Psychopathology, Public Policy and Public Leadership

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Tom R. Hulst
June 10, 2024

At a time when authoritarianism, conspiracy theories, AI and incivility are on the rise, it is imperative that public administrators delve deeper into the issue of the psychology of leadership. It is important to unpack the underlying components of the human psyche to better comprehend political behavior and administrative leadership so public servants do not lose sight of the values and principles of their vocation.

Harold Lasswell, a University of Chicago professor, dominated the development of political psychology in mid-20th-century America. He was a brilliant social scientist who pioneered the study of politi­cal behavior and systematized the examination of symbols and propaganda through rigorous analysis.  Lasswell’s seminal work, Psychopathology and Politics published in 1930, applied clinical psychology to the inscrutable world of politics. Lasswell’s study of personality traits and psychopathology explored the hidden recesses of the mind where ambition, phobias and obsession converge. His focus included case studies of politicians, judges, business leaders and public administrators. Lasswell proposed that internal psychological stress comes from many sources and threatens individual security, status and personal well-being. His paradigm provides “that private motives (p) are displaced (d) onto public objects, and then rationalized (r) in terms of the public interest, producing “political man” (P).” The displacement hypothesis postulates that “certain thoughts or emotions are so painful, threatening or over-whelming that the individual will repress them, and redirect them onto more remote objects.” Ascher, William and Barbara Hirschfelder-Ascher. Revitalizing Political Psychology: The Legacy of Harold D. Lasswell, Taylor & Francis Group, 2004. Lasswell’s ideas on displacement parallel the modern concept of “Psychological Projection”. Projection as defined by the National Institute of Health “is a wrongful attribution of one’s own unrecognized impulses, feelings and thoughts onto others.”

The linkage between psychopathology, policy, and leadership remains an important area for investigation in the new century. The pioneering work of Paulhus & Williams, relating to the “Dark Triad”, for example, has been fairly investigated. The Dark Triad includes the traits of Machiavellianism (i.e., acting in a manipulative and exploitive manner), narcissism (i.e., self-perception of greatness and feeling entitled to dominate others) and psychopathy (i.e., characterized by insensitivity, lack of empathy, and a tendency to impulsivity).  Petersen and Palmer have determined that the Dark Triad traits provide scientific explanation concerning a variety of political behaviors including citizen participation and political ambition.

Psychological projections, displacements and Dark Triad traits may block efforts to constructively resolve wicked problems of public policy. Human anguish and displacement can be readily manipulated by those using propaganda and social media to target symbols or individuals in the public arena.  Administrators and policy scientists can profitably increase their awareness of the work of Lasswell and more recent researchers to better understand leadership behavior.

The major obstacles posed by displacement to the resolution of policy issues, according to Asher, are impairment, distraction, rigidity, intensity and lack of accountability. Public “displacement” of private “projections” can easily regress to a blame game or scapegoating that impairs policymaking about unemployment, the economy and public budgets. Displacement of private angst can involve distraction from the administration of fair and impartial elections and public health; it can create inflexibility regarding civil liberties, privacy and equal protection of the law. Finally, it can inhibit accountability of officials concerning environmental policy, climate science and immigration.

These psychological threats pose an external and internal threat to public leadership. They may be included among the “moral hazards” mentioned by Dr. David Rosenbloom, former editor of the Public Administration Review and Professor Emeritus of American University. Indeed, the moral hazards in public administration described by Rosenbloom parallel to some extent the obstacles posed by displacement mentioned by Asher et. al.; they include constitutional derangement, value displacement, amoral administrative thought and encumbering agencies/ossification.

In his article in the Journal of Chinese Governance, Vol 8, 2023, titled Administrative States as Moral Hazards: Four Dimensions, Rosenbloom recalls the separation of unauthorized migrant children by the U.S. Government beginning in 2017.  Some 5,000 children, including babies and toddlers, were separated from their parents, and kept in deplorable conditions. In autumn 2023, approximately 1,000 children had not been reunited with their families, despite efforts to locate the parents. This is an example of public administration’s complicity in psychopathological behavior such as Machiavellianism, scapegoating and impairment; and demonstrates the moral hazards rooted in public administration including value displacement, encumbering agencies and amoral administrative thought.

Public servants may lose sight of the values and purpose of their mission as the flood of displacements, conspiracy theories and propaganda saturates the public domain. They can be the target of displacement by others; and can themselves displace their anxieties and frustrations onto other public objects, persons or entities. They need to, therefore, remain introspective, circumspect and vigilant in their role in administration and policymaking. In the navigation of these tumultuous undercurrents of the political landscape, it is essential that the human psyche remains an area of further scientific study. It is important, finally, that the profession becomes more familiar with the works of Lasswell, Paulhus & Williams and Rosenbloom in the design of professional development activities that confront these issues.

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Author: Washingtonian Tom R. Hulst received an MA in public administration from Washington State University, was policy advisor to Governor Daniel Evans, administrator in the State Office of Public Instruction, and superintendent of Peninsula School District. He published The Footpaths of Justice William O. Douglas in 2004, been a long time ASPA member, and currently teaches politics at Tacoma Community College. 

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @thulstlivecom

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