Leadership Qualifications in a Democracy

October 13th, 2008 Posted in Humanities, Legal Explorations

Power to the people, right?  That’s the rallying cry of democracy.

A government of peers, the message of Gov. Sarah Palin, is not a new message.  Stephen Harper rode that message to the Prime Minister’s Office here not long ago, his road greased by the neoprene wetsuittails of Stockwell Day and the Brylcreem of Preston Manning.  Harper’s predecessors in the new Conservative Party, but a shadow of the Progressive Conservatives of this country’s history, were cheerleaders of a “grassroots” movement.  For allt he folksy wisdom seemingly encompassed by a grassroots movement, it is actually a term that, when you think about it, means being governed by the lowest common denominators of society - those denominators being both low and common.

You’re going to accuse me of being elitist, as though that’s a bad thing.  When taking an oath to execute the highest governing offices in a large and variegated populace, a certain quantum of elite - meaning top-shelf, high-end, and superior in quality - talent is a good thing.  Intelligence, education, experience, and the rare gift of synergistic comprehension - and reconciliation - of opposing concepts are qualifications to these offices.

I am going to go out on a limb here, and say something that sounds a bit boastful, but for a reason:

I don’t want someone with my qualifications to perform heart surgery, as I have not earned a medical degree.  I would not want someone with my qualifications to play for the Canucks (though maybe for the Flames) as I am a sordid athlete, and though a fan of hockey, a lousy player.  Let me say that again:  I am aware of, in touch with, understanding of, and an enthusiastic spectator of hockey; none of those qualifies me to play, as I am no athlete, and certainly no pro-hockey player.

I have something in common with Sarah Palin and Stephen Harper supporters:  I want someone who is a lot like me to govern.

Unlike Palin and her supporters, I do not stumble when asked by an “elitist gotcha journalist” to list the magazines and newspapers I’ve recently read (Globe and Mail, National Post, Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Province (like I said, I’m a hockey fan), Atlantic Monthly, Wired, PC World, several blogs related to law and other matters, and of course, Mad Magazine).  Unlike Palin and supporters, I actually speak English at a college level, which allows me to articulate thoughts at a complexity necessary for serious communication.  I sometimes discuss politics, policy, law, socioeconomics, and the state of the world around me with the people around me, many of whom are law graduates, professors, or other multiple-degree or thoroughly worldy people.

Here’s the most important one:  Unlike Gov. Palin, Prime Minister Harper, or most of their supporters, I have a degree in law.  I studied law.  I learned how the interests of competing parties are weighed and addressed in a just society; the value of due process even when it goes against human emotional, often vengeful, desires; and the value not only of constitutional documents but of proper analysis and interpretation of them.

Every job requires a resume, and often relevant education.  Leadership of government should be no different.  To paraphrase those educators who told us these things in early high school, when electing our reps to student council, it’s not a popularity contest; we should elect those who are legitimately qualified for the job.

I’m not saying I want to be Prime Minister.  But I do want someone like me.  Not because I think I am a great leader.  I want someone like me because I’m not a complete moron.

Mr. Harper is an economist, trained to reduce everything to dollar values, and cycles of macrocosmic behaviour.  He is also an economist who is fine about eliminating the economic engines of a human society through draconian intellectual property restrictions and the elimination of government support for the arts.

Stephane Dion, by the way, is a respected professor of political science.

On Tuesday, Canada, vote for someone who has the intelligence and education to run a government, not the guy you want to have a beer with.  And for those of you south of the border who are voting next month, well, if you’re reading this blog, I shouldn’t have to tell you anything.