Leadership and Uncertainty Management in Politics: Leaders, Followers and Constraints in Western Democracies (Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership)

Through a range of international case studies from the USA, UK, France, Germany and Italy, this text assesses the conditions necessary for effective leadership and emphasizes the part played by uncertainty and division amongst followers. Cover 1 Contents 6 List of Tables, Figures and Boxes 8 Acknowledgements 9 Notes on Contributors 10 1 Introduction 14 2 Is Senatorial Leadership even possible? The Deadlock of the American Upper Chamber 27 3 The Office Holder: John Boehner as Speaker of the US House of Representatives 45 4 Tony Blair’s Leadership Style in Foreign Policy: Hubris Without Constraints? 64 5 From Dewar to Salmond: The Scottish First Ministers and the Establishment of their Leadership 78 6 Political Leadership and the Instrumentalization of the Media: General de Gaulle between Politics and the Military (1958–1962) 95 7 Silvio’s Party 106 8 Leader of my Heart! Use of Twitter by Leaders’ Partners during Election Campaigns 124 9 Leadership and the European Debate from Margaret Thatcher to John Major 140 10 The Temptation of Populism in David Cameron’s Leadership Style 154 11 Leadership Elections and Democracy in the British Labour Party 170 12 The (Seeming) Power of (Seemingly) Leaderless Organizations: The Tea Party Movement as a Case Study 192 13 Petra Kelly: Charismatic Leadership in the German Peace Movement and Early Green Party 214 14 Erika Steinbach: The Last Charismatic Representative of the Expellees? 230 15 Edward Heath: The Failed Leadership of an Uninspiring Leader 243 16 When the President is not really the Boss: The Mysterious Case of Ronald Reagan’s Presidential Leadership 262 17 Conclusion 280 Index 286 Through a range of international case studies from the USA, UK, France, Germany and Italy, this engaging new text examines political leadership and considers the rise in the Executive powers of Western democracies in the last few decades. Unlike earlier assessments of the subject, which have emphasized the importance of a unified force of followers rallying behind a public figure, this volume argues that leadership can also be understood as a risk-taking venture which takes advantage of uncertainty among voters. Assessing the conditions necessary for effective leadership, it emphasizes the part played by indecision and division amongst followers and shows that political leadership can be a cause in itself, which cannot be reduced to a mere consequence of a chain of previous events