Unwritten Rules, Unseen Barriers: Why Political Leadership Norms Hold the Key to Better Politics

By Cäcilia Riederer

Politics is in trouble. Trust in politicians and political systems is collapsing worldwide. Mass protests in Kenya, Georgia, and Bangladesh. Assassination attempts in Slovakia and the U.S. Political violence, once rare, is becoming disturbingly normal.

But beneath the headlines is something even more insidious—a quieter force that shapes who rises, who survives, and who stays far away: political leadership norms. These are the unwritten rules of politics. They shape who feels welcome to lead, how leaders are expected to behave, and what lines can’t be crossed—even when those lines are invisible. They tell us which emotions are “presidential,” who gets to speak with authority, and who must stay silent for safety. And right now, those norms are fraying.

Online abuse. Death threats. Gendered disinformation. When violence—physical or verbal—becomes part of the job description, good people opt out. And when the best potential leaders stay out, we all lose. Trust erodes. Cynicism grows. Bad leadership often fills the void.

What’s often overlooked is a missing piece: the invisible architecture of politics—the cultural expectations, power rituals, and silent exclusions that define political life. If we want truly representative, resilient, and responsive politics, we have to rethink not just laws and systems but also norms. The tone, behavior, and backstage culture. Because better politics starts with better leadership—and better leadership starts with better rules, written and unwritten.

This short introduction is for anyone ready to break the silence, reshape the script, and help rebuild trust from the inside out.

Political Leadership Norms: The Missing Piece? 

This nascent concept, termed “Political Leadership Norms”  in a briefing recently published by Better Politics Foundation, describes the informal, deeply ingrained expectations and informal rules around political leadership. They are the expectations and understandings around how leaders in politics can and should behave, who is considered "electable,” whose voices are amplified, and who is silenced. 

Looking at issues like mistrust in politics or political violence from a normative perspective will not resolve them overnight. However, an examination of the norms around political leadership offers us a different perspective on both the problem and potential solutions. If we are serious about renewing democracy and political leadership for the 21st and 22nd centuries, it is time to study these norms and address them head-on.

A Practical Roadmap for Change

So, how can the norms around political leadership be changed? Norm change is not a new practice; it has been used successfully for decades in areas of public health, gender equality, and violence prevention. However, deliberate norm-shifting around political leadership is less established. Building on the best practices from other issues, shifting norms requires four main steps: 

1. Identify and define the norms in your context in as much detail as possible. 

2. Diagnose the impact these norms have on the people, institutions, and political discourse. 

3. Build and equip alliances on these issues to be able to address the norms together. 

4. Implement norm change strategies that are tailored to the problem and context you are addressing. 

Norm change can take place in different ways, such as introducing new norms, shifting existing ones, or dismantling existing norms. Shifting norms is not about dismantling institutions but about reinforcing positive expectations and examples and introducing new, more inclusive norms. Four main strategies to transform the norms around political leadership can help guide initial initiatives. 

• Knowledge Creation: Creating a better understanding of norms around political leadership in different contexts and across different issue areas.

• Act Differently: Make it easier to break with the norms around political leadership, for example, through networks and support systems, highlighting role models and positive examples, and reducing the potential costs of breaking the norms.

• New Standards: Introducing new standards through laws and regulations, both at the international, national, and local levels, and within political institutions like political parties and parliaments.

• Shape Narratives: Create a public conversation and awareness about norms to create broader citizen support for more transformative political leadership, for example through media campaigns, events, and civic mobilization.

  
  

Understanding and addressing norms can take decades and require long-term engagement. However, in moments of erosion, of immense pressure on the system and the status quo, change can happen much faster. Political leadership norms can help us identify fundamental problems, address issues, and root causes, and build better politics. This is an invitation to use the perspective of political leadership norms to understand the underlying factors creating mistrust in politics and politicians and to test out the proposed strategies to renew political leadership, reimagine politics, and rebuild trust.

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Read the full briefing from the Better Politics Foundation here and join the conversation about transforming political leadership for the 21st century.