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Frontmatter -- Contents -- 1 Introduction. Political leaders at times of the personalisation of the masses -- 2 Personal governments -- 3 Fragmented Electorates and Parliaments -- 4 The expansion of governmental decrees -- 5 Digital presidents: political engagement and decision -- 6 Heads of government from primacy to emergency -- 7 Combining demos and kratos: a mission impossible for the future of democracy? -- Appendix Monocratic Government Dataset: Personalisation of Leaders and Masses in Democracy -- Bibliography -- Index

This book studies party leaders from selection to post-presidency. Based on data covering a large set of Western countries, and focusing on the trends of personalisation of politics, the volume is one of the first empirical investigations into how party leaders are elected, how long they stay in office, and whether they enter and guide democratic governments. It also provides novel data on how leaders end their career in a broad and diverse range of business activities. Topics covered include political leaders' increasing autonomy, their reinforcement of popular legitimation, often through the introduction of direct election by party rank and file, and their grip on party organization. The book will appeal to students and scholars interested in political parties, political leadership, the transformation of democracy, and comparative politics

This book studies party leaders from selection to post-presidency. Based on data covering a large set of Western countries, and focusing on the trends of personalisation of politics, the volume is one of the first empirical investigations into how party leaders are elected, how long they stay in office, and whether they enter and guide democratic governments. It also provides novel data on how leaders end their career in a broad and diverse range of business activities. Topics covered include political leaders' increasing autonomy, their reinforcement of popular legitimation, often through the introduction of direct election by party rank and file, and their grip on party organization. The book will appeal to students and scholars interested in political parties, political leadership, the transformation of democracy, and comparative politics.

The preface aims at introducing some areas of comparison between Italy and Spain, by focusing on three thematic elements: the role of political parties in shaping the form of government; the legislative activity carried on by the executive as indicator and measure of political constitutional change; the fragmentation of traditional party system as a cause of government instability, and occasion for institutional innovation as well. The comparison leads to investigate the role of constitutional conventions in defining the form of government, so suggesting some methodological criteria for assessing their relevance. The final part, in line with the monographic issue, discusses the «open» future of democratic governments in Italy and Spain, suspended between constitutional rules and political dynamics. ; La prefazione introduce ad alcuni ambiti di comparazione tra Italia e Spagna, soffermandosi su tre nuclei tematici: il ruolo della variabile partitica nel plasmare la forma di governo; la normazione dell'esecutivo come spia e misura del cambiamento politico costituzionale; la frammentazione del sistema di partito tradizionale come causa della difficile stabilizzazione dell'indirizzo politico, e al contempo occasione di innovazione istituzionale. La comparazione porta a riflettere sul ruolo delle convenzioni costituzionali nel definire la forma di governo, suggerendone alcuni criteri metodologici per valutarne la rilevanza. La parte conclusiva si sofferma, in linea con le riflessioni del numero monografico, sulla sorte dei governi democratici in Italia e Spagna, sempre più «a fattispecie aperta» nella continua interazione tra assetto istituzionale e dinamiche politiche.

IntroduzioneParty leaders have become more powerful and autonomous actors in recent years by developing a direct and personal relationship with citizens. As anticipated in the United States (Lowi, 1985), the rise of the 'personal leader' seems to have occurred in many European democracies, both in old parties and in more recently formed parties, with a widespread tendency for them to be promoted and controlled by individual leaders. Nevertheless, party leadership remains quite a neglected theme in political science. Through a data set including ~500 party presidents in 13 democracies, this article focusses on the personalization of party leadership by comparing Italy with other Western countries. More particularly, new procedures for the selection of party chairs, the centralization of power in political parties, and the new role of party leaders in the legislative/governmental arena are analysed, given their importance to such a process. The article summarizes new data on the party leaders' characteristics, with regards to their political backgrounds, how they are elected, how long they stay in office, and whether they become prime minister or enter the executive. In this way, we are able to see how some new parties are created from the outset as highly personalized and centralized parties (Forza Italia being the paradigmatic case), whereas other older parties have also evolved in a personalized direction.

Deep changes regard the political careers of democratic leaders. Until recently, becoming president or prime minister was the last step before retirement or withdrawal to an undemanding seat on the back benches. On the contrary recent heads of government are enthusiastically seeking alternative ways to capitalize on their prestige and contacts portfolio, often ending up in the world of business or international finance. There are many examples of such a trend, from Blair to Mulroney, from Schroder to Barak. This article provides an empirical analysis of the phenomenon, by examining a dataset of 441 leaders in 78 different democratic countries over a period dating from 1989 to 2012. Attention will be focused on the political background of the prime ministers and presidents, how long they stay in power, the average age of heads of government, what professional pursuits they are involved in after their term in office and what career model they follow. The article concludes by proposing a post-presidential model which indicates some of the current trends and illustrates how former leaders are gaining decision-making power and visibility. Adapted from the source document.