The political mind: leadership, power, charisma

Journal title PSICOLOGIA DI COMUNITA’
Author/s Bianca Gelli, Terri Mannarini
Publishing Year 2015 Issue 2014/2 Language Italian
Pages 12 P. 11-22 File size 64 KB
DOI 10.3280/PSC2014-002002
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The advances of neuroscience in the last thirty years suggest that in order to understand the human mind we need to take a view that integrates the "cogito" with the body, thus emphasising how sensitive the cerebral mechanisms are to emotions and feelings. It has emerged from recent biological studies that a large proportion of our thinking takes place outside of our consciousness or that our thinking is largely reflex, uncontrolled. This hypothesis brings to mind the characteristics of a New Enlightenment, founded not on the abandonment of reason, but on the understanding of the true/real/actual reason: a reason that incorporates emotion, structured by frame, metaphor, images and symbols. This also applies to ideas and behaviours in the moral and political sphere. It is to this unconscious part that political leaders appeal, to stir up emotive reactions in their electorate. This seems to alter the concept of leadership based on power and authority. In fact, as argued and shown in this paper, adopting one single style of command is no longer enough: the leadership of the future is fluid, assuming different characteristics at different times.

Keywords: Cognitive intelligence; emotional intelligence; leadership; power; charisma

  1. Albertazzi D. and McDonnell D. (2008). Twenty-first century populism. The spectre of western European democracy. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
  2. Barisione M. (2006). L’immagine del leader. Bologna: Il Mulino.
  3. Bauman Z. (2006). Liquid times: Living in an age of uncertainty. Cambridge: Polity Press (trad. it.: Modernità liquida. Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2006).
  4. Beck U. (2012). Deutsches Europa. Berlin: SuhrkampVerlag (trad. it.: Europa tedesca. Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2013).
  5. Bobbio N., Matteucci N. and Pasquino G. (2004). Dizionario di Politica. Torino: Utet.
  6. Cassano F. (2014). Senza il vento della storia. La sinistra nell’era del cambiamento.
  7. Roma-Bari: Laterza. Cavalli L. (1996). Leadership. In: Enciclopedia delle Scienze Sociali. Roma: Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana, vol. V., pp. 200-216.
  8. Damasio A. (1994). Descartes’ error: Emotion, reason, and the human brain. New York: Avon Books (trad. it.: L’errore di Cartesio. Milano: Adelphi, 1995).
  9. Fabbrini S. (2011). Addomesticare il Principe. Venezia: Marsilio.
  10. Genga N. e Marchianò F. (2013). “Leader populisti e nuovi media nelle democrazie contemporanee. Marine Le Pen: un Front National”. Firenze 12-14 settembre 2013 (Intervento al Convegno Annuale della Società Italiana di Scienza Politica).
  11. Goleman D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York: Bantam Books (trad. it.: Intelligenza emotiva. Milano: Rizzoli, 1997).
  12. Goleman D. (2006). Social Intelligence: The new science of social relationships. New York: Bantam Books (trad. it.: Intelligenza sociale. Milano: Rizzoli, 2006).
  13. Goleman D. (2011). Leadership: The power of emotional intelligence – Selected writings. Northampton: More Than Sound (trad. it.: Leadership emotiva. Milano: Rizzoli, 2012).
  14. Hall S. and Martin J. (1983). The politics ofThatcherism. London: Lawrence & Wishart.
  15. Lakoff G. (2008). The political mind. New York: Penguin (trad. it.: Pensiero politico e scienza della mente. Milano: Bruno Mondadori, 2009).
  16. McAllister L. (2007). The personalization ofpolitics. In: Dalton R. and Kligemann H., The Oxford handbookof political behavior. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 571-588.
  17. Mény Y. et Surel Y. (2000). Par le peuple, pour le peuple. Le populisme et les démocraties. Paris: Fayard (trad. it.: Populismo e democrazia. Bologna: il Mulino, 2002).
  18. Nye J.S. Jr. (2008). The power to lead. New York: Oxford University Press (trad. it.: Leadership e potere. Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2010).
  19. Nussbaum M. (2013). Political emotions: Why love matters for justice. Cambridge:
  20. Belknap Press (trad. it.: Emozioni Politiche. Perché l’amore conta per la giustizia. Bologna: il Mulino, 2014).
  21. Pierro A. (2006). Prospettive psicologico-sociali sul potere. Milano: Franco Angeli.
  22. Rock A. (2005). The mindat night. New York: Basic Books.
  23. Sartori G. (2007). Homo videns. Televisione e post-pensiero. Roma-Bari: Laterza.
  24. Taggart P. (2000). Populism. Buckingham-Philadelphia: Open University Press (trad. it.: Il Populismo. Roma: Città Aperta, 2002).
  25. Tetlock P.E. (2005). Expert political judgment: How good it is? How can we know?. Princeton: Princenton University Press.
  26. Weber M. (1922). Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Tübingen: Mohr (trad. it.: Economia e società. Milano: Edizioni di Comunità, 1999, Vol. I).
  27. Westen D. (2007). The political brain. New York: Public Affairs (trad. it.: La mente politica. Milano: Il Saggiatore, 2008).

Bianca Gelli, Terri Mannarini, La mente politica: leadership, potere, carisma in "PSICOLOGIA DI COMUNITA’" 2/2014, pp 11-22, DOI: 10.3280/PSC2014-002002