The art of handing over: (mis)managing party leadership succession

SECURING ORDERLY TRANSITION OF POWER FROM ONE RULER TO another is a classic problem for polities of any kind. Historically, ruler succession episodes were often marred by fierce competition and infighting among members of the ruling elite. Even in stable democratic systems with effective electoral and other procedures for replacing heads of government, leadership rotation within political parties retains some of these brutal qualities. Party leadership successions are mostly ad hoc affairs, frequently rooted in either the incumbent's state of mind, dissatisfaction with the incumbent's performance within the party, or internal power struggles. Comparative studies find that party leadership successions often generate widespread uncertainty, agony and even trauma within parties and thus they weaken rather than consolidate or strengthen a party's public support base.