How Can We Attract Better Politicians?

Back in the 1930s, it wasn’t uncommon to enter somebody’s house and see a portrait of Franklin Roosevelt on the wall. This made sense at the time. He was a very popular politician, with <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/franklin-d-roosevelt-public-approval" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">approval ratings</a> that sometimes topped 80%. But it was more than that — in addition to guiding the country through the hard times of depression and war, Roosevelt was widely respected as a leader and a human being. He became a kind of father figure to the nation. Can you imagine something like that happening today? It feels like it’s been a long time since we’ve had a leader who has been as widely admired as FDR. In some ways, that’s OK. Political hagiography kind of gives me the creeps. On the other hand, we may have swung too far in the opposite direction as a country. Though Americans get to choose our leaders, we seem to despise them. Two-thirds of Americans <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2021/03/31/many-in-us-western-europe-say-their-political-system-needs-major-reform/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">think</a> that “most politicians are corrupt.” About the same percentage <a href="https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2023/02/10/actions-people-americans-consider-immoral-poll" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">believes</a> that politicians as a category are “somewhat immoral” or “very immoral;” in fact, Americans find politicians to be more immoral than pornography actresses. <a href="https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2020/9/10/21431119/american-family-survey-parents-kids-politicians-brookings-institution-trump-biden-racial-unrest" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Ninety percent</a> of Americans don’t want their children to become politicians. <a href="https://medium.com/rome-magazine/how-can-we-attract-better-politicians-434de573f542">Learn More</a>