Enter the Transformational Leader

It is widely acknowledged that network governance is an increasingly significant feature of modern states.This article focuses on the cultural processes of attachment and identification that are formed in the spaces opened up in the ‘differentiated polity’ (Rhodes, 1997) of network governance. It explores the constitution of new subject positions – as ‘transformational leaders’ – for senior public service managers. The empirical data, drawn from interviews with senior public service managers in the UK, highlights tensions in the process of state modernization, and suggests ways in which ‘transformational’ identities might be influential in shaping the micro-politics of policy delivery.