Take My Gist

There are three broad sets of qualities that citizens might expect politicians to display: competence, integrity and authenticity.  To be authentic, a politician must be judged to be in touch with the lives and outlooks of ordinary people and previous research has suggested that this expectation has grown more prevalent in recent times. The personality and qualities of political leaders has long been acknowledged as an important element of politics and influence on political attitudes and behaviour. In more recent decades, academic attention has turned towards how the expectations that citizens have of politicians determine these important dynamics. This increasing attention has been accompanied by the argument that these expectations and evaluations have become even more important over time, as partisanship in the electorate has declined dramatically. Citizens are less tied by loyalty to a party or candidate and thus might be more engaged in a process of judgement abou...