Persönlichkeit und Politik

Political science has a blind spot. It excludes personality. Not that it ignores the way political offices and roles are perceived by different individuals. This is indeed the case, as the study of the leadership styles of rulers shows, such as the Adenauer, Kohl, or Schröder variants of chancellor democracy, or the presidential leadership of Kennedy or Clinton. Modern historiography shares with political science the marginalization of personality. However, historiography has a strong tradition in biography, that is, in the description of individuals in the context of their era. Yet, as history has shifted towards social and economic history, discomfort with evaluating personality has also grown in that field. Thus, psychology remains, which places personality at the center of its examination. A small branch of psychology investigates the political thinking and actions of individuals. History and political science are connected through the major themes of political institutions, social movements, the state, and international relations. Psychology treats these themes as contexts in which personalities develop. Political psychology initially suggests an affinity with political science. It will be shown that this is primarily a specialized psychology that deals with political topics, and by no means a field of political science.