Political Leadership: Theory and Comparative Research

Short Title	POLITICAL LEADERSHIP
Full Title	Political Leadership: Theory and Comparative Research
Brief Description	As our flagship, “Crises and political leadership” project is placed at the centre of our research. In contrast to the literature in this topic, which describes crisis management as the political leaders’ reaction to crises, we have focused on how crises are created, shaped and interpreted proactively by leaders. The research includes theoretical and empirical studies as well.
Research Period	2013-2017
Research Type	Team project
Research Monitoring Body	The public of the Institute for Political Science
Project Manager	András Körösényi
Researchers	Gábor Illés, Rudolf Metz, Veronika Patkós, András Szántó
External Researchers	Hajdú András, Soós Eszter Petronella, Ondré Péter
Contact	András Körösényi (korosenyi.andras@tk.mta.hu)
Research Summary	The project of “Crises and political leadership” launched in 2013 is placed at the centre of our research. In contrast to the literature in this topic, which describes crisis management as the political leaders’ reaction to crises, we have focused on how crises are created, shaped and interpreted proactively by leaders. From this point of view, political situations are characterized by more or less contingency. Thus political leaders could attempt to decrease or even increase the contingency and so endogenously generate a crisis. The theoretical framework of the research is based on Weber’s, Oekeshott’s, Burns’, Palonen’s and Schabert’s work. The empirical research consists of creating case studies from Hungary (Bajnai, Orbán), Germany (Merkel), Italy (Berlusconi), and France (De Gaulle, Sárközy). The project ended in a volume summarizing our results in 2017. The research team was also working on a number of smaller projects: (1) the comparison of Berlusconi and Orbán as examples of populist leaders resulted in a publication in 2015; (2) the comparison of Hungarian Prime Ministers since 1990 was published in the volume called Magyar politikai rendszer – negyedszázad után (“Hungarian political system – after a quarter-century”) in 2015; (3) the cooperation in Leadership Capital Index Research initiated by Mark Bennister and his co-workers, which will end in an international publication.
Publications	Illés, Gábor, András Körösényi and Rudolf Metz (2018): Broadening the limits of reconstructive leadership: Constructivist aspects of Viktor Orbán’s regime-building politics. The British Journal of Politics & International Relations (forthcoming) Körösényi András (ed.) 2017: Viharban kormányozni: Politikai vezetők válsághelyzetekben. (Governing in storm. Political leaders in crisis situation) Budapest: MTA TK, 2017. 1-286. (In Hungarian) Körösényi, András and Veronika Patkós (2017): Variations for Inspirational Leadership: The Incumbency of Berlusconi and Orbán. Parliamentary Affairs, Volume 70, Issue 3, 1 July 2017, Pages 611–632. DOI: 10.1093/pa/gsx004 Körösényi, András, Péter Ondré and András Hajdú (2017): „A ‘Meteoric’ Career in Hungarian Politics” In: Mark Bennister, Paul ‘t Hart, Ben Worthy (eds.): The Leadership Capital Index: A New Perspective on Political Leadership. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 82-100. ISBN: 978-0-19-878384-8 András Körösényi, Gábor Illés and Rudolf Metz: Contingency and Political Action: The Role of Leadership in Endogenously Created Crises. Politics and Governance (ISSN: 2183-2463) 2016, Volume 4, Issue 2, Pages 91-103 Doi: 10.17645/pag.v4i2.530 András Körösényi, Gábor Illés and Rudolf Metz: Contingency and Political Action: The Role of Leadership in Endogenously Created Crises. Politics and Governance (ISSN: 2183-2463) 2016, Volume 4, Issue 2, Pages 91-103 Doi: 10.17645/pag.v4i2.530 András Körösényi, Péter Ondré and András Hajdú (2016 forthcoming): „A ‘Meteoric’ Career in Hungarian Politics. Applying the Leadership Capital Index.” In: Mark Bennister, Paul ‘t Hart, Ben Worthy (eds.): The Politics of Leadership Capital: A Comparative Examination. Oxford: Oxford U.P. Körösényi András – Hajdú András – Ondré Péter (2015) Politikai vezetők: kormányfői karrier és teljesítmény In. Körösényi András (szerk.) A magyar politikai rendszer – negyedszázad után Budapest: Osiris, MTA TK 35-58. Körösényi András – Patkós Veronika (2015) Liberális és illiberális populizmus: Berlusconi és Orbán politikai vezetése Politikatudományi Szemle 2015/2: 29-55. Illés Gábor (2015) Political Culture and Political Leadership in Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. In: Tarrósy István (eds.): How Borderless is Europe? Pécs: Department of Political Science and International Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pécs. 15-28.