Quote from: droogTo some extent, in any RPG known to Man, you have to rely on people not being dicks. That holds for all participants.

This holds true in life in general.
 
As for Pundit's assertion that...
 

Quote from: RPGPunditGaming groups MUST have a leader, with the strength to be leader when it comes down to it, and that leader ABSOLUTELY MUST be the GM. Anything else is a recipe for disaster.

I can't say I particularly agree. What exactly is a leader? And what is leadership? From Wikipedia, leadership is "the ability of an individual to influence, motivate and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members".
 
In traditional RPGs, the GM is automatically a leader because he (or she) is empowered by the rules to influence the group, though some GMs don't not necessarily exercise this power. But that does not stop the players being influential as well and displaying leadership qualities. In any given group, there needn't necessarily be one single leader. In fact, IME, a group without at least one leader amonst the players will be a disaster.
 
My most enjoyable gaming experiences came from a group with three participants - a GM, who by virtue of his position was empowered to be a leader, and two players who by virtue of their personality were equally empowered. In any given situation, one leader would typically be dominant but this was not necessarily the same person each time.