Chapter 16: A Mayor’s Tool Box: Berne’s Ego System, Karpman’s Drama Triangle, and Assertiveness Training

Having served in local elective office for 16 years (four years as a county legislator, four years as a City Council member, and eight years as mayor), I deeply understand and appreciate the value of a “tool box.” Multiple psychological concepts have been significant training approaches for me in my activities as professional teacher/trainer and academician and have also been personal mainstays in my political career. And these concepts can serve as proven pathways for any woman in the political arena. Two of the concepts come from transactional analysis theory and practice: Eric Berne’s seminal personality construct, the ego system, and Stephen Karpman’s drama triangle. The third is assertiveness training, the communication skill-building system.