ABSTRACT
The tendency of contemporary political scientists to neglect the significant role which leadership plays in political life because of their preoccupation with political structure has been deplored by Dankwart A. Rustow. Consequently, explanations of “Third World” politics cannot be limited to structural analyses but must give due consideration to the impact of the leadership variable. The reason for Howard Wriggins’ failure to discover anything peculiar in Third World political leadership is clearly that he consciously deprecates the importance of the structural context in which Third World political leaders function. The meager theoretical results of Wriggins’ study make it clear that any attempt to delineate the peculiar role that leadership plays in Third World politics must give due weight to its structural dimensions. Jawaharlal Nehru gained legitimacy from legal-rational norms in the great reliance that he placed upon the Congress party and upon the bureaucracy and through the efforts he made to make both of these strong and durable political institutions.
