Aspects of Leadership Styles: An Interaction of Context and Personalities

Abstract

According to an interactionist approach (Elgie 1995), political leadership derives from a process in which political leaders matter, inasmuch as they not only shape the course of the decision making process, but are, simultaneously, themselves shaped and constrained by a set of factors (Elgie 1995: 13). Therein, the interdependence between the structures and rules that influence leadership and the personality of leaders is highlighted. As Judd (2000: 959) argues, ‘urban leaders have the ability to make choices, but within the parameters imposed both by local political arrangements and by the external forces’. (1995: 23) defines political leadership as ‘the product of the interaction between leaders and the leadership environment with which they are faced’. Based on such an approach, this chapter aims to focus on certain aspects of urban leadership in European cities, referring both to the institutional settings within which urban leaders (mayors) operate and to the behaviour, personal traits and perceptions of the leaders. Of particular relevance in this analysis is the debate on the personalisation of politics (see Clay W. 2000, 172) as an effect of party crises and the growing influence of media in the building of influence.