Abstract
Theories of political leadership and theories of institutional change are not always complementary. Because there are typically so many varying contextual factors relative to the number of leaders, it is difficult analytically to separate the efforts of particular leaders from the broad array of political forces that influence them. Therefore, generalisation about the strategies of transformational leaders is hazardous. Certainly, institutional change is not always a product of leaders’ entrepreneurship. Often it results from deliberation and bargaining among rival political actors. Still, the important role played by leaders in forging new institutions has prompted a number of efforts to analyse the role of leaders as institution-creators. Recent rational-choice institutionalist and historical-institutionalist theories of leaders have given us new methods for distinguishing the efforts of leaders from the contextual conditions in which they operate.1 Some studies assess the behaviour of leaders as ‘agents’ of ‘principals’, where the principals may be understood as voters in a democracy or specific elite ‘selectorates’.2 Others treat leaders as ‘agenda-setters’ and ‘entrepreneurs’.
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Notes
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© 2010 Thomas F. Remington
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Remington, T.F. (2010). Presidents and Parties: Leadership and Institution-Building in Post-Communist Russia. In: Newton, J., Tompson, W. (eds) Institutions, Ideas and Leadership in Russian Politics. St Antony’s Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230282940_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230282940_2
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