What Is Revolutionary Leadership?
- Authority which comes from charisma is dependent on the personality of the leader. The ability to attract loyal followers and to understand precisely the particular political Zeitgeist of the age is vital to this kind of revolutionary leader. Revolutions tend to require significant bodies of people from different backgrounds, so simply being able to articulate rational arguments is not enough. Often these leaders require divine justification or reference to a particularly powerful ideology to strengthen their case.
- Traditional leadership falls into two broad categories: paternalism and feudalism. The former relies on a history of inherited rule or at least a mechanism by which new leaders claim their legitimacy by proving a connection to past leaders. Paternalistic government consists of individuals that are either related to or hand-picked by the leader. Feudalism has a similar reliance on history and tradition, but the hierarchy is maintained by military and contractual status. It is therefore socioeconomic superiority and military allegiances which support the leadership. Revolutionary leaders might claim traditional authority over an existing regime by claiming closer ties to previous rulers.
- Rational-legal leadership is derived from an existing state of legal codes. The codes are justified by an extensive legal framework and bureaucracy which are enforced by a government monopoly of physical force. Therefore, if a revolutionary leader can prove that an existing regime is defying the legal framework, then the revolution can claim rational-legal authority. For example, if a democratically elected government is overthrown by a military coup, then the ousted parties can call for a revolution based on the usurpation of legal codes.
- Revolutionary leadership rarely falls exactly into one category. The particular cocktail of leadership types often depends on the government it is trying to usurp. A traditional government may be most effectively destabilized by charismatic leader deriving ration-legal authority. A purely charismatic leader might face a revolution that uses a claim of traditional authority to argue for rational-legal government, such as Juan Carlos I's clandestine meeting with the liberal movement in Franco's Spain. Revolutionary leadership often transitions between types once it succeeds and is established in government. Charismatic leadership can change into a ration-legal bureaucracy once it gains control, or even set up a traditional government by nominating a successor or instituting a mechanism of hereditary succession.