Chapter 1 looks at the notion of political leadership and presents an overview of the few works that have addressed the topic in the political science literature. The study of African politics departs from mainstream political science in that it has traditionally underscored the role that individual power-holders play in sub-Saharan polities. Single-party and military authoritarian rule has been the perfect ground for neopatrimonial regimes to flourish in Africa, and the latter, in turn, have favoured the weakening of African states and the gradual deterioration of political stability, economic development, and social welfare. While political leadership has often been considered a key cause of political and economic decay in postcolonial Africa, however, the leadership/development linkage has never been examined in a systematic manner. The new electoral regimes introduced in the region since the 1990s have been intended to redress the unsuccessful development trajectories of African states by altering the way in which national leaders reach and leave power and thus their political incentives for more effective policies