Universiteit van Amsterdam

The influence of political leadership on public opinion

A comparison of two Dutch politicians using leadership theory

Job Cohen

Emile Roemer

MSc. Business Studies Intensive Programme, Leadership Lecturers Students : : Prof. Dr. Den Hartog & Dr. F. Belschak J.L. Ridderhof, 10162305 S.A.F. Arts,10311408 M.Y. Konter, 0463191 I. Nijhuis, 6336701 Date Word count : : 19 march 2012 4.768

Summary
This paper attempts to provide an insight in how the leadership style of a political party leader contributes to the political preference of the public. To research this subject, we have analyzed aspects of transformational and charismatic leadership in respect to Emile Roemer and Job Cohen. Emile Roemer is party leader of the Dutch social party SP and Job Cohen is former party leader of the moderate social party PvdA. This paper shows that the public appreciates the charismatic appearance Roemer possesses, resulting in his political party gaining a huge incline in popularity recently. A major attribute to his charismatic leadership is the turbulent and dynamic political weather Dutch politics is currently in. Where Cohen is portrayed as stammering and unable to use effective rhetoric publicly, Roemer gained popularity by getting his message across in an inspirational way, maintaining his followers and reaching voters. This contrast will be researched by using a theoretical framework which is designed by different scholars. The attributes that have contributed to their (un)popularity will be compared. The conclusions of this comparison and important findings will be discussed. Furthermore, omissions will be identified which results in motives for further research.

Our findings indicate that charismatic and transformational leadership did affect the success of Roemer, while the lack of charismatic and transformational leadership caused the unpopularity of Cohen to some extent.

Contents
Summary Contents Introduction Emile Roemer & Job Cohen Emile Roemer Job Cohen Emile Roemer vs Job Cohen Theoretical framework Transformational leadership Charismatic leadership 2 3 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8

Comparison; Why Roemer is popular and Cohen is not 11 The popularity of Emile Roemer The unpopularity of Job Cohen Discussion and Limitations Further Research Conclusion 11 12 14 15 16

References

Introduction
Since the Dutch parliamentary elections in June 2010, the public opinion has changed regarding its political preference. Some of the parties have lost an enormous amount of support, where others have gained more potential votes from the Dutch citizens1. Since there have been no drastic changes in any of the election programs, the reason for this shift in political preference must be accounted to something different. Something that has changed quite a bit since 2010, and which might be of influence to public opinion, are the political leaders of several parties. Since January 2010, four parties have chosen a different leader, mostly because of a negative result during the elections. This may indicate that the leader of a political party has major influence on public political preference. In this paper an insight will be provided in how the leadership style of two party leaders, i.e. Emile Roemer and Job Cohen, contributed to the political preference of the public using aspects of transformational and charismatic leadership. This will be done by posing the following question:

How did charismatic and transformational leadership style (or lack of these styles) contribute to the popularity or unpopularity of Emile Roemer and Job Cohen?

First, both Emile Roemer and Job Cohen will be introduced. Considering the election polls Roemer is known to do quite well at this moment and Job Cohen has just recently resigned his position due to these polls amongst other things. Furthermore, Job Cohen has lost the support of his political party. Second, the theory of transformational leadership and charismatic leadership in particular will be provided. Then, this theory will be used to explain the public performance of Emile Roemer and Job Cohen. This will give an insight in how the leadership style of a party leader contributes to the political preference of the public. Finally, the discussion will reflect upon the selected theoretical model and how this applies to the case.

Developments of political preferences. [online] available: https://n4.noties.nl/peil.nl/

