ȂȂȃ Partʺʺ: Politics and Philosophycan’t the politician both serve his self-esteem and win votes by campaign-
ing on such a platform?
Conceivably he might. But these questions, instead of refuting the
argument about activist biases, merely note a possible offset. For several
reasons, this offset is unlikely to be strong. (Ļe exceptional politician
to whom the following remarks do not apply stands at a disadvantage in
winning elections and wielding influence.) First, a political career would
generally have been less appealing in the first place to a skeptic about
government than to a man who saw great opportunities in it for doing
good. Opportunities for also gaining personal success in that endeavor
are greater for a politician, as for a bureaucrat, if government is big and
growing than if it is kept small. Secondly, winning elections on a platform
ofrestrictinggovernment activities depends on a greater degree of sophisti-
cated understanding among voters than they are likely to have (although
hope on this score is now emerging). Even if a politician is concerned
with enlightening the citizens over the long run, he must realize that his
chances of providing enlightenment