Toward Leader Democracy

In 'Toward Leader Democracy', Jan Pakulski and Andr s K r s nyi argue that within today's liberal democracies there is a trend toward an increasingly pronounced focus on political leaders, a phenomenon described as 'leader democracy'. This trend is reinforced by the prominence of electronic media, the decline of major parties, the centrality of electoral competitions, and the frequently aggressive actions taken by our political elites. 'Leader democracy', as defined by Max Weber and Joseph Schumpeter, fulfils the key normative criteria and expectations of democratic rule. As the text reveals, its proliferation marks a definite evolution within the world's 'advanced democracies': democratic representation is today realized through active political leadership rather than direct representation, and is fuelled by mass persuasion exercises, such as mass-mediated elections, which render the electorate complicit in this process.