Why Do People Run for Office?

There is no group more maligned by the American people than politicians, which is odd when we consider that politicians and politics are a natural byproduct of the democracy of which we are so proud. If you want to avoid politicians currying your favor and promising you things they can’t deliver, perhaps you should go live under a dictatorship. There the leaders just tell you what to do.

- Wendell Perry

The reason we look upon politicians with such scorn is that they work out the compromises and make the deals that keep our fractious society together. These deals are hardly ever a pure expression of what we as individuals see as right and wrong. They combine the ideals and opinions of a multitude of people. This is a messy process, and what it produces often stinks of human frailty and the limitations of the possible. We accept these messy deals as necessary for the governance of the nation, and we blame the stink on the people who make them.

However, as maligned as politicians are in our society, there never seems to be a shortage of people willing to run for public office. What is it that inspires a person to enter a profession in which his or her credibility is constantly in question? What makes certain people “political animals”? If you’re a fan of the Netflix series “House of Cards,” you might think that it’s all about power, but I take a more optimistic view. I think that the majority of people who aspire to public office do so because they legitimately want to serve their community. They think they have a better idea, plan, or philosophy.

Obviously, most of these better ideas and plans turn out to be unworkable, and sterling philosophies quickly get tarnished during the contentious bargaining that a democratic government requires. Human nature takes over, and the newly minted politician sooner or later becomes one of those “bums” that people want to toss out. Still, I think that even the most jaded and cynical politician has buried somewhere in his or her soul an essential desire to find a better way.

JUPITER AND SATURN