The Public and the Paradox of Leadership: An Experimental Analysis

It is commonplace for elected officials to be criticized for failing to exercise strong, independent leadership and also for being unresponsive to the wishes of the public. This study presents an experimental analysis of the sometimes contradictory expectations that citizens have of public officials. The experimental stimuli describe a decision-making situation in which an officeholder must decide whether to act on personal wishes on a controversial measure or as the majority of constituents wish. Several aspects of the situation, including the official's ultimate decision, the rationale underlying the decision, the nature of the official's office, and the character of the issue, are manipulated, and the citizen's level of generalized trust in political leaders is also taken into account. Analysis focuses on the extent to which these contextual factors shape evaluations of the official and his or her actions and perceptions of the typicality of the official's actions.