Emile Roemer & Job Cohen

In order to draw conclusions on whether the leadership styles have positive or negative effects, the politicians who were chosen are opposites to each other in terms of public performance. This chapter introduces both politicians. Emile Roemer Emile Roemer, current political leader of the Socialistische Partij (SP), has done quite well since he was chosen party leader in March 2010. According to the latest public opinion records, he has managed to double the amount of SP voters since the new cabinet has been formed2. Since his appearance as party leader, the election program of the SP hasnt undergone major changes3. This implies that the designation of Roemer may have had a positive influence on the voters political choice4. In December 2011 Roemer was declared politician of the year by the public5. He is described as authentic, social and respectful. His clear language and his sense of humor is also well appreciated. His always cheerful laugh and his Burgundian appearance seem to charm the people surrounding him. Not all of the recent glory of the SP is dedicated to Roemers smile and wave policy. Since the Euro crisis hit the Netherlands, the SP has focused on representing the voice of the Dutch citizens by outing their motto: Put the bill for the Euro crisis where it belongs6. The SP states its looking for a better way to fight the Euro crisis that the current cabinet is doing right now. One that doesnt involve negative effects for the least wealthy citizens of the Netherlands. By emphasizing on doing the right thing the SP focuses on the voters

conscience. This empowering message combined with the charm of Roemer seems to be a very effective strategy in order to gain support.

2 3

Developments of political preferences. [online] available: https://n4.noties.nl/peil.nl/

Politiek: Hoofdpunten verkiezingen 2010 SP. [online] available http://nieuws-uitgelicht.infonu.nl/mens-en-samenleving/53877-politiekhoofdpunten-verkiezingen-2010-sp.html 4 De week van Emile Roemer. [online] available http://hartvannederland.hyves.nl/blog/48550212/De_week_van_Emile_Roemer/Vml4/ 5 Emile Roemer Politicus van het Jaar 2011. [online] available: http://www.nieuws.nl/674176 6 De rekening van de crisis leggen waar die hoort. [online] available http://www.sp.nl/tv/1079840/thema::economie/20100519de_rekening_van_de_crisis_leggen_waar_die_hoort_zo_gaan_wij_dat_doen.html

Job Cohen Job Cohen, in contrast to Emile Roemer, resigned his position as party leader of the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) in February 2012 due to the recent decline in votes for the PvdA. According to Cohen himself, he wasnt able to be effective enough as party leader7. When Cohen first appeared as party leader in 2010, after his predecessor Wouter Bos left politics behind, the PvdA gained an enormous amount of votes. PvdA supporters were enthusiastic about this new fatherly figure, who was going to lead them during the upcoming elections8. The public had high expectations for Cohen due to his former performance as mayor of Amsterdam. The public opinion changed however at the start of the election period in 2010. Several times Job Cohen proved to be incompetent during interviews and debates with other party leaders. According to the media, his lack of humor during the interviews and his poor performance in front of the camera cost the PvdA a lot of votes9. After the elections were lost by the PvdA even more voters switched to another political preference, due to a number of media disasters in disadvantage of Cohen10. Geert Wilders, party leader of the Partij Van de Vrijheid (PVV), publicly called Cohen the premiers lapdog, while Cohen stood bewildered11. In oktober 2011 PvdA party chairman, Lilianne Ploumen, acknowledged to the media that there was a discussion within the party regarding Cohens leadership. Many assume that this internal disagreement in combination with the ever declining public support has lead to the resignation of Cohen on the 20th of February 2012. Emile Roemer vs. Job Cohen The characteristics of both Emile Roemer and Job Cohen are quite different to one another. According to the presented facts, Roemer seems to have a clear advantage over Cohen regarding his public performances. His behavior and appearance seem to have a positive effect upon both the public and the media, whereas Cohens clearly has a negative impact on both his personal and his political party image.

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Cohen: ik was onvoldoende effectief. [online] available: http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2012/02/20/cohen-ik-was-onvoldoende-effectief/ PvdA wordt met Cohen de grootste. [online] available http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2784/Verkiezingen/archief/article/detail/983971/2010/03/29/PvdA-wordt-met-Cohen-de-grootste.dhtml 9 Toe Cohen, overtuig nou. [online] available http://vorige.nrc.nl/opinie/article2541470.ece 10 Job Cohen in het nieuws: van gedoodverfde premier tot grote gedoger van de premier. [online] available www.nieuwsmonitor.net/d/133/rapport_cohen2_pdf 11 Wie is de grootste gedoger. [online] available. http://nieuwsuur.nl/onderwerp/274665-wie-is-de-grootste-gedoger.html

