Leadership is one of those essentially contested concepts in the social sciences to which adding the prefix political is not particularly helpful. From intuitive notions over compelling biographical notes on great, heroic men to the exotics of a periodic table of leadership studies, scholars from disciplines as broad as psychology, sociology, economics and political science have embarked on a quest for a general theory of leadership, so far without encompassing success. At the same time, leadership is the talk of the town in an era of increasing complexity. It evokes notions of innovation, trust, purposefulness, direction and manageability.

These associations already suggest that incomplete and inconclusive does not necessarily imply inconceivable or inane. Also in political science, scholars have identified a number of aspects that are crucial to understanding leadership. Rather than yet another attempt to define its every aspect, it draws on a set of dimensions essential to grasp political leadership and more in particular its transformation at the local level since the 1990s. Moreover, these dimensions provide a useful reference to frame the thematic and/or country-specific contributions to this volume.