Known more as a shrewd political manager rather than as an innovative policy-maker, Ms Gillard is herself a product of this polls-centric polity.

BBC: Julia Gillard: Still finding her feet

Appointed a life peer in the House of Lords, she held junior ministerial posts before becoming leader of the upper house of Parliament, a big job with cabinet status, where she earned a reputation as a shrewd political manager.

ECONOMIST: The EU presidency

Abraham Lincoln, he shows, was a shrewd, almost devious manager of human talent who was able to deploy his generals in ways that played to their strengths and neutralised their weaknesses.

ECONOMIST: Civilian leadership in war