| A cursory review of political news on traditional or social media platforms highlights the lack of statesmanship behavior among political leaders, who instead opt to participate in and contribute to a divisive, coarse political environment. This begs the question: where have all the statesmen gone? Whether scrolling through a Twitter feed or watching the evening news, it is evident that political leaders engage in personal and political attacks that are not representative of the morally excellent leadership required of statesmanship. Surely, many political leaders exhibit statesmanship behavior, which is often highlighted while serving in public office (i.e. president, mayor, judge, etc.), and the history books are ripe with accounts of public servants who have used their platforms in statesman-like ways. Further, it would be naive to claim that divisive politics is a new phenomenon. Political discord, steeped in deep political division, are a hallmark of human history that spans across generations and cultures. However, the current political environment has led to greater emphasis on statesmanship, or, stated more accurately, a greater emphasis on the lack of statesmanship. Given this backdrop, this study is designed to 1) define statesmanship through theoretical conceptions, 2) identify statesmanship variables based on historical, leadership frameworks, and 3) create model of statesmanship based on empirical examination of these conceptions and variables.;This study defines statesmanship as morally excellent leadership at the polity level, identifies 16 statesmanship variables arranged by the traits, values, situations and behaviors leadership frameworks, and articulates the conceptions of pre-modern, modern and "new" statesmanship. The study includes a survey of state legislators, who agreed with the foundational statesmanship definition and variables, showed the requirement of moral excellence, and resonance with "new" statesmanship. These findings informed a robust model of statesmanship that considers the inputs and outputs of statesmanship. |
