The Spellbinders: Charismatic Political Leadership

by Ann Ruth Willner

What causes a group of people or an entire nation to fall under the spell of a leader? In this fascinating book, Willner explains the nature of charismatic political leadership and the processes by which it comes into being, illustrating her work with engrossing examples from the careers of such charismatic political leaders of the twentieth century as Gandhi, Sukarno, and Hitler.
"A manual for potential charismatic leaders. Candidates for President . . . would do well to refer to it. Ordinary citizens would do even better to read it, so they can recognize charismatic appeals that might mislead, as well as lead, our society."-- Bruce Mazlish, The New York Times Book Review
"Of exceptional value for social scientists and even administrators, this should also interest educated general readers. Highly recommended."-- David Steiniche, Library Journal
"An ingenious and useful book."-- Anatole Broyard, The New York Times
"A book of impeccable scholarly quality and of immensely rich and even exciting material."-- James MacGregor Burns, Williams College
"The book should be of wide interest, especially to those political leaders – many of them in the Third World – who see themselves as charismatic merely because they have acquired power."-- T. J. S. George, Asiaweek

212 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 1985

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts off a bit dry and academic (the author takes the position that charisma does, to some degree, depend on the nature of the individual leader, which was controversial in this field as of the writing, so she has to proffer some counterarguments early), but offers an interesting and to my mind plausible theory of charisma in the 20th century. It seems rather like an associative-memory hack to me; assume the outward appearances and tap the symbols of mythological figures of your culture, and people tend to see the things you do through the lens of those figures, by association. There's more to it than that (working miracles helps), but that's sort of the key takeaway.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best introductions to charismatic leadership. Clear, concise, and walking the reader through the Weberian tradition piece by piece. Even though her focus is political charisma, I found her examination of the phenomenon applicable to other contexts. This is one of the staples in the field, even after two decades plus.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for "The Anthropology of Charisma" Fall 2011.