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Political decision-making is not only the sole responsibility of constituted government but it is the concern of various individuals and organizations involved in its interests and influence. This chapter emphasizes these interests and influence when taking into account the ability of liberal democracies to foster political pluralism, as freedom of speech and association and the legitimacy of democratic dissent make such pluralism inevitable. An ancient and non-democratic form of leadership is curiously preserved by constitutional monarchies and although this is assumed to be harmlessly ceremonial the chapter asks if this is more significant than the role of the monarch. A variety of contemporary leadership avenues in liberal democracies have resulted in the creation of a complex and opaque political system. An inquiry is made in this chapter on the necessity of a dispersed leadership as it has become inevitable in a democracy.

Leadership can baffle our ideal of democracy. If representatives track our preferences, actual or ideal, what room is left for them to pushback against a constituency? This has led some political theorists to conclude that the concept of democratic leadership is paradoxical. I challenge this view by constructing a theory that takes shared commitment as its principal ingredient. The Commitment Theory brings out what is morally distinctive about leadership in a representative democracy. In principle, democratic leadership recruits citizens as genuine partners in shared political activity. The account explains why leadership is taken to be a core property of a functioning democracy and, at the same time, a potential threat to the practice. It is then tested against cases of opinion formation, cue-taking, and frame manipulation. I conclude that the theory avoids dual objections: that it either overcounts or undercounts instances of democratic leadership.

This book began by observing that most democratic theorists have difficulty in articulating a proper role for leadership, largely because none among democratic equals has any innate or inherent right to rule over others. Democracy requires good leadership if it is to function effectively, yet the very idea of leadership seems to conflict with democracy's egalitarian ethos. In practice, democracy's tendency is not to eliminate leadership but to multiply it and disperse it throughout society to a rather extraordinary degree. There are many unique opportunities — as well as constraints — that leaders confront in negotiating the demands of their specific offices within the larger expectations of a democratic regime. This chapter reflects on these contributions and their implications.

For the eighth consecutive year, Freedom in the World, Freedom House's annual report on the condition of global political rights and civil liberties, showed a global decline in freedom. While the overall level of regression was not severe, the countries experiencing setbacks included a worrying number of strategically or economically significant states whose political trajectories influence developments well beyond their borders.