The Qualities of Leadership : Direction, Communication, and Obfuscation

Party activists wish to (i) advocate the best policy while (ii) unifying behind a party line. Activists learn about policy and the party line by listening to leaders. A leader's influence increases with her judgement on policy (sense of direction) and her ability to convey ideas (clarity of communication). A leader with perfect clarity enjoys greater influence than one with a perfect sense of direction. When activists choose how much attention to pay to leaders they listen only to the most coherent communicators. However, attention-seeking leaders sometimes obfuscate their messages, but less so when activists emphasize party unity