Through a range of international case studies from the USA, UK, France, Germany and Italy, this engaging new text examines political leadership and considers the rise in the Executive powers of Western democracies in the last few decades. Unlike earlier assessments of the subject, which have emphasized the importance of a unified force of followers rallying behind a public figure, this volume argues that leadership can also be understood as a risk-taking venture which takes advantage of uncertainty among voters. Assessing the conditions necessary for effective leadership, it emphasizes the part played by indecision and division amongst followers and shows that political leadership can be a cause in itself, which cannot be reduced to a mere consequence of a chain of previous events.