A Return to Civic and Political Engagement Prompted by Personalized Political Leadership?

Abstract

Keywords political leadership, personalization, political engagement, charismatic leadership, symbolic politics Average news consumers prefer to read about other people, not about abstract groups or remote bureaucracies and government agencies. To cater to these preferences, news stories, especially those that appear on television, are routinely framed from the point of view of central actors . News consumers see an individual in action and are given information about his or her feelings and reactions. Personal motives and mistakes are analyzed. Inevitably, stories about groups are transformed into stories about group leaders. (Davis, 1990, p. 169, emphasis added) From the standpoint of news consumers it has long been known that, as newsmakers, persons are preferred over institutions. The news media discovered this truth as soon as they were established and faced the need to attract readers. Accordingly, the media have long depicted reality and politics in “ personalized” terms. The process of mediatization of the political arena (Mazzoleni & Schulz, 1999) has increased dramatically the extent of personalization in all of the political domains, from government to party politics, to political communication, and to the motivations of the electorate. The success of personalization reflects not only the power of mass media to shape political cultures in different national and institutional contexts but also, and especially, the need of both the political institutions and the citizens to refer to a physical symbol of political power. This seems to be a pattern that dates back to ancient history. The Pharaohs, Alexander the Great, the Roman Emperors, the Popes, the Kings, Napoleon, Lenin, Hitler, all have represented the embodiment of their personal achievements and of the institutions they commanded. It is also true that ideologies are the engines of human history and of political action. They are powerful means of simplifying reality and sources of motivations that prompt people to take sides and participate in the struggle for power or simply to be concerned for and contribute to the welfare of their communities.