جذابیت پایدار کاریزما: چگونه باراک اوباما انتخابات تاریخی ریاست جمهوری 2008 را به دست آورد

We apply charismatic leadership theory to the historic 2008 United States presidential election, in hopes of inspiring dialogue around how leadership theory can inform the critical process of evaluating and electing public leaders. While numerous leadership theories are relevant to understanding the 2008 election, charismatic leadership theory highlights aspects of the leader, followers, and the unfolding economic crisis that are particularly relevant in helping us to understand how a relatively inexperienced political outsider ascended to the US Presidency. Given the potential perils and challenges newly elected President Barack Obama faces in the months and years ahead, we also suggest four core strategies rooted in charismatic leadership theory that may help him capitalize on his early charismatic appeal, as well as avoid the pitfalls of charisma that have plagued some of his predecessors.

The recent 2008 United States presidential election has been labeled ‘historic,’ ‘momentous,’ ‘exciting,’ ‘incredible,’ and even ‘shocking.’ The somewhat overwhelming cacophony of media pundits, journalists, political commentators, and senior campaign staffers has provided over two years of commentary about the election, the candidates, and the leadership potential, experience, and background of the primary contenders. Noticeably absent from this dialogue, however, have been the voices of leadership scholars and researchers who develop, discuss, and test theories to describe and understand leadership. In addition, much of the commentary surrounding the presidential candidates remains primarily focused on the personal characteristics of the leaders themselves (e.g., Gibbs, 2008), with less attention paid to aspects of followers and the contextual backdrop of the election in understanding perceptions of leadership. The purpose of this essay is to explore the application of charismatic leadership theory to the 2008 presidential election, in hopes of inspiring future dialog about how leadership theory can inform the critical process of how we evaluate and ultimately elect public leaders.