In a true democracy politicians are chosen because of their skills and expertise. Right? Yeah. That would be nice but simply is not true. Well, not always. The American political system is an example of where this is not the case. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will most likely become the next governor of Arkansas. Because her father was governor Mike Huckabee. So America is back to the old system where a few families rule. Remember the Bush family? Two presidents and a governor. Hillary Clinton was close to follow in her husband's Bill's footsteps as president.
Politicians running for important seats put a lot of money and effort in obtaining that seat. They have extensive networks of 'friends' who sponsor them in exchange for financial or social advantages. Mostly financial: you give a candidate a million dollars campaign money and he or she - when 'elected' - makes sure you get a government contract or some tax deal that's worth more than a million.
That system has nothing to do with democracy but everything with favoritism. In Dutch 'vriendjespolitiek', 'little friends politics'.
People don't choose a politician because of is or her ideas and how that person is planning to implement those ideas. They choose the candidate with the most money/the best network/the best public relations campaign. And because they already know someone. The people of Arkansas saw Sarah Sanders often on television when she worked as a spokesperson for President Donald Trump.
Politicians and other marketeers know that people tend to trust someone they have often seen more than someone who is a new face to them.
British politics is famous for its 'old boys network'. A lot of high ranking politicians just happen to come from the same college. 20 out of the 55 British Prime Ministers went to Eton. 90 out of the 360 Conservative members of Parliament made millions running other companies while only officially working as a politician. Geoffrey Cox only spoke to parliament in real life once. When he voted he did so online. From the Virgin Islands. And speaking of Britain: the people voted to leave the EU because they were tricked to do so by businessmen who literally paid politicians to go for a 'Brexit' because they didn't want to answer to new EU-rules on tax evasion (click).
Former Dutch Minister of Traffic Camiel Eurlings later gave KLM some extra landing rights as a member of EU-Parliament and by pure coincidence landed himself a nice job when he stepped down as a politician. He became president of Royal KLM Airlines. The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte used to work for Unilever.
The Philippines are ruled by either the Duterte or the Marcos family. People with a different last name hardly stand a chance te becoming president.
There are literally thousands of examples like above worldwide. And there's nothing we can do about it. Neither can the politicians who actually fight that system and actually do care more about the people than their own wallet, familie, friends and ego. And maybe we could think before next time we vote. Instead of voting for the politician with the best PR-manager we could ask him or her how he or she intents to keep the promises made in flyers and on Twitter. And then decide depending on their answers.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you live in an actual democracy or is your country ruled by a few families or networks of friends? Do you know of a country where most politicians are actually chosen by the people, based on their skills and expertise?
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