ABSTRACT
As set out in the introduction to this volume, our goal has been to shed a new light on a major element of contemporary democratic practice: the selection of political party leaders. Who the leaders are, how they are chosen and how they are held to account are key questions in understanding the distribution of political power both within parties and in the broader democratic setting. Party leaders in most political systems are key actors in the functioning of their democracies: they lead their parties both between elections and during electoral campaigns. In doing so, they supervise, and sometimes directly control, the selection of candidates who represent their party in legislative elections; they often lead their party’s legislative caucus; they play a key role in drafting party manifestos; and, when in government, they are central in the selection of party ministers and in negotiations among parties when coalitions are formed. Moreover, in most political systems, the leaders of major parties are the main contenders for the position of prime minister. Given these key functions, it is not surprising that several scholars have recently observed that the position of party leader has become more powerful over the past 20 years. The observation is that leaders have become more influential in both intra-party and governmental decision-making, and more central in the minds of voters when deciding who to vote for (Poguntke and Webb 2005; Aarts et al. 2011; Dowding 2013).
