Description
Book SynopsisIn today’s liberal democracies, does the political process focus on the people, or on the political leaders representing them? Building upon the ideas of Joseph Schumpeter and Max Weber, ‘Toward Leader Democracy’ argues that we are currently seeing a movement toward an increasingly pronounced focus on political leaders – ‘leader democracy’. This form of democracy is fashioned by the political will, determination and commitment of top politicians, and is exercised through elite persuasion that actively shapes the preferences of voters so as to give meaning to political processes. As the text reveals, this marks a definite evolution within the world’s ‘advanced democracies’: democratic representation is today realised increasingly through active political leadership, as opposed to the former practices of statistically ‘mirroring’ constituencies, or the deliberative self-adjustment of the executive to match citizen preferences.
Trade Review‘[The authors’] clear articulation of what leader democracy entails, and their success at finding the analytic foundations for the study of democratic leaders in the work of Weber and Schumpeter, mean that this book provides the essential theoretical basis for empirical studies.’ —Richard Lachmann, ‘Sociologia’
Table of ContentsList of Tables and Figures; Preface; 1. The New ‘New Politics’; 2. Theoretical Anticipations; 3. The Leader-centric Trends; 4. ‘Leader Democracy’ and Its Rivals; 5. The Future of (Leader) Democracy; 6. The Democratic Cycles; References; Index
