The Magic of Political Endorsement

This might be an obvious observation, but it is a little humorous how citizens round the world live in the false belief that they are truly exercising their democratic rights. The evidence is all around us: Elite political figures, through dynamic rhetoric (and indirectly through media control), control our political ideology, the issues we believe in, and consequently, our votes.

Let us take a simple example of what I’m trying to state. Elected leaders do not shy away from boasting of their political prowess. Though branding himself as unorthodox, Donald Trump also displays many of the characteristics of a career-politician. In a recent interview published by Politico, Trump claims of helping GOP candidates running in Midterm elections. “Some of the people I’ve endorsed have gone up 40 and 50 points just on the endorsement.".

The focus is not on Trump’s statements, but on the bitter fact that this is in fact true in many cases. An open endorsement from Trump might just be enough to rally and support their local GOP candidate. This quantifiable truth is extremely concerning, because it crushes the fundamental ideas of democracy, and only adds to our sympathy for Socrates. This is a question we need to ask: Why do ratings of certain candidates go up on receiving endorsement from a leader? Why do many voters prefer endorsements to self-vetting of their local candidate’s experience and policies? This trend is not constrained to US politics, but is prevalent in democracies around the world. 

Such actions could be attributed to idol politics- giving more significance to individual figures over a political party or stance, lethargy, or lack of free-flowing information about their local candidates. In any case, this trend needs to be addressed and highlighted in mainstream debates, because a vote is as powerful a weapon as any other.

 -Akhil

Comments

  1. RohitOctober 17, 2018 at 8:15 PM

    Sort of comes back to the inherent(sub-conscious) tribal nature of humans...needs to looked at from a view-point of social psychology.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousOctober 19, 2018 at 3:45 PM

      Once again, stating the obvious, but this urgently calls for the need to better educate citizens about elections and fundamental policy making. The current state of political curiosity is only conducive to oligarchy.

      Delete

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