Social Identity Leadership in Canada: The Impact of Group Identity and Individual Prototypicality on Leadership Attainment

Abstract

Leaders are an important part of Canadian political life. However, research has focused on the structures that shape how leaders act, not yet developing generalizable understandings of the way leadership itself is formed, exercised, and impacts outcomes. This article contributes to the closing of this knowledge gap by focusing on how scholars can understand why certain individuals, rather than others, are successfully elected leaders. It examines the usefulness of identity leadership theory (ILT) in explaining Canadian leadership outcomes by performing a comparative study of the initial electoral appeals of two successful premiers of Alberta, William Aberhart and Peter Lougheed. The approach should find that both leaders appealed to Alberta’s social identity by conveying themselves as “prototypical group members” and by incorporating their agenda into the pre-existing collective understandings. As an initial investigation, it explores the extent to which these conditions may constitute a decisive condition for successful leadership attainment. Through an analysis of discursive material, however, the results do not support the processes theorized, casting doubt on ILT’s explanatory capacity. Still, variations in Aberhart’s and Lougheed’s identitarian appeals suggest that aspiring leaders may be incentivized to pursue ILT-related strategies in favourable contexts. Future research needs to investigate the impact that individual prototypicality may have when considered alongside other leaders, appeals, and contextual factors.