Personality and Democratic Politics

Abstract

How does a personality characteristic such as self-esteem become translated into political convictions? How do individual differences in self-esteem affect who becomes a politcal activist and a political leader? These are among the major questions addressed in this study, the first of its kind to be based on large-scale samples of both political laders and ordinary citizens. Drawing on the voluminous research of social psychologists on self-esteem and integrating the dynamic theories of Freud and his followers with the functional and social learning approaches, Professor Sniderman advances new theories to account for the complex connections between personality, political beliefs, and political leadership. In 1972, the American Political Science Association gave Professor Sniderman's original work in this field, on which this book is based, the E. E. Schattschneider Award for the best doctoral dissertation in the field of American government and politics. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1975.