Vladimir Putin as a political leader: Challenges to an adult developmentally-informed analysis of politics and political culture.

Abstract

This article illustrates the extent to which adult development models can be useful tools for contributing to a more adequate, developmentally informed understanding of political leadership. In a case study of Russian president Vladimir Putin, we analyze evidence about important elements of the president's political identity and worldview, as well as his goals and behavioral strategies that result from them. We draw on extensive published materials, including biographies, interviews, speeches, and public discourse, which are analyzed through the lens of neo-Piagetian theories of adult development, in particular, ego development. On this basis, we identify a leadership profile revolving around a self-protective center of gravity and discuss this finding in methodological regard.

Vladimir Putin’s political leadership in action: Two developmentally informed case studies on domestic and foreign politics.

“…• controlling the political process, thus assuring one's own power without "interference" by independent civil society actors; • establishing media that are loyal to the president and state, thus escaping critique and avoiding the risk of losing face; • taking control of important parts of the economy for personal use (thus violating the law) without having to fear public outcry; and • creating political enemies as threats that legitimate the persistent use of force and thus strengthening his power position on the basis of his image as a strongman. As to Putin's introduction of the vertical of power, the underlying self-protective notion of democracy has already been outlined elsewhere (Wagner & Fein, 2016). Abolishing democratic elections of governors in favor of their direct nomination by the president, offering local governors certain liberties in their provinces in return for political neutrality on the national level (Reitschuster, 2004, p. 218), cutting down democratic participation rights in all areas of political life, curtailing independent and critical nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and introducing a so-called civic chamber as a means to reward and flatter loyal NGOs, thereby marginalizing critical ones-all of that contributed to increasing sociopolitical control and to limiting and impeding independent social activity.…”

“…Although these measures appear to be clearly motivated by self-protective drivers, the rather efficient and systematic way they have been put into place somehow suggests specific expertise and obstination, which have also been identified in Putin's leadership profile (see Wagner & Fein, 2016). However, in contrast to expert action logics, which value-and act according to-the authority of craft masters, Putin's "sovereign" or "delegative democracy" frankly ig-nores international democratic standards.…”

“…As mentioned elsewhere (Wagner & Fein, 2016), given Putin's uncritical attitude toward the Soviet past ("There has never been anything better and smarter than the Soviet power" or "Soviet history is the most humane in the world" ;Fleischmann, 2010, pp. 68 and 330, respectively), the collapse of communism and the Soviet Union is likely to have been a somewhat traumatic experience for him (Wagner & Fein, 2016). Therefore, trying to compensate for this loss must be regarded as one of the central drivers of his foreign politics.…”

“…Whereas Wagner and Fein (2016) initial contribution has elaborated this claim in a more general way, this article provides more empirical evidence in view of some practical implications of Putin's leadership profile. The following two case studies, covering selected aspects of domestic and foreign politics, aim to flesh out our hypotheses in more detail and thereby illustrate to what extent the assumption of a selfprotective identity and leadership behavior helps to understand current Russian politics.…”

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This article expands on Wagner and Fein's (2016) analysis of Vladimir Putin's political leadership viewed through a developmental lens. On the basis of a qualitative analysis of selected published materials on Putin's role in Russian politics from 2000 to 2015, 2 case studies take a closer look at important domestic (Case Study 1) and international (Case Study 2) issues.

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