How should we 'train' a politician?

[Rockmeister]

I am very uneducated regarding politics, but I was at a School where politics was an A level option...I was wondering however if politicians really just needed to understand what the world needs to be a better place, and to have a very broad experience of that place as it exists? I'm not sure that any paper qualification can add much other than the bias of the tutor/institution?

Probably talking through my ass however so...how should this 'training' be done, and what hurdles need to be crossed before the silly b*****s are let loose on us?

 

[najb]

What was that 'dog woman' called, Barabara something? She might make some headway with the pieces of arsewipe masquerading as politicans, especially those of the Nasty Party type

 

[mandryka]

School then up to read PPE or Greats, preferably at a good college, a college with well connected fellows. Maybe supplemented with some debating at The Union. And after Schools, an internship in HoC or Washington. Then the world's your oyster.

Those who have worked before deciding on a political career can break into the process by doing a couple of years at Ruskin.

 

[robs]

Historically, PPE at Oxford.

Now....who would want to be a politician?

 

[Tony L]

With a cattle prod.

 

[Darmok]

With a cattle prod.

Let us not discuss where the prod should be inserted.

 

[wacko]

Disqualify anyone who wants to be politician first.

 

[Thorn]

It's a job that requires no training or qualifications and has no CPE. Politicians are not just MPs but the new breed of mayors and police commissioners. You too can get your snout into the trough provided you have the right connections.

 

[Sonority]

Training a politician.
Gun to the head, with words in front of him permanently.
Lie, and you die, automatically.
Thats AI for you.

That would lead to a fair few coffins being needed?

 

[Rockmeister]

School then up to read PPE or Greats, preferably at a good college, a college with well connected fellows. Maybe supplemented with some debating at The Union. And after Schools, an internship in HoC or Washington. Then the world's your oyster.

Those who have worked before deciding on a political career can break into the process by doing a couple of years at Ruskin.

Yes work! Exactly. An actual knowledge of working people and their problems. But no, apparently it’s straight off to the ivory tower complete with bias, dust and the company of those just like you. How does that qualify anyone to make an informed decision about anything?

 

[Take5]

I don’t think they can be trained.
I think the easiest option is just to ban anyone who is remotely Tory from becoming one.

 

[rbrown]

Ideally a strong background in selling fireplaces or potatoes.

 

[Bananahead]

I think that it is the electorate that needs training.

 

[wacko]

I think that it is the electorate that needs training.

That is called education. It is no accident that countries with populist rightwing leaders have flawed education systems.

 

[mandryka]

Yes work! Exactly. An actual knowledge of working people and their problems. But no, apparently it’s straight off to the ivory tower complete with bias, dust and the company of those just like you. How does that qualify anyone to make an informed decision about anything?

Well you don’t need to have actually lived a disease to know how to treat it, a medical education will give you the skills to deal with it. I think the idea behind this traditional route to politics is that you don’t have to have actually lived working class conditions to know how to treat them in social policy, a degree in PPE etc can give you the skills to deal with it.

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

Well you don’t need to have actually lived a disease to know how to treat it, a medical education will give you the skills to deal with it. I think the idea behind this traditional route to politics is that you don’t have to have actually lived working class conditions to know how to treat them in social policy, a degree in PPE etc can give you the skills to deal with it.

Skills, perhaps. Empathy and a genuine desire for change? Doubtful.

 

[misterdog]

Simple, get them to read PFM off topic for 6 months.
Then they will know that all outrage can just be blamed on Brexit or Fascism.

Maybe PFM should have a member in parliament.

 

[mandryka]

Skills, perhaps. Empathy and a genuine desire for change? Doubtful.

Karl Marx came from a bourgeois background. And I know a few working class hard boiled tories. Empathy and desire for change comes from elsewhere I think.

 

[Kirk]

UK politicians are a function of the UK political system, which is largely underpinned by money. Start there.

 

[Rockmeister]

A degree is all????
Ask anty employer, anywhere in any industry what they think of that. It's a start point, and the rest is experience X 10. My question is what are politicians producing? What's their input to society? What are we getting? Government surely, and to govern a people, you need to understand them and what they want, what they need, and how all that builds into a better future. I guess you could do that as a theoretical exercise, just like you might ask an alien to shut their eyes and design 'a car' and hope it would be useful, but actually, meeting real people, working with them, being useful yourself, learning about the arts and sciences and a million other things would be a far better grounding. I'd not allow any candidate to apply for a political post with a degree, and a minimum of ten years 'out there' doing something. Anything (except working as tea boy in a political office), but out there with 'us' at the chalk face. The broader the experience the better. Civil servants can be the experts, but politicians need to understand the task from our side.