Political leaders are the most visible political actors in contemporary societies and have been pivotal in affecting political and policy outcomes during the economic – political crisis that began in late 2008. Elite theorists have accused elites for causing the crisis by their actions and / or inactions. The intensity and duration of crisis now permits scholars to look deeper into how elites handled the crisis.
This paper wants to uncover real actions political leaders employed to “muddle” their countries through the crisis as well as to assess how successful they have been in doing so. I study actions of twelve Prime ministers from six CEE and three Baltic States, “Prime Ministers in Crisis”, that have been in the office since 2008 until present. I analyze several general aspects of how Prime ministers handled the crisis, several specific actions of Prime ministers in the area of economic policy, and lastly the reactions of the public to those actions. I use data collected by expert surveys. To uncover paths that lead to successful exit of the crisis I use qualitative configurational analysis (QCA). I find that supportive public, absence of populist rhetoric, and moderate but decisive Prime ministers are most likely to find successful resolution to the crisis. This suggests that in the times like crisis when leaders’ activities may be significantly constrained, leaders are pivotal actors whose actions determine whether the country resolves the crisis, or sinks deeper into it. It suggests in addition, that while leaders’ actions or inactions are at fault for the onset of the crisis, political leaders are pivotal for successful resolution of the crisis.
