The Personalization of Modern Politics

Abstract

The individual characteristics of leaders and voters have assumed great importance in modern political discourse. Pervasive media influence points to leaders' personality as an anchor around which political information is organized in drawing in and/or deterring the electorate's preferences. Voters' traits, values and perceptions of politicians are no less important than traditional socio-demographic characteristics such as gender, age, educational level, occupation and income in explaining political preferences. Recent findings suggest that politics is becoming personalized, as political choices increasingly depend on voters' personality. More specifically, voters' distinctive pattern of habits, attitudes and values, serve as a compass that grants coherence to their own preferences and that helps them make sense of politicians' behaviour.