Explaining the Impact of Jacques Delors: Conceptualizing and Assessing the Commission Presidency Roger M. Scully Department of Political Science, The Ohio State University, Derby Hall, 154 North Oval Mall, Columbus, Ohio 43210, U.S.A. (Tel: 1-614-292-2881) (E-Mail: rscully@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) Paper presented at the European Community Studies Association Conference, Charleston, South Carolina, May 11-14 1995. Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank Anthony Mughan, Margaret Hermann, Kent Kille and Christina M. Grabarkiewicz for their helpful comments on drafts of this paper. Abstract This paper analyzes the Presidency of the European Commission as a political leadership position. It does so on three levels. First, it considers the relational nature of leadership, arguing that every leadership position is shaped by its 'relationship network' - the relationships of the leader with his constituents, co-actors, and subordinates. Second, it develops a typology of leadership styles, that Commission Presidents might exercise within the limits of the Commission Presidency's highly constraining relationship network. The three main types (neo-functionalist, federalist and intergovernmentalist) integrate integration theory literature with existing knowledge of the activities of Commission Presidents. Third, these ideas, and a personality-assessment-at-a-distance technique, are employed in a case-study of Jacques Delors. The study shows that Delors' leadership cannot be understood in simple Euro-federalist terms. It also shows the ability of the concepts and methods used to advance comparative study of the Commission Presidency. Introduction Political leadership is both a subject of widespread fascination and a poorly understood phenomonen. In this respect, studies of the European Union (EU) are no exception. With recent advances in European integration, greater attention has been given to the role of the President of the European Commission, and the potential importance of the Commission Presidency to the Union.1 Yet the leadership of Commission Presidents remains little understood, and rarely studied outside the specific context of the Presidency of Jacques Delors. The end of the Delors Presidency provides an appropriate moment to 'step back' and consider the leadership of Commission Presidents. This paper contributes to the study of the Commission Presidency by addressing the essential concepts which such study must be based upon. It does so in three sections. The first focuses on political leadership as a general phenomonen. I note that political leadership is inherently 'relational': that the notion of leadership cannot make sense outside of a relationship between 'leader' and 'led'. This is important not only for our basic understanding of leadership, but because it has implications for comparative assessment of leadership positions. 'Leader-led' interactions can be disaggregated into three distinct relationships, which together form a 'relationship network'. The particular status of the Commission Presidency's 'relationship network' is contrasted to those of other leadership positions, to help us understand the leadership potential, and the constraints, of the Commission Presidency. Next, I construct a typology of leadership styles that Commission Presidents might exercise within these general constraints. The three types developed (Neo-Functionalist, Federalist and