Political argument is so obsessed with leadership that it might seem per- verse to claim that it is a local pas- sion, not a universal one, and that even in the United States it has been intermit- tent and not constant. It is certainly a claim that would be hard to make in a gathering of orthodox social scientists. It would be equally hard to persuade the public. American politi- cians and voters are much concerned with as- sorted "crises of leadership" as described in the contemporary...