Personality Politics? ― The Role of Leader Evaluations in Democratic Elections

Personality Politics? assesses the role that voters' perceptions and evaluations of leaders play in democratic elections. The book presents evidence from an array of countries with diverse historical and institutional contexts, and employs innovative methodologies to determine the importance of leaders in democracies worldwide.

Addressing such questions as 'Where do leaders effects come from?', 'In which institutional contexts are leader effects more important?' and, 'To which kinds of voters are leaders a more prominent factor for voting behaviour?', the authors seek to determine whether the roles leaders play enhances or damages the electoral process, and what impact this has on the quality of democracy in electoral democracies today.

Marina Costa Lobo is a Political Science Researcher at the Social Sciences Institute of the University of Lisbon. Her research has focused on electoral behaviour and political institutions. She is co-director of the Portuguese Election Study since 2001. Recent publications include Portugal at the Polls (with A. Freire and P. Magalhaes) and academic articles inPolitical Research Quarterly, European Journal of Political Research,Electoral Studies and Party Politics .


John Curtis is a Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. He was co-director of the British Election Study from 1983 to 1997, is a former member of the steering committee of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems Project, and has been a co-editor of the British Social Attitudes series since 1994. Recent publications includeThe Rise of New Labour (with A. Heath and R. Jowell) and Has Devolution Delivered?(ed. With C. Bromley, D. McCrone and A. Park).