significance
In some respects the subject of political leadership appears to be outdated. The divisions of society into leaders and followers is rooted in a pre-democratic culture of deference and respect in which leaders 'knew best' and the public needed to be led, mobilised or guided. Democratic pressures may not have removed the need for leaders, but they have certainly placed powerful contraints upon leadership, notably by making leaders publicly accountable and establishing institutional mechanisms through which they can be removed.