Is it your business, Mr President?

Not surprisingly, the re-emergence of autocratic leaders in democratic nations has spurred interest and demands for further understanding. Political Psychology seeks to further our knowledge and provide explanations and hopefully in ways that are both accessible and relevant. The question in the title of this piece suggests one potential insight that takes into account suggested patterns of behaviour and psychological needs… 

People do because they can. In fact, taking risks, whether calculated ones or not, is within the essence of entrepreneurship. Not surprisingly, success and failure are certainties in business. If your idea is a good one, or even someone else's bad idea, and meets the right context at the right time, then you may find success. 

Such is the nature of luck. However, if your business gamble fails, there is the opportunity to restart and roll the dice again. Companies are established, folded and liquidated in large numbers every year. Arguably, failure is more common than success in business and within a portfolio of such ventures, some aspects may perform well and others less so. 

After your ideas take off, you may even find yourself 'ahead' and with your success come certain trappings: for example, physical symbols of the status you may have craved, objects that serve as daily reminders of your achievements and that your bold risks paid off. You may also surround yourself with people whose role includes reflecting your success back to you – via displays of respect and admiration - and ultimately their longevity as such depends on their capacity to meet your expectations in doing so.

In fact, there may be some basic insecurities - from which anyone can suffer – that mean you come to rely on others to tell you how wonderful your ideas really are. Perhaps without realising it, a cloak of apparent invincibility is upon you…bestowed by fate or luck perhaps? 

And then you become President.

Naturally, you continue with the same approach that has served you well in business, because this seems certain to succeed, as it has previously. Yet, this time, the stakes for risk-taking are higher – far higher – while the likelihood of 'winning' is perhaps no higher than when you began your business. Your new enterprise has millions of stakeholders - possibly billions - yet in politics nobody has yet defined what a balance sheet should or could look like.

You float your new ideas and naturally those who backed you before – and certainly those you appointed to serve under you – 'love' what you say. Indeed, you know this instinctively – perhaps even without having to ask, because in your top job, there is instantaneous respect for the office you hold. It is hard to be wrong, surely?

You may even mistake the convention of respect and politeness for forms of agreement. You may not notice the barely suppressed smile or look of exasperation on the faces of visitors, or even expressions of horror at your own enthusiasm for your latest ideas.

However, somewhere out there, the consequences of poor judgement or groupthink are already gathering. In business, you can start again. In politics, you may even get re-elected. In the lives of those who suffer at your risk-taking, there is rarely a second chance. 

About the author

Ashley Weinberg is a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Salford.

This editorial is taken from the Spring 2025 issue of the Political Psychology Section Bulletin.