Theoretical framework
In this chapter we discuss two different theories of recent leadership styles; transformational leadership and charismatic leadership, because these styles can be applied best to political leaders. Den Hartog and Koopman (2001) write about the "new" leadership that it is often referred to as transformational or charismatic leadership. According to this statement it seems that there is no specific difference between transformational and charismatic leadership. Yukl (2006) compares these leadership styles and writes that even among scholars, there is disagreement on whether transformational and charismatic leadership can be used both at the same time. The term transformational leadership is often assigned to any form of effective leadership (Yukl, 2006). However, the essence of charisma indicates that a subordinate is dependent on the leader, for guidance and inspiration (Yukl, 2006). Research (Fiol, Harris, & House, 1999) suggest that charismatic leaders consistently use communication strategies to effect social change, a reason to distinguish these leadership styles. Transformational leadership Transformational leadership is explained differently in many articles, but Bass (1985) version of transformational leadership generated the most research, according to Yukl (1999). Yukl (1999) states that Bass (1985) definition of transformational leadership is primarily based on leader effects on subordinates and specific leadership behavior. Transformational leadership motivates followers to do more than they are expected to do and gives followers trust, admiration and respect for the leader (Yukl, 1999). Due to influence of transformational leaders, followers put organizational interest prior to their personal interest (Yukl, 1999). Yukl (2006) states that transformational leaders empower followers by making them less dependent. Therefore, significant authority is delegated to individuals, follower skills and self-confidence are developed, self-managed teams are created, sensitive information is given access to, unnecessary controls are avoided and a strong culture is build to support empowerment (Yukl, 2006). Transformational leadership includes four types of leader behavior (Yukl, 2006). First, idealized influence, which is behavior of leaders to arouse strong emotions and identification by followers. Secondly, intellectual stimulation is used by the leader to increase follower awareness of problems and to view them from a new perspective. Thirdly, individualized consideration is behavior to provide encouragement, support, and coaching to followers. Finally, inspirational motivation of leaders is behavior to communicate vision, using symbols

to focus effort of subordinates, and to model behavior. According to Conger (1991), formulation of a vision should be the first step to move from traditional mode of communicating to a more expressive, inspirational form. In transformational leadership the power of the spoken word is not yet appreciated enough (Conger, 1991). To inspire, impactful messages should contain six guidelines (Conger, 1991). First, framed missions should have appealing goals, values, and beliefs which have positive and culturally important meanings. To become inspirational, true beliefs in the purpose of the organization is crucial (Conger, 1991). Second, stories should be used to illustrate description of organizations goals, incorporating positive values. By framing a mission, descriptions should explain significance of the mission, why it has arisen, and why it will succeed, using metaphors, analogies, and stories. Fifth, various rhetorical techniques should be used communicating to audiences. Coaches can give feedback about which aspects an inspiring leader should improve for greater attention and for holding attention. Such coaches can even assist with paralanguage, selecting appropriate metaphors, and voice intonation. Finally, a transformational or inspiring leader should allow emotions to surface when speaking. Excitement and concerns should be showed. In conclusion Conger (1991) writes two additional points prerequisite for success. A speaker must be perceived being credible and possessing expertise, otherwise the message is unlikely to be believed. Another issue can be ethics, proper language skills can be misused and therefore followers should be aware of abuse. Yukl (1999) writes that research results often indicate transformational leadership as a positive leadership style. Both surveys and descriptive studies show that this leadership style is effective in various situations (Yukl, 1999). Research indicated that transformational leadership influenced followers positively on satisfaction, motivation, and performance (Yukl, 1999). Yukl (2006) even states transforming leadership in a political setting to be appealing for moral values of followers, raising consciousness about ethical issues. Transforming leadership furthermore mobilizes energy and resources of followers to reform institutions (Yukl, 2006). Charismatic leadership Charismatic leadership is explained as an interaction between a leader and followers. This interaction results in (1) making the followers self-esteem contingent on the vision and mission articulated by the leader, (2) strong internalization of the leaders values and goals by the followers, (3) strong personal or moral (as opposed to calculative) commitment to these 8

