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Wednesday, December 3, 2008 12:00 AM

Nepotistic succession in the political class

A large, and rapidly growing, percentage of high elected officials are part of politically powerful families. What accounts for this anti-democratic dynamic?

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  • Wednesday, December 3, 2008 08:34 AM

    I'll take two Clintons and one Kennedy, please. Hold the Bidens.

    Politicians no longer have "names", such as you and I have. Today they have brands. It is part of the marketing package. Policy is marketing strategy. Reality, history, and its related ideology is sold over the airwaves through an army of public relations specialists (salesmen) and fear mongers.

    People are too busy for nuanced inquiry. Or the alternative approach (independent research) is too complicated and hard. I know quite a bit from a liberal arts university education and my 65 years absorbing information from a place of intense intellectual curiosity. However, I still can't understand the world of finance (all those acronyms!) at all. It must be similarly hard for preoccupied people to get past the packaging and look at the product.

    What chance does democracy stand in today's overwhelming, intimidating, and utterly unfathonable world? The idea of an "informed electorate" is a hoot.

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