The Perfect Political Animal
ILLUSTRATED: The four (plus 1) traits of a perfect politico.
1. You need a good grasp of Constitutional and political theory. The constitution is the basic document of politics, and knowing the theory helps conceptualize everything.
2.An encyclopedic erudition of public policy. Tax policy is the most important to understand, no matter what level of government you operate at.
3. Have an anthropological understanding of the electorate. Know your people, enough said.
4. A tactical sense for leveraging a public agenda. This is the most difficult to explain, but you need a sense of what constituencies will coalesce with you, and how to wedge between coalitions arrayed against you. Always know what impact you want.
5. Be able to use 1 and 2 above, to persuasively influence the electorate (3), in pursuit of 4.
1. You need a good grasp of Constitutional and political theory. The constitution is the basic document of politics, and knowing the theory helps conceptualize everything.
2.An encyclopedic erudition of public policy. Tax policy is the most important to understand, no matter what level of government you operate at.
3. Have an anthropological understanding of the electorate. Know your people, enough said.
4. A tactical sense for leveraging a public agenda. This is the most difficult to explain, but you need a sense of what constituencies will coalesce with you, and how to wedge between coalitions arrayed against you. Always know what impact you want.
5. Be able to use 1 and 2 above, to persuasively influence the electorate (3), in pursuit of 4.
posted by Teka Thomas at 2:59 AM
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