Governance by the Famous:“ The Case of Georgia

Abstract

There are two main types of leaders in political science: formal and informal. A formal leader is someone who has responsibilities due to their official position, while an informal leader is a respected figure in society without any official duties. Social capital accumulated outside the political sphere can be effectively used for political purposes. Notably, during the pre-election period, the electorate tends to show more trust in informal leaders. Because informal leaders do not have political responsibilities, they are often in a favorable position. Their involvement in politics is particularly evident in times of weak ideological competition, when they compensate for the lack of ideological debate through their leadership. This shift makes politics more person-centered and less accountable to ideology. During pre-election periods, assembling party lists featuring well-known figures is a proven strategy that mobilizes an unstable electorate and secures their votes. This approach is especially effective in volatile electoral conditions. What do we mean by ideological competition, and why is it so important? Ideological competition and programmatic differences between parties foster pluralism. The one-party rule during the Soviet era relied on maintaining a supportive intelligentsia, necessary for pseudo-legitimacy within society. Post-Soviet hybrid regimes also actively engaged the intelligentsia and celebrities to mobilize the electorate. This unity among citizens serves as support for the government, while for the average voter, it creates a behavioral pattern. The term "intelligentsia" originates from Latin and means "benevolence." In the Soviet Union, the term referred to individuals engaged in intellectual labor. It was first used in its modern sense in Poland during the 1840s. Pascal provides a simpler definition: "intellectuals who discuss and critique various aspects of public life" (Pascal and Sirinelli, 2002). The term "celebrity" comes from the English language, deriving from the Latin word "celebritas," which means fame. Wright Mills's work "The Power Elite" (1956) is the first study to discuss "celebrities" in a sociopolitical context. According to Mills, the elite is not composed of extraordinary individuals but rather is formed by the positions that these individuals occupy, which gives them special influence. He suggests that the average citizen in modern society is subject to manipulation. Archeri (2020) argues that the involvement of celebrities can harm the democratic political process, citing their influence on public opinion, especially when they lack the necessary expertise. The purpose of our study was to determine the role of weak ideological competition in the involvement of informal leaders in politics. We based our research on Marshall’s (2014) theory of celebrity influence, which posits that celebrities are individuals who outwardly promote (false) values and actively shape political, economic, and social life. Our hypothesis is that weak ideological competition leads to the involvement of informal leaders in politics. We explored the roles of both intelligentsia and celebrities in the political process. To conduct this research, we employed a qualitative method, specifically focus groups. The participants were selected non-probabilistically and purposefully, with one group consisting of individuals aged twenty to thirty-nine, and another group consisting of individuals aged forty to sixty. Our findings indicate that individuals who lived during the Soviet period tend to view the role of the intelligentsia in the political process positively. In contrast, the new generation is more critical of the involvement of famous individuals in politics, believing that such involvement harms the democratic process. Participants from both focus groups agreed that prominent figures are leveraged by political parties, particularly when ideological competition is weak. In these cases, a celebrity serves as a reference point, using their trustworthiness to influence the electorate for political gain.