Dark Politics

Recent years have seen the rise of political figures with particularly abrasive, controversial, and aggressive personalities, who seem to take pleasure in introducing an uncivil tone into the political debate. From Trump in the USA to Bolsonaro in Brazil, the media increasingly spotlights political figures who adopt a transgressive political style that incorporates spectacular acts, exaggeration, calculated provocations, and political and socio-cultural taboos. Who are these aggressive political figures? Why are they successful? And what does it mean for democracy? Dark Politics is a novel exploration of the rise of aversive and antagonistic political figures worldwide. Drawing on new data from 100 recent elections, post-election surveys, and original experimental evidence, Alessandro Nai and Jürgen Maier provide the first large-scale comparative investigation into the "darker" sides of human personality in politicians--the "Dark Triad" of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. Nai and Maier show that dark traits are acutely present in populists, go hand in hand with more aggressive forms of campaign rhetoric, such as incivility and negativity, and are particularly appreciated by voters who themselves score high on such dark personality traits. Their analyses reveal that dark candidates are more likely to be electorally successful when running as an incumbent and tend to be associated with a better economic performance if elected. However, dark leaders can lead to increased cynicism in the public, democratic deconsolidation, and even a poorer response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dark Politics provides a new way to understand contemporary politics by looking at the crucial role of dark personality traits in leaders and voters.

Alessandro Nai is Associate Professor of Political Communication at the University of Amsterdam. His research focuses on the dark sides of politics, the use of negativity and incivility in election campaigns in a comparative perspective, and the personality traits of political leaders. He is currently Associate Editor of the Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties, and the Journal of Social and Political Psychology. Jürgen Maier is Professor of Political Communication at the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU). His research focuses on the content and effects of election campaign communication, political knowledge, political attitudes, and voting behavior.

List of Tables and Figures Preface and Acknowledgements Chapter 1. Introduction: Investigating Dark Politicians Chapter 2. Dark Politicians, Populism, and Dark Campaigns Chapter 3. Can Dark Politicians Win Elections? Chapter 4. Who Likes Dark Politicians? Chapter 5. Dark Consequences? Chapter 6. Conclusion: Dark Politics and the Future of Democracy Appendix A. Methodological primer Appendix B. Candidates and Elections Appendix C. Dark personality Experiment Appendix D. Additional results, by chapter Epilogue Notes References Index