“She climbed the mountain: elections; but climbing to the next one: the transition, will be more difficult,” Richard Neustadt.

On October 16, an intense and accelerated presidential transition period began; In just 39 days, the new government must be ready to rule. The new presidency has begun to take shape: choosing a cabinet, creating an administrative team, planning a legislative program, identifying multilateral financing, approaching potential foreign investors and international cooperation, defining the style and form of social dialogue with citizens and the media. The media, among other things, are progressing against time in construction presidential power that strives to be effective.

Daniel Noboa: his cabinet is key

Understanding how a presidential office is shaped leads us to an indispensable book in modern political science: Preparing for the Presidency, by Ricardo Neustadt. Through a selection of 19 memoranda, it precisely summarizes the challenges that a functional presidency needs to have in order to have the capacity to act and react; which is also defined by the personality and special needs of the president and the political moment of a country. Although these memoranda refer to presidential transitions in the United States of America, the experiences that the author saves are valid for democratic republics, with at least three constitutional powers, of which the executive governs the state, and where the biggest challenge is management.

Daniel Noboa has not yet revealed who will be at the forefront of the fight against insecurity

Let’s save three key memoranda for the present moment. Memorandum 5, on the relationship between the Presidency and the legislative power; where the president is more exposed to the risk of losing than winning; Neustadt suggests exploring the possibility of building a systematic interaction based on the power of persuasion; the effectiveness of the negotiations will reflect pragmatic, results-oriented political leadership. Memorandum 6, on the Security Council; Neustadt emphasizes the importance of taking control of the agenda, promoting diverse opinions, based on deep and informed debates, which draw practical conclusions for presidential decision-making, which will project informed, collaborative and active leadership. In Memorandum 11, about the first days of the new administration, the author rescues an anecdote in which Kennedy announced his intention to use his first ten days to study and assess operational problems in the field of national security, which compromised the presidential office to take concrete actions on the eleventh, thus reflecting decisive leadership. As the presidential office is shaped, so is the presidential leadership.

Organizing an extraordinary presidential mandate and forming an early government tests the democratic commitment and political capacity of the newly elected president and the team that follows him. The national reality will tell us whether the president will come prepared for the presidency or whether the next sixteen months will be a time of preparation for the presidency. (OR)