Populist Leadership: The Superhero Donald Trump as Savior in Times of Crisis

Abstract

The current debate on populism is mainly concerned with populist parties and movements. Less is written about populist leadership. Yet, political scientists need to pay more attention to populist leadership, especially in order to understand how populism functions in the absence of a populist party. In situations in which a political leader adopts a populist way of exercising political power without the backing of what is considered a populist party, populism is often reduced to a particular style of acting and speaking of that particular politician. By formulating a theory-based concept of political leadership based on the literature of celebrity politicians—the superhero—I show that populist leadership is not limited to a particular style, but also allows to explain particular policy choices. The concept of the superhero goes beyond that of charismatic leadership, because it explains how the leader’s exceptionality is performed and how this performance can be analyzed.