values and goals, and (4) a willingness on the part of followers to transcend their self-interests for the sake of the collective (team or organization) (Shamir & Howell, 1999, p. 259). Charisma is often associated with powerful oratory and with top level key figures, for example political key figures (Den Hartog & Verburg, 1997). In media political leaders are increasingly exposed by views, oratory, and language (Den Hartog & Verburg, 1997). Den Hartog and Verburg (1997) also state that on the other hand other scholars assume this leadership style to be common at all management levels of organizations. When social distance is large between leaders and followers, followers depend more on verbal cues and knowledge of personal behavior of the leader is scarce (Den Hartog & Verburg, 1997). In these situations charisma is particularly strong (Den Hartog & Verburg, 1997). So, context plays a role in charismatic leadership effectiveness. Shamir and Howell (1999) state that charismatic leadership can be facilitated by context and inhibited by others. Shamir and Howell (1999) described several conditions under which charismatic leadership can be effective and more likely to emerge. It is stated that during crisis, stress, and turbulence, charismatic leadership emerges more and followers are more affected by this leadership style. Furthermore, this leadership style is likely to be more effective in psychologically weak situations and in dynamic organizational environments needing new strategies, markets, products, and technology. During early stages of organizations existence this style is likely to more effective as well and when situations are not easy to analyze. For example, in strategic planning or performing arts. When tasks are challenging and complex, and performance goals are ambiguous this style is supposed to emerge more and is more effective. In organic organizations, adaptive cultures, when new leaders are established and when they follow up non-charismatic leaders charismatic leadership positively influences effectiveness and occurrence. Furthermore, when organization values and believes are shared by its members, when looking at top level of organizations, and when moral involvement is present. This article of Shamir and Howell (1999) is based primarily on business organizations, but has much common ground for political leaders applying charismatic leadership. It is likely that when voters and economy, face crisis and challenging and complex political conditions, they prefer a charismatic leadership style as well. When a political leader follows up a not charismatic leader, voters probably prefer a charismatic leader since this phenomenon occurs in organizations as well. Shamir and Howell (1999) state that when believes and values within organizations are shared, followers charismatic leadership is more likely to be effective.

Within political parties, believes and values are shared, so charismatic leadership should be likely to be effective for politicians as well.

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Comparison; Why Roemer is popular and Cohen is not

The result of the elections of 2010 made the political party of Job Cohen (PvdA) the second largest party in that election with 30 seats. The political party of Emile Roemer (SP) won 15 seats in that same election.12 As of the 2010 elections both Job Cohen and Emile Roemer were the leaders of their political party, so it is to be concluded that the winnings of seats is in a large part due to them. Strikingly, many polls predict different outcomes if there would be elections today compared to the outcome of 2010. One of those polls predict 19 seats for the political party of Job Cohen and 32 seats for the political party of Emile Roemer.13 Media, polling agencies and researchers seem to suggest that the change in seats is for a large part due to the leadership of Job Cohen and Emile Roemer.

The popularity of Emile Roemer Emile Roemer has been chosen as best politician of the year of 2011. In that election 37.000 people participated which were for a large part party members, but he seemed to be popular outside his own political party as well. Emile Roemer was chosen due to his authenticity, social skills and respectfulness. People appreciate his clear language and he listens well. Furthermore he has a sense of humor which is appreciated in the Tweede Kamer.14 Emile Roemer is capable of using clear and appealing examples to position himself and his political party the SP15 and it is perceived that this is the reason for his partys success these last few years. Considering Emile Roemers skills, he is regarded to be a transformational leader. Transformational leaders employ metaphors, analogies, and stories when speaking. It is a positive
leadership style (Yukl, 1999) and this matches the leadership typology of Emile Roemer since his character is to be characterized as friendly, seemingly open with natural social skills which are presented with a certain exhilaration. He stands for his cause, but tries not to make matters more difficult than necessary. This makes him accessible en approachable most of the time, the harshness in his approximation is only to arise with substantive matters. His personal profile is larger than his political party profile which makes him able to cooperate with people outside of his political scope. Voters perceive him as a nice guy who you can trust.16 These character traits fit aspects of the

transformational leadership style where the leader arouses strong emotions, stimulates intellectually for his causes and doing so in communicating vision and using symbols. This type
12 13 14

