Do hard times heighten citizens’ demand for political leadership? We identify and examine three dimensions of leadership demand: affective identification, leader-oriented voting, normative support for strong leadership. Using original survey data from over 7,000 respondents in seven European democracies, we document that two-thirds want strong leadership, most in Bulgaria and the UK; affective attachment is highest in Poland, leader-oriented voting in Italy and France. The relationship with hard times is selective: we find no generalized rally-‘round-a-leader effect. The demand side of political personalizationrests not on economic grievances, democratic dissatisfaction, or existential anxiety, but on out-group threats and authoritarian predispositions.
The selective foundations of leadership demand in hard times
Fabio Bordignon;Giacomo Salvarani
In corso di stampa
Abstract
Do hard times heighten citizens’ demand for political leadership? We identify and examine three dimensions of leadership demand: affective identification, leader-oriented voting, normative support for strong leadership. Using original survey data from over 7,000 respondents in seven European democracies, we document that two-thirds want strong leadership, most in Bulgaria and the UK; affective attachment is highest in Poland, leader-oriented voting in Italy and France. The relationship with hard times is selective: we find no generalized rally-‘round-a-leader effect. The demand side of political personalizationrests not on economic grievances, democratic dissatisfaction, or existential anxiety, but on out-group threats and authoritarian predispositions.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
