Political Leadership

Leadership is a standing topic in political philosophy and the social sciences. Despite the recognized and continuous relevance of political leadership in any political system, an exhaustive and conclusive concept, theory, or even definition is still missing. Probably most advanced is research on leadership in organizations. But, as Yukl has pointed out, even in this research field no consensus has been reached on how to explain and study leadership. Despite those conceptual and definitional problems, political philosophy and theory have been concerned with political leadership from the very beginning. Plato's idea of “philosopher kings,” Machiavelli's principe, and Max Weber's concept of traditional, rationallegal, and charismatic leadership show ample evidence of the relevance of the leadership concept through centuries. These thoughts still inspire research on political ...