Nederlandse Verkiezingsuitslagen 1918 nu at http://www.nlverkiezingen.com/ Maurice de Hond at https://n7.noties.nl/peil.nl/ Een Vandaag at http://politicusvanhetjaar.eenvandaag.nl/home/39418/emile_roemer_politicus_van_het_jaar_2011_ 15 Nederlands Debatinstituut at http://www.debatinstituut.nl/bibliotheek/debat-artikelen/winnaar-nos-debat.html 16 ManagementSite at http://www.managementsite.nl/25536/leiderschap/matches-mismatches-leiderschap.html

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of leadership gives followers trust, admiration and respect to the leader (Yukl, 2006) as Emile Roemer does. Due to the growing number of predicted seats, one might conclude that he has been able to transform people into not only believing in him but also in what he stands for. The SP is by nature a social political party since they stand for human dignity, equality and solidarity.
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Due to this

political program he might have convinced people to put organizational interest priority to their
personal interest (Yukl, 1999) which is another characteristic of transformational leadership as well as charismatic leadership. In the theory of charismatic leadership the leader is able to create a willingness on the part of followers to transcend their self-interests for the sake of the collective (Shamir & Howell, 1999).

The unpopularity of Job Cohen

In contrast to Emile Roemer, Job Cohen is lower on the best politician list. Where Emile Roemer is ranked first, Job Cohen is ranked at the sixth place.18 At this moment Job Cohen is no longer representing the PvdA. Job Cohen has been very capable as mayor and strived to become a very capable prime minister. Due to the electoral outcome, he had to position himself in the opposition. He was always regarded to be a serious man with integrity and great skills to spin messages. He has a strong sense of responsibility but he was unfortunately not strong in situations of exposure and the strategic conflict he was frequently in during his time in the opposition. Job Cohen is known for building bridges and appeared not to be a strong opponent. It seemed to be a mismatch to have him as a oppositional leader.19 Transformational leaders motivate followers (Yukl, 1999) and Job Cohen wasnt able to. He seems to be regarded as a forthright type of person but not strong enough for the political and media attacks in The Hague. He is supposed to be doubtful without strong views, carefully considering what to do next depending on what is happening around him. With his attempt to show who he is, he managed to create turmoil within his political party recently. Ironically, he tried to associate his political party with Emile Roemers political party too much. This instigated his party members to attack him and eventually to decide to not support him anymore.20 In television appearances Job Cohen seemed to be stuttering and not able to eloquently use one-liners like his adversaries, like Emile Roemer, did. Job Cohen wasnt able to keep up with the speed and wittiness of present debates. Over time it was Emile Roemer who was perceived as the leader for the left flank in politics and not Job Cohen.21 Job Cohen was not sufficiently effective for his role as great

17 18

SP.nl at http://www.sp.nl/overzicht/inhetkort/ Een Vandaag at http://politicusvanhetjaar.eenvandaag.nl/home/39418/emile_roemer_politicus_van_het_jaar_2011_ 19 ManagementSite at http://www.managementsite.nl/25536/leiderschap/matches-mismatches-leiderschap.html 20 Trouw.nl at http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4500/Politiek/article/detail/3191820/2012/02/21/Tragiek-eindelijk-toonde-Cohen-wel-duidelijkpolitiek-profiel.dhtml 21 Trouw.nl at http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4500/Politiek/article/detail/3191820/2012/02/21/Tragiek-eindelijk-toonde-Cohen-wel-duidelijkpolitiek-profiel.dhtml

