Leadership, Carisma e Identità. Il caso dello Scottish National Party sotto la guida di Alex Salmond (Leadership, Charisma and Identity. The case of the Scottish National Party under the lead of Alex Salmond)

As many scholars have noted, in contemporary Western liberal democracies there is a growing trend towards the personalisation of party politics. In practice, this has coincided with the emergence of strong, often charismatic, leaders – which, in turn, has lead to an increasing ‘emptying’ of ideological values and alignments within parties. This paper seeks to add to the current debate offering an analysis of a party that seems to counter such tendency: the Scottish National Party (SNP). By analysing the SNP under the lead of Alex Salmond, it will be argued that the presence of a strong and charismatic leadership can have «virtuous effects», strengthening rather than weakening a party’s structures and values as well as its ability to govern.