In lesson nine, we learned about high power distance and how it relates to Central America and Mexico. One statistic highlighted in the course material was that Mexico has a higher power distance than 68 percent of the world.
What does “high power distance” really mean, though? Put simply, Mexico’s government system revolves around the idea that a few high-power individuals make choices that affect the lives of its entire country. It’s high uncertainty avoidance level reflects the lack of democracy since the country tends to be more opposed to taking risks. An unequal distribution of power completely diminishes any possibility of organizational communication (or any communication for that matter) of taking place. Since effective communication involves two individuals who at least feel comfortable enough to share their values, desires, goals and ideas in the conversation, it’s obvious that Mexico revolves around a type of global leadership where communication between its authority figures and citizens is relatively unilateral. Consequently, Northouses’s definition in Lesson one of leadership being, “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (p. 6) is practically void when it comes to Mexico because of its high power distance.
While reading about Mexico and its strict expectations for citizens to follow the rules and laws set forth by authority figures, I began to remember reading about China this past year and how austere the government was to its citizens. For example, the Hong Kong protests which took place in 2019 demonstrated the public’s unified rebellion to high power individuals being in charge of their lives. The protests were triggered by a developing extradition bill that would allow for criminal suspects in Hong Kong to be taken to mainland China for persecution. This was frightening for much of Hong Kong, as they had been a british colony since 1997, and even though China has technically reclaimed the country they are under a “one country, two system arrangement” which enabled the citizens of Hong Kong to maintain its lower power distance (BBC). The proposed bill triggered a sense of foreboding throughout Hong Kong as the relinquishing of one power to China could mean a domino effect that may completely demolish any freedom or democracy the country has.
China is a country that has been known to establish harsh and borderline dictatorial rules for its citizens to follow. Not only that, the country’s systems for monitoring its people’s behavior is extremely invasive with harsh punishments for anything that its authority figures feel is wrong. For example, China’s “social credit system” is a way of keeping citizens in order because the government vows to use it in a way that punishes bad behavior, such as jaywalking and failure to pay court fees, and reward good conduct (Human Rights Watch). Not only that, the “Chinese government has deployed video cameras throughout the region, combined them with facial-recognition technology, deployed mobile-phone apps to input data from officials’ observations as well as electronic checkpoints, and processed the resulting information through big-data analysis” (Human Rights Watch). The extreme lengths that China goes through to monitor its citizen’s every move, along with the harsh punishments for anything that the government deems punishable is what gave Hong Kong the passion and anger that fueled them to fight the system. The reactions and fear of this government taking control of Hong Kong prove that effective global leadership can only be accomplished in a setting where the voices of others are listened to rather than silenced.
All in all, the high power distance in Mexico and the high power distance in China have notable distinctions, but are similar reflections of what lack of leadership and communication looks like when only a few authority figures are given jurisdiction on what millions of people can do with their lives. The lack of global leadership will only be amplified more and more through available resources like social media as citizens (like those in Hong Kong) demand a democracy and their voices to be heard.
Roth, Kenneth. “China’s Global Threat to Human Rights.” Human Rights Watch, World Report,www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/global#. Accessed 28 Mar. 2021.
Quotes from essay to use:
“The Hong Kong protests explained in 100 and 500 words.” British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, 28 Nov. 2019, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49317695. Accessed 29 Mar. 2021.
Pennsylvania State University. (2021). OLEAD 410: Modules. Retrieved fromhttps://psu.instructure.com/courses/2103357/modules
I enjoyed you blog post about Mexico. I, too, chose this country as well as all of Central America to focus on. I feel, in our current climate with the border control issues we are currently dealing with, it is important to understand this particular culture. You discussed briefly the strict expectations of the citizens by the government and how the majority of the communication is between high-powered leaders rather than the citizens. I found this an interesting topic because, the way I see things moving in the United States, I feel we are unfortunately headed in the same direction. The voice of the people is a powerful thing and should be heard, but when those in charge become deaf to the citizens they are supposed to serve, they are no longer doing their jobs.