Profiling political leaders : cross-cultural studies of personality and behavior /

The first one-volume cross-cultural treatment of personality and political leadership, this collection explores the relationship between personality and performance of political leaders across divergent cultures. Feldman (Naruto Univ., Japan) and Valenty (San Jose State Univ.) and their contributors discuss Canada, the UK, Germany, Russia, Israel, Iran, China, and Japan; a forthcoming second volume by the same editors (Political Leadership for the New Century: Personality among American Leaders, expected in 2002) will complete the cross-cultural analysis. Each contribution focuses on a political leader or group of leaders, examining the linkages between personality dimensions--e.g., cognitive complexity and motivational patterns--and leadership performance in contexts such as foreign relations and electoral success. Theoretical and methodological approaches are evaluated, especially with respect to ability to generalize across political cultures. The editors provide a useful introductory chapter, but the book would have been improved with the addition of a closing chapter pointing to conclusions and implications. This volume will interest upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and researchers in political science and international relations as well as psychology. H. L. Minton formerly, University of Windsor