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oppositional leader.22 In contrary to Emile Roemer, Job Cohen has not been able to associate to people outside of his political scope.23 In transformational leadership, formulating a vision should be the first step to move from traditional mode of communicating to a more expressive, inspirational form (Conger, 1999). Job Cohen not being able to formulate a clear message when potential voters are watching, makes him unable to create a solid group of followers which does not make him a transformational leader. The formulation of a vision is supposed to be a first step to move from traditional mode of communicating to a more expressive inspirational form (Conger, 1991). Job Cohen seems to be stuck in that traditional mode of twenty years ago. A time in which he might have been a successful leader of the PvdA.24 Both Job Cohen and Emile Roemer are perceived to be honorable men but only Emile Roemer appeared to be effective in incorporating this in his political actions and transcending it to his political party and followers. The theory on leadership explains what leadership is, provides insights on the methods leaders should use to convey their message and how to deliver this message to the public. Furthermore, it makes clear what the effect of a specific type of leadership, transformational and charismatic, should have on the public. The success of Emile Roemer is explained by researching the manner in which he has conveyed his message and the effect he has on the public. He was able to deliver his message so it inspires the public. He does so with communication but also with his presence. This makes him a transformational but also a charismatic leader. Regardless of the assumed pleasant characteristics of both Job Cohen and Emile Roemer, Job Cohen has not been able to translate this into the specific skills needed for the political arena. His results are practically opposite to those of Emile Roemer. Where Emile Roemer was witty, respectful and someone who could be trusted, Job Cohen was not. He was slow in his replies and not able to produce lively argumentation to illustrate what he means. Furthermore, he was doubtful and eventually lost the trust of his fellow party members and followers. He lost this trust at the worst possible moment. Charismatic leadership is needed and effective during, amongst other things, crisis (Shamir and

Howell, 1999). The economic crisis and dynamic political environment the Netherlands is in
calls for a charismatic leader and Job Cohen has proved not to be one.

22

Parool.nl at http://www.parool.nl/parool/nl/3587/POLITIEK-BINNENLAND/article/detail/3191421/2012/02/20/Cohen-Het-gaatuiteindelijk-niet-om-mij.dhtml 23 VK.nl at http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2824/Politiek/article/detail/2947181/2011/10/04/Na-uithaal-Ploumen-wankelt-de-positie-van-JobCohen.dhtml 24 Trouw.nl at http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4500/Politiek/article/detail/3191820/2012/02/21/Tragiek-eindelijk-toonde-Cohen-wel-duidelijkpolitiek-profiel.dhtml

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Discussion and Limitations

As Yukl (1999) describes, the transformational leader is a leader that is admired by his followers, who possesses the ability to give followers trust and gain their respect. Of the four archetypes described by Yukl (2006), the inspirational leader may best be applied to Roemer, who has gained popularity for his political party more and more recently by being an inspirational leader who is able to communicate his vision effectively, resulting in a best politician of the year award. On the other hand, none of the archetypes apply to Cohen. Although Cohen was regarded as a serious man with integrity and great skills to spin messages when he was mayor of Amsterdam, he lost all of these attributes when he was voted party leader. It is not unlikely to think that Cohen inspired followers with a sense of trust and hope for the future with his track record, during his campaign. This could have created a pressure of high expectations, that are hard to turn into successful leadership in an entirely different position. The theoretical framework does not take the aspect of followers expectations or preconceived judgments into account, while they may have contributed greatly to their respective success or failure. While Roemer is praised for his eloquent manner of speaking in public and his catchy enthusiasm, Cohen was mainly known for the exact opposite. As Conger (1991) describes, successful transformational leaders inspire followers via impactful messages, a skill that has been underestimated. According to this theory, Cohens unpopularity could be explained because he simply wasnt a good public speaker. But then one may also conclude that the way a leader gets his message across is more important than getting the right message across. What if Cohen failed to interpret his followers opinions well, due to the changing and turbulent political atmosphere for example? An effect that has not been taken into account in the theoretical framework. According to Shamir & Howell (1999), such a changing and turbulent political atmosphere is a perfect environment for a charismatic leader to attract followers or gain popularity. Roemers strong passion for his beliefs and cause brought him more popularity among voters while Cohen failed to make a strong case for his beliefs or party program. While this may be attributed to the lack of skills required by a successful leader, the nature of the political parties may have contributed also. The SP (Roemers party) is an ultra social political party, while the PvdA (Cohens party) is a moderate social party. It might be easier to make a strong case and speak passionately about more extreme point of views than moderate views. The transformational and the charismatic leadership theories intertwine when it comes to the ability to reach people via speech. Den Hartog & Verburg (1997) agree with Conger (1991) by stating charisma is often associated with powerful oratory. In this case charisma and the ability to speak well in public are prominent factors that could explain the success or failure of the leaders we studied. But, as this discussion shows, the theories we used may not have covered all aspects that have contributed to Cohens failure and Roemers success.

