Special Interests and the Indispensable Craft of the Politician
by Contributing Writer(s) 03/28/2018Why is it that the more expertise politicians’ gain in their field, the more we deride them?
What makes a politician
They’re indispensable to the system. I’ve had a good vantage point to observe successful American politicians over the decades, and I’ve come to believe the craft of politics requires certain characteristics. Not every politician possesses them, but the good ones — and there are plenty of good politicians — strive for them.
Moods of the people
They also know that progress will not come easily. They understand they’ll face setbacks, failure, and hardship, but they persevere in the American way of governing because it can make a lot of things possible. They search for a path forward, and for a remedy to a problem.
Influencing others
They tend to be articulate, adept at influencing others, and at times inspirational. But they are also pragmatic, and prepared to adjust, compromise, and improvise in order to move policy in the direction they’d like to see it go. They may pursue the perfect, but most of them know they won’t get there, and will have to be satisfied with incremental progress. Very rarely do we advance in leaps and bounds.
They’re comfortable holding authority and responsibility, and because they recognize that they share these burdens with others, they respect their colleagues. They try to be civil with them, since they understand the dynamic nature of politics — that you don’t have permanent enemies or allies and that your foe one day may be a comrade the next.
And while they know the value of coming together in unity and may even strive for it, they understand that it’s rarely achievable. Indeed, they expect criticism, appreciating that it comes with the territory and is one sign of the vitality of the democracy we live in.
Special interests or good politicians
Finally, good politicians understand that politics consists of a lot more than running for election. It has to be practiced every day in a democracy. We don’t live in a perfect world, and we can’t attain one. But in the end, politics is about striving to get there — to make the world, or at least this country, better.
The best politicians understand that this requires inclusivity, that all groups in every part of the nation have to be taken into account, that many interests have to be balanced, if the U.S. is going to succeed and be secure. They retain a fundamental faith in the people of the country. They do not give up on America.
I don’t want to suggest either that I think all politicians possess these qualities, or that any politician enjoys them all. Yet these characteristics are what mastery of the craft of politics demands, and they come only with time and experience. In my book, any politician who displays them deserves the same respect we’d give any specialist who has acquired the knowledge, skill, and insight demanded by a complicated, demanding, and meaningful profession.
Lee Hamilton is a Senior Advisor for the Indiana University Center on Representative Government; a Distinguished Scholar, IU School of Global and International Studies; and a Professor of Practice, IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years.
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