Examining the role of Donald Trump and his supporters in the 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol: A dual-agency model of identity leadership and engaged followership

Abstract

<p>This paper develops a dual-agency model of leadership which treats collective phenomena as a co-production between leaders and followers. The model integrates work on identity leadership and engaged followership derived from the social identity tradition in social psychology. In contrast to binary models in which leaders or followers are seen to have agency, this argues that leaders gain influence by framing the agency of their followers and defining the parameters of their action but leaving space for creativity in how their goals are accomplished. Followers in turn, exhibit their loyalty and attachment to the leader by competing to be most effective in advancing these goals. We illustrate the model by drawing on a range of sources, most notably the events of 6th January 2021 when Donald Trump’s exhortations to his supporters that they should ‘fight’ to ‘stop the steal’ of the 2020 election was followed by an attack on the Capitol. We argue that it is Trump’s willing participation in this mutual process of identity enactment, rather than any instructions which may (or may not) have been contained in his speech, that should be the basis for assessing his influence on, and responsibility for, the assault.</p>