Why do authoritarian leaders gain more power during crises?

SCIENCE NEWS FROM KRISTIANIA: Leadership

This text was first published in sciencenorway.no on the 9th of September 2025 with the title "How crisis empowers the authoritarian leader".

We often turn to strong leadership in times of uncertainty, chaos and crisis. The philosopher Thomas Hobbes wrote about this back in the late 1500s. Living in a time of conflict, he believed that only a strong state, led by strong leaders, could hold society together. His ideas can’t be scientifically proven, but they have helped shape a lasting belief in strong leadership. 

These days, strong leaders are thriving. The U.S president sees himself - despite his egotism, childishness, and bullying behaviour - as a strong leader. And he prefers the company of others like him. When such leaders align with tech billionaires obsessed with corporate-style leadership, it’s time to buckle up. 

And in the background, the manosphere is lurking. It glorifies masculinity, self-discipline, mental and physical toughness. Add a growing fan base for Ayn Rand’s controversial novel, Atlas Shrugged, and a pattern starts to emerge. 

Strong leadership can also be destructive 

Many strong leaders want the power to act without interference. Take Trump, for example. He tries to dethrone anyone who challenges him: the media, the courts, even public institutions.  

In times of disorder, we are more willing to hand over power. We want someone to take control. To lead us through the storm. But we don’t always stop to question how that power is being used.  

Being decisive and action-oriented are valuable leadership traits. But only when paired with accountability

Strong leaders who crave control often distrust transparency and democratic processes. These slow things down and limit their freedom to act. Strong leadership is, of course, not always negative. But some of the leadership qualities that give strength can also be destructive. But some of the very traits that make leaders appear strong – aggression, egocentrism, and narcissism – can also be deeply destructive.  

Employee participation is developing in the wrong direction 

We are an ocean away from the U.S, and Norwegian society is very different. Still, we should be wary of glorifying leaders who are given too much power and freedom. 

In my latest book, Lederisme, I argue that society has shifted in ways that benefit leaders. Over the past 30 to 40 years, the leadership profession has gained more economic, cultural, social, and symbolic power.  

But when leaders are given too much room to manoeuvre, cracks begin to show in the Norwegian labour model. There’s a slow shift underway, moving away from workers and toward employers. Studies also show that the legal rights of employees to participate and have influence are gradually weakened.   

Unlimited leadership is risky 

Strong leaders with no checks and balances threaten social contracts, institutions and established principles. That is the reality European leaders are now painfully learning, as they see long-standing structures being dismantled. In these cases, democratic ideals do not help. Only the hard truths of power politics apply.  

They must mobilise alternatives to unchecked power faster than they are able to. Set geopolitics aside, and we’ll see that when faced with unlimited leadership power, Norwegian workplace democracy is unlikely to escape without lasting harm.  

So the question is, how suitable is labour democracy for handling contemporary challenges in the workplace? The answer to that question is open, but the solution is not to unilaterally give leaders with no loyalty to anyone other than their principals and themselves unlimited power and room for manoeuvre.  

Being decisive and action-oriented are valuable leadership traits. But only when paired with accountability. Otherwise, if strong leaders with unchecked power, boosted by global trends and blind admiration for strength, are allowed too much space, Norwegian working life could face serious consequences. 

Text: Tom Karp, professor, School of Communication, Leadership and Marketing, Kristiania University of Applied Sciences.  

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