Trends in Political Science Research: Charismatic Leadership

The scholarship on charismatic leadership is interdisciplinary and rapidly evolving. This recent growth is accentuated in liberal democracies where populist parties have been enjoying increasing electoral success. We start this overview with basic definitions of charismatic leadership, then identify three main trends in the current scholarship. Following this, we highlight potential future research avenues and focuses that we believe still lack systematic investigation. The findings collectively highlight the complex nature of charismatic leadership across different political contexts, its mechanisms of influence, succession challenges, and institutional implications. The research demonstrates both the powerful appeal of charismatic leadership and its potential risks to democratic governance. Altogether, this overview is timely given worldwide political developments, and can serve not only as a summary and assessment of current scholarship, but also as a starting point for an extended exploration of additional aspects of charismatic leadership that can combine and cut across disciplinary boundaries.