I'm reading an interesting book by Robert A. Dahl called Who Governs?. It's a classic in political theory literature. He analyzes the politics of New Haven, Connecticut in the 1950s. However, the book and his analysis are more broadly relevant to political power and influence.
Wile there are many theories about political power that look at power as a product of voters, interest groups, or parties, few at the time gave much credit to leaders themselves. He, however, points to a theory from Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gassett in his 1930 book The Revolt of the Masses. Dahl explains:
"Essentially, this theory (which has many variants) argues that under certain conditions of development (chiefly industrialization and urbanization) older, stratified, class-based social structures are weakened or destroyed; and in their place arises a mass of individuals with no secure place in the social system, rootless, aimless, lacking strong social ties, ready and indeed eager to attach themselves to any political entrepreneur who will cater to their tastes and desires. Led by unscrupulous and exploitative leaders, these rootless masses have the capacity to destroy whatever stands in their way without the ability to replace it with a stable alternative. Consequently the greater their influence on politics, the more helpless they become; the more they destroy, the more they depend upon strong leaders to create some kind of social, economic, and political organization to replace the old. If we ask, 'Who governs?' the answer is not the mass nor its leaders but both together; the leaders cater to mass tastes and in return use the strength provided by the loyalty and obedience of the masses to weaken and perhaps even annihilate all opposition to their rule."
This seems relevant today, nearly 90 years after it was written by Gassett and almost 60 years after Dahl described it.
Oh, and they're referring to Nazis btw.