Public Images of Foreign and Domestic Political Leaders: Australian Evidence

In: International social science journal: ISSJ, Band 47, S. 601-614

Abstract

What citizens think about political leaders in their own nation & foreign leaders (Margaret Thatcher [GB], Ronald Reagan [US], Mikhail Gorbachev [Russia], & Deng Xiaoping [People's Republic of China]) & the effect these views have on how citizens vote are investigated with data from 1,528 respondents to the 1986/87 round of the Australian National Social Science Survey. It is found that Australian citizens view domestic leaders as figureheads for political parties & to a much lesser extent as national figureheads, exemplars of ideology, or exemplars of personal virtues. As exemplars, leaders have a modest but significant effect on how Australians vote. Foreign leaders are considered mainly figureheads & ideological exemplars for their nation, especially for nations similar to Australia, & generally are irrelevant to domestic voting, although there is a slight possibility that Thatcher's strong Conservative leadership in GB had an effect in Australia. 3 Tables, 3 Figures, 17 References. Adapted from the source document.