The Living Totem: Charismatic Leadership and the Social Construction of the Sacred in Civil and Political Religion

This study investigates the social construction of the sacred as the fundamental mechanism of collective political identity, arguing that charismatic leadership functions as the primary vehicle through which this sacrality is operationalized. Whether manifesting as civil religion - where sacred symbols emerge organically to bind a moral community - or political religion where the state deliberately manufactures sacred authority to legitimize power - the origin of the sacred remains inherently social: it is the reflection of the community’s own collective moral force. At the focus point of these systems stands the charismatic leader, who does not merely represent the group but actively embodies its sacred center. Through symbolic communication, ritual performance, and the cultivation of affective bonds, the leader is effectively sacralized, transforming from a political actor into a dual entity: a "living totem" that personifies the community’s identity, and a "political fetish" - an object with intrinsic, "magical" power that overshadows the very social origins of its authority. By analyzing this intersection across religious, political, and media contexts, this research demonstrates how socially constructed sacrality, when anchored by charismatic authority, transcends rational governance to forge cohesive, devotion-based moral communities.