As editor of this issue of The Future of Professional Psychology, I am stepping directly on the third rail of political psychology. I am offering a variety of essays regarding political behavior. Some of them are relatively “neutral” observations about political behavior and decision making in the public arena. Several of the essays, however, come from a specific political perspective. In each case, rich insights are offered about our current societal crises. While most of the essays in this issue relate specifically to American (USA) society, two of the essays focused on the societies of Estonia and China. All of the essays offer analyses that are relevant to many other societies today (especially those that have been strongly influenced by American priorities, perspectives and culture).
The first essays I provide tend to be politically neutral—or at least offer multiple perspective on contemporary societal issues. The first essay is one prepared by my colleague, Kevin Weitz, and myself. Kevin comes with diverse perspectives, having grown up in South Africa, and having worked for many years as an organizational consultant to very large American and Canadian corporations. Our essay concerns the crisis of expertise in American society and is one unit of an ongoing study we are conducting on this crisis.
The second essay offers a cross-cultural perspective on political leadership. There have been Theory X and Theory Y models of American leadership, as well as Theory Z which brings together American and Japanese perspectives on leadership. I offer Theory A—which is my quite preliminary attempt to identify perspectives on leadership that come from African cultures.
I now turn to four essays that each provide an articulate, scholarly assessment of contemporary societal issues – and provide this assessment from a specific political perspective. The first of these essays has been written by John Krubski—a highly successful business consultant and media executive. He offers a conservative assessment and provides a critique of left-wing biases in the field of psychology.
