Profile of Political Leaders

By analysing a wide range ofempiricalresearch into leadership, this book provides a composite portrait of frequent characteristics, such as personality and demeanour, that influence both the success andpopularityof political leaders.Through the lenses of mass psychology and collective behaviour sociology, the author offers fascinating observations on political leadership which reveal a coherent pattern. In our choice of and support for leaders, we still seem to be guided by unconscious or instinctive preferences. Evolutionary psychologists have labelled this 'CALP' for 'Cognitive Ancestral Leadership Prototype'. Length, symmetry, face form, voice pitch, eye blinking and more turn out to play a role - even today - alongside personality and style. Each chapter of the book offers a case study to illustrate these observations, including BarackObama, Ronald Reagan, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Boris Johnson. This book is accessibly written to appeal to students of politics,psychologyand sociology, as well as the wider interested reader.