Should public office be limited to business executives?

[DarkLight]

The concern is that groups self-selects for the well off. There’s some real evidence that it is very hard for those who are very well off to understand what life is life at the bottom of the income charts. One downside is that government is supposed to be run for the good of everyone, whereas businesses run for the purpose of making a profit.

Now, what I’d really like is a system that put various different experts in relevant places to clearly explain the consequences of different decisions. But that seems unlikely.

 

[lilypadrees]

No, public office shouldn’t be limited to business executives.

 

[philipl]

Its not our job to run the world.

 

[Vonsalza]

Its not our job to run the world.

That’s a nice thread topic.

 

[PaulinVA]

My perfect candidate is 55 to 65, and has the following experience. Mixing and matching allowed. At least one of these:

Governor - one full term
Senator - at least one full term
Congressperson: at least three terms

One must have experience as a state executive or at least six years in the senate or house.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Snarky a little?

My business experience or lack thereof has nothing to do with my intelligence nor my ability to comprehend politics and statecraft.

By the same vein, how many political offices have you held?

Good debate banters ideas and concepts, we can both discuss medical issues without having an MD behind my name.

BTW, three decades in everything from entry level at a small family owned business to the Director level at an international public company.

 

[TheLittleLady]

I would take that and add some sort of military or NGO experience.

 

[TechieGuy]

What does the Constitution say about it?

There’s your answer.

 

[Theo520]

Snarky a little?

My business experience or lack thereof has nothing to do with my intelligence nor my ability to comprehend politics and statecraft.

By the same vein, how many political offices have you held?

Good debate banters ideas and concepts, we can both discuss medical issues without having an MD behind my name.

BTW, three decades in everything from entry level at a small family owned business to the Director level at an international public company.

You seem to be projecting my intent, and avoided what I actually said.

So you have extensive experience that includes decision making and being responsible for outcomes. Don’t you think that experience is valuable in leadership?

Also, don’t you think any business person or public official with managerial experience, obviously has the prerequisite political savvy (statecraft???) if they actually got elected? The people without it just don’t get supported by their party.

 

[RandomAlias]

What say you?

I say military leadership would be more important than business leadership.

 

[TheNoseKnows]

In my anecdotal experience, those who successfully manage budgets at an organizational level and “the independently wealthy” are generally the same folks.

Someone whose wealthy may have just inherited their money, kinda like how Trump got a “small” loan from his daddy. People of the Rockefellers or Vanderbilt familys were merely born into their wealth.

Having managerial experience and budget vs objectives responsibility hardly equates to being independently wealthy.

 

[Vonsalza]

Vonsalza:

In my anecdotal experience, those who successfully manage budgets at an organizational level and “the independently wealthy” are generally the same folks.

Someone whose wealthy may have just inherited their money, kinda like how Trump got a “small” loan from his daddy. People of the Rockefellers or Vanderbilt familys were merely born into their wealth.

Having managerial experience and budget vs objectives responsibility hardly equates to being independently wealthy.

In my anecdotal experience, those who successfully manage budgets at an organizational level and “the independently wealthy” are generally the same folks.

arbitrary char. req.

 

[QwertyGirl]

That is what hired officials have staff for. I want my official to be really smart, and really willing to listen and learn. Honest. Hardworking. Especially on the local level, I don’t believe what your brother-in-law suggests is correct. As long as the hired official surrounds him/herself with capable people who he /she is willing to be advised by, then it can work out just as well (or better) than if they have executive experience in the business world.

 

[Theo520]

You have to know how to manage staff to objectives, and that does take experience doing it.

It doesn’t work when you just take a smart likable person and tell them to suddenly run a very complex organization, they then become a puppet king and the real power resides behind the throne. In this scenario, the swamp is running the show…

You can’t just jump in at the top and waive a magic wand that surrounds you with capable people that follow your lead. It takes much experience to do that.

 

[QwertyGirl]

Yes, but not necessarily experience from the business world.

 

[Theo520]

Yes, but not necessarily experience from the business world.

Non profit leadership experience is equally valuable, a different side of the coin. This includes mayors, governors, and senior position where you are measured on your decisions, and your decisions have consequences.

 

[midori]

“Public office” is a pretty wide-encompassing thing. You have it at the municipal, county, state, and federal level. You also have legislative and judicial types of public office, not just executive.

So, what’s the purpose of a legislator? To make laws, right? So that’s one reason why you get such an awful lot of lawyers in government… because there’s a whole branch that doesn’t make sense unless you know how to speak legalese. Sure, you can have doctors or businessmen or whoever running for the state or federal House and Senate positions… but ultimately, you have to be fluent in law, just as much as any other qualification.

Likewise, in the judiciary, if I have a judge who’s deciding my case… I want someone who’s grounded in the law, not just making up something that sounds good. Buuuuuut… in many states, not all judges need to be an attorney before they can be a judge. Justice of the Peace, for example. Or County Judges. And District Judges. And so on. So, that’s one problem you run into… where you’ve got a brand-new judge who suddenly sets the wrong kind of precedent because of inexperience and not properly understanding the repercussions of what they’re doing.

There’s definitely places for businessmen and the kind of practical real-world experience that professional politicians just don’t have. I’m not arguing that at all! (Here’s a list of Congresscritters who have been in office at least 36 uninterrupted years. Highlighted cells are the ones who are still there, and probably will continue to be in office until they keel over one day. And then they’ll probably continue to haunt the building. ) But so much of our public office revolves around an understanding and interpretation of the law, that to completely disregard that facet of education/experience/background would do a disservice in the long run.

 

[Theo520]

There’s definitely places for businessmen and the kind of practical real-world experience that professional politicians just don’t have. I’m not arguing that at all! (Here’s a list of Congresscritters who have been in office at least 36 uninterrupted years. Highlighted cells are the ones who are still there, and probably will continue to be in office until they keel over one day. And then they’ll probably continue to haunt the building. ) But so much of our public office revolves around an understanding and interpretation of the law, that to completely disregard that facet of education/experience/background would do a disservice in the long run.

What I read is you describing the DC swamp, what voters hate about congress. Of course legal knowledge is important but Congressmen and any other official have access to expert legal advice, they are not running wild.

 

[SacredHeartBassist]

Of course not.

 

[midori]

DH is an elected official at the local level, so some of his stories about the goings-on at the courthouse are… interesting. It’s part of his job to point out to other elected officials what the law sez and where certain boundaries are. And then when said elected officials smile and nod and go off and do their own thing… stuff gets explodey. The way he warned it would. And then he gets to do damage control.

Not saying that I have any love for the swamp! I also have family who have been in DC since, like, the Eisenhower administration. I get those stories, too!