Feminizing Leadership Theory: Angela Merkel as a Case Study

The study of leadership has a long tradition in political science. From Plato’s philosopher king to Carlyle’s Great Man theory, to Weber’s tripartite classification of authority, to Burns’s dichotomy of transactional and transformational leadership, it’s clear scholars have considered this an important topic. Because most political leaders have been men, theories about political leadership have also tended to be highly masculinized. Masculinized notions of leadership may create an additional obstacle to women gaining power, but increasing numbers of female leaders also challenge existing ideas about leadership. The first part of this paper considers what adjustments to theory may need to be made to integrate gender into leadership theory. The Paper then uses a case study of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to assess leadership theory. As the first woman to lead Europe’s most powerful country, Merkel has been under close scrutiny while Chancellor. She has frequently been described as overly pragmatic and lacking charisma. During the European financial crisis, the international press viewed her as too hesitant and too invested in German domestic priorities. During the refugee crisis, she staked out a strong pro-refugee stance, showing a new propensity for leadership. Although she has been much admired for this move, as the mood across Europe turns against the refugees, she has also been subjected to criticism for allowing them to enter Germany and thereby contributing to increased populist sentiment at home and across the European Union. This Paper uses Merkel’s Chancellorship to address two questions: To what extent can we use existing theories about leadership to assess Merkel’s actions? How might the presence of a powerful female leader challenge existing scholarship and reveal a need to integrate gender into our theories of leadership?