Reference no: EM132223104

Read the case study below and answer the following: Does being a libertine automatically disqualify someone from becoming a good leader? How much should citizens be concerned with the private lives of their political leaders? What can followers do to prevent their leaders from feeling entitled? CASE STUDY: In France, multiple marriages, multiple affairs, and serial seduction don’t usually mean the end of a political or business career. The French are less concerned about the personal lives of powerful people than are citizens in the United States. Particularly in the case of male public figures, affairs and seduction are often seen as signs of strength and virility and thus are admired rather than condemned. This laissez-faire attitude toward the private sex lives of the political elite may be changing thanks to the excesses of Dominique Strauss-Kahn (known as DSK). A French economist, DSK was head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and is credited with playing a major role in rescuing the world economy during the Global Recession. At one point, he was favored to become France’s next president. But he lost his job and his chance of winning the French presidency when he was charged with sexually assaulting a New York hotel maid in 2011. He was cleared of criminal charges in the New York rape case but reached a financial settlement with the victim. Later, he admitted to participating in a series of upscale sex parties in Paris, Washington, and Lille, France, costing around $ 13,000 each. These events began with formal dinners and ended in orgies. Strauss-Kahn reportedly wanted to have sex with three or four women at each of these parties. To meet his needs and those of other clients, event organizers sometimes hired prostitutes when they couldn’t recruit enough other female participants. While prostitution is not a crime in France, employing prostitutes is. DSK was charged with being part of a prostitution ring. DSK was acquitted after a lengthy trial that subjected French citizens to the lurid details of his sex life, including text messages in which he referred to women as “equipment” and testimony about his rough treatment of sex partners. Strauss-Kahn testified that he had nothing to do with arranging the parties, noting that he generally arrived late. The judge accepted DSK’s claim that most of the women were naked and he had no idea who was a prostitute and who was not. DSK describes himself as a modern-day libertine. Libertinism, which dates back to sixteenth-century Europe, is a philosophy based on the pursuit of “a life without moralistic limits.” Its best-known advocate was Giacomo Casanova, who believed that as long as he lived within the law, he should be able to do whatever he wanted. The former IMF chief operated according to the same philosophy, at least when it came to sex, referring to the orgies as “libertinage”— wide-open sexual encounters among willing partners. In a magazine interview, DSK admitted: “I long thought I could lead my life as I wanted. And that includes free behavior between consenting adults. I was too out of step with French society. I was wrong. 1.While Strauss-Kahn kept the dark side of his sexual proclivities secret, his sexual appetite was public knowledge. He was called the “Great Seducer,” the “hot rabbit,” and the “frisky Frenchman” before he took over the IMF. His third wife (who has since left him) even argued, “It’s important for a man in politics to be able to seduce.” 2 At the IMF, he admitted to having an affair with a subordinate. Entitlement, not lust, may be the best explanation of DSK’s libertine behavior. Members of France’s elite have long ignored the sexual restrictions put on the middle and lower classes. However, the link between power and sex isn’t limited to France. Powerful men and women are more likely than their less powerful counterparts to engage in sexual infidelity, no matter what their nationality. They are more confident and have access to more partners. At the same time, they are less bound by societal rules and have a greater tendency to fail to exercise self-restraint. Commenting on Strauss-Kahn, one political science professor noted: For powerful people, it’s part of the thrill that they can get things that other people can’t get. They are usually surrounded by sycophantic people, and after a while, they come to believe that they have a right to be surrounded by attractive men and women. There is a sense of entitlement that is a general attribute of power. 3 DSK paid a high price for his libertine lifestyle. He lost his job and his marriage and faced public humiliation as the sensational details of sexual behavior were revealed to the public. Yet there still may be hope for DSK’s political career. According to one poll, 79% of French adults surveyed said that he would make a better president than the current occupant of the office— Francois Hollande.