In relation to illiberal regimes and movements, the political science literature mainly focuses on political leaders and undoubtedly sees the leader in a mythical role (Brown, 2014). In contrast, my work studies illiberal leaders and their teams through the prism of collaborative leadership from a post-heroic perspective (Friedrich et al., 2009; Yammarino et al., 2012; Ospina et al., 2020). I wish to investigate the illiberal leadership team using an approach that examines the leadership ecosystem (government, movement, media) and its functional operation. This suggests a larger circle of people than in the cabinet governance model (e.g. Kaarbo, 2012, Weller – Grube - Rhodes, 2021), but less extensive than in the core executive approach (Rhodes-Dunleavy ed., 1995). The team serves as an information source for the leadership, an opportunity for transformation through the exchange of roles, and an ongoing maintenance of regime transience through the inclusion and rotation of moderate and more radical team members. In this model, the primary role of the leader is to select the members of the team and to maintain a charismatic relationship within the team. In my presentation, I will illustrate the functioning of illiberal political teams through four cases: the transformative governance of Narendra Modi in India, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, and Viktor Orbán of Hungary. My aim is to explore the roles in the practice of illiberal teams that strongly influence how the regime operates and governs. The role of the (1) 'organiser' is to run the organizational structure and coordinate the processes of governance and campaigning (A. Shah, Y. Levin, E. Erdem, and G. Kubatov). The (2) 'ideological anchor' is an important actor, reference, and authority in shaping the regime's ideology, but not always an ideologue (R. Singh, I. Katz, Y. Akdogan, L. Kövér). The (3)'stabiliser' is responsible for stabilizing a section of the leadership or the whole structure, usually after a crisis (B. Yildirim, S. Pintér, Y. Gallant). The (4) innovator creates new norms and means in electoral campaign or public policy, introducing a new personality into the leadership (P. Kishor, S. Jaishankar, M. Sentop, P. Szíjjártó). Finally, (5) is the "defector." Former team member who has since defected in opposition to the leadership represents the most significant endogenous danger to the team (Davotoglu and Babacan, N. Bennett, L. Simicska).
