When handpicked successors of charismatic leaders prosper

The surprising success of Juan Manuel Santos in Colombia

Bibliographic Data

ID6253965
AuthorsCaitlin Andrews-Lee (0000-0001-5661-5213, Toronto Metropolitan University), Laura Gamboa (0000-0002-4873-1764, Department of Political Science, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA)
Year2022
Volume29
Issue6
Pages1116-1136
Publication date2022-08-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDemocratization (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1351-0347 • E-ISSN: 1743-890X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13510347.2022.2033971
OpenAlexW4210449932
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited24

Charismatic leaders, who loathe sharing power, often anoint sycophantic successors who fail to become powerful leaders in their own right. Curiously, however, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (2010–2018), the handpicked successor of Alvaro Uribe (2002–2010), became a remarkably effective leader who served two terms and oversaw Colombia’s landmark 2016 peace agreement. We investigate this unlikely outcome and develop a novel theory to reveal a pathway through which some handpicked successors of charismatic leaders can establish independent authority. We argue that success is more likely when the successor breaks away from the predecessor. However, doing so requires the successor to engage in a sequential and highly strategic process we label tightrope walking, in which the new leader gains the predecessor’s endorsement to win office, expands his/her coalition by incorporating new allies from outside the predecessor’s base, and reforms the predecessor’s unsustainable policies and narrative. To substantiate our theory, we trace how Santos moved through each stage of the tightrope-walking process and ultimately broke from Uribe to achieve independent authority. The results suggest a rare but important mechanism through which charismatic movements can be challenged from the inside out, curtailing or reversing democratic erosion.KEYWORDS: Charismaleadershippolitical successiondemocratic erosionColombiaJuan Manuel SantosAlvaro Uribepeace agreement AcknowledgmentsWe wish to thank Carlos Gervasoni, Murat Somer, Elizabeth Zechmeister, Kenneth Roberts, Tiffany Barnes, James McGuire, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on a previous version of this article. We are also grateful to the participants of the University of Utah's Center for Latin American Studies faculty seminar.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Additional informationNotes on contributorsCaitlin Andrews-LeeCaitlin Andrews-Lee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University in Toronto. Previously, she was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Tulane University's Center for Inter-American Policy and Research (CIPR) and received her Ph.D. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research and published work focuses on charismatic leadership, political identity and behavior, political movements and parties, democracy, and multi-method research, with a regional emphasis on Latin America. For more information, please see: https://www.caitlinandrewslee.comLaura GamboaLaura Gamboa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Utah. She has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame and a M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on regimes and regime change, democratic institutions, and voting behavior. Her forthcoming book analyzes opposition strategies against the erosion of democracy in Colombia and Venezuela. For more information, please see: https://www.laura-gamboa.com

Centralized government · Charisma · Charismatic authority · Democracy · Narrative · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Successor cardinal · Law · Philosophy · Political Conflict and Governance · Politics and Society in Latin America · Populism, Right-Wing Movements

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