development. These leaders are crucial in China because Mao Zedong is the republic's founding father, while Deng Xiaoping is the architect of China's economic reforms. Xi Jinping, however, is the current paramount leader who put his ideology into the constitution, concentrating power in his hands, and removed the presidential term limits. The study is a qualitative one, using primary and secondary sources to address the research objective and questions. The research provides brief biographies of the leaders to search for factors shaping their thoughts and characteristics. Subsequently, some of their respective economic policies are presented to observe the course of the economic development. The research compares the leaders, using Transformational Leadership Theory (TL T) as a base for comparison. The study found that all three leaders are transformational; however, there are slight differences among them based on the constituents of the theory. Finally, the study encourages further studies to approach each president's periods separately to reveal the details that would help better understand their leadership styles.