Margaret Hermann

Professor, Political Science

Director, Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs
Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs

Degree

Ph.D., Northwestern University, 1965

Specialties

Political leadership, foreign policy decision making, comparative foreign policy, crisis management

Biography

Margaret (Peg) Hermann is Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs and Director of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs at the Maxwell School. Her research focuses on political leadership, foreign policy decision making, the comparative study of foreign policy, and crisis management. Hermann has worked to develop techniques for assessing the leadership styles of heads of government at a distance and has such data on over 300 leaders. She is currently involved in exploring the effects of different types of leaders and decision processes on the management of crises that cross border and boundaries as well as lead governments to experience crises. Her leadership style measures have also been applied to the leaders of transnational NGOs and international organizations.

Hermann has been president of the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP) and the International Studies Association (ISA) as well as editor of Political Psychology and the International Studies Review. She developed the Summer Institute in Political Psychology and was its director for nine years. Among her books are Describing Foreign Policy Behavior; Political Psychology: Issues and Problems; Leaders, Groups, and Coalitions Understanding the People and Processes in Foreign Policymaking. Her journal articles and book chapters include: Assessing Leadership Style: A Trait Analysis; Using Content Analysis to Study Public Figures; The Effects of Leaders and Leadership in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding; Transboundary Crises through the Eyes of Policymakers; Policymakers and Their Interpretations Matter; The Experiment and Foreign Policy Decision Making; The Study of American Foreign Policy; and Leadership, Terrorism, and the Use of Violence.