Abstract
Robert Dahl’s writings contain a number of intriguing passages about leadership. The relevant sections appear in several of his key writings, including the Preface to Democratic Theory, Who Governs?, Modern Political Analysis, After the Revolution, and Democracy and its Critics. In these works, Dahl’s conception of leadership evolves from an emphasis on ‘control’ to ‘influence’, and finally broadens to include ‘competence’ and ‘expertise’. These sections are episodic and disconnected from one work to another; they repay close attention, nonetheless. This essay identifies these promising themes and sketches out some directions that a political theory of democratic leadership based on Dahl’s insights might take.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.