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Further research
As indicated in the discussion of our research, several aspects might offer a better insight into our case. The leaders track record could explain success or failure, considering high expectations might influence voters trust when these are not met. In order to create a complete picture, this aspect should be taken into account. It seems too easy to judge whether a leader gets a message across because he says it in the right way. That would mean he could say anything, and that would be fine with his followers all the same. The consideration whether his message is actually what the people want to hear needs to be accounted for. The nature of the political party may also influence the opportunity to practice charismatic or transformational leadership. As discussed, a more moderate social message may be more difficult to plead in a passionate way, than a more extreme message. At this point, its still unclear whether this can influence the public opinion towards a leader. Finally, it might be interesting to research the effects of both mens leadership styles on each others popularity. The possibility that Roemer became more popular because he was able to take advantage of Cohens worsening image, should be accounted for.

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Conclusion
Our case shows that the success and failure of both political leaders may be attributed to aspects described by theories on transformational and charismatic leadership developed by different scholars.

In this paper we attempted to provide an insight on how the leadership style of party leaders Roemer and Cohen contributed to the political preference of the public. Our research shows that the public appreciates the charismatic appearance Roemer possesses, resulting in his political party gaining a huge incline in popularity recently. A major attribute to his charismatic leadership is the turbulent and dynamic political weather Dutch politics is currently in. In accordance with Shamir & Howell (1999), the need for charismatic leadership to fill people with hope for the future and a passionate message was apparently greater than a leader with a calm and fatherly type of image. Key charismatic and transformational aspects of leadership are the ability to inspire people and speak to them in an appealing and eloquent way. Where Cohen is portrayed as stammering and unable to use effective rhetoric publicly, Roemer gained popularity by getting his message across in an inspirational way, maintaining his followers and reaching voters. Also, his authenticity, social skills and respectfulness earned him the politician of the year award. A clear sign that Roemer is appreciated by followers and fellow politicians. While Roemer became more popular, Cohen struggled more and more getting his message across to both his followers and his own party, resulting in his fellow party members questioning their trust in him as a leader. Eventually leading to his resignation as a party leader of the PvdA.

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References

Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press. Conger, J.A. (1991). Inspiring others: the language of leadership. Academy of Management Executive, 5(1). Pages 31-45.Den Hartog, D.N. & Verburg, R.M. (1997). Charisma and rhetoric: Communicative techniques of international business leaders, Leadership Quarterly, (4). Pages 355391. Den Hartog, D.N. & Koopman, P.L. (2001). Leadership in Organizations. In Anderson, N., Ones, D.S., Sinangil, H.K. & Viswesvaran, C (Eds). Handbook of Industrial, work and organizational psychology, 2. London: Sage Publications. Pages 166-182. Fiol, C.M., Harris, D. & House, R. (1999). Charismatic leadership: Strategies for effecting social change. The Leadership Quarterly, 10(3), Pages 449482. Shamir, B. & Howell, J.M., (1999). Organizational and contextual influences on th emergence of charismatic leadership, Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), Pages 257283. Yukl, G.A. (1999). An evaluation of conceptual weaknesses in transformational and charismatic leadership theories. Leadership Quarterly, 10(2). Pages 285305. Yukl, G.A. (2006). Leadership in organizations. New Jersey: Pearson Education.

Websites Politiek: Hoofdpunten verkiezingen 2010 SP, accessed 10 March 2012, [online] available: http://nieuws-uitgelicht.infonu.nl/mens-en-samenleving/53877-politiekhoofdpunten-verkiezingen-2010-sp.html De week van Emile Roemer, accessed 9 March 2012, [online] available: http://hartvannederland.hyves.nl/blog/48550212/De_week_van_Emile_Roemer/Vml4/ Emile Roemer Politicus van het Jaar 2011, accessed 9 March 2012, [online] available: http://www.nieuws.nl/674176 De rekening van de crisis leggen waar die hoort, accessed 9 March 2012, [online] available http://www.sp.nl/tv/1079840/thema: economie/20100519de_rekening_van_de_crisis_leggen_waar_die_hoort_zo_gaan_wij_dat_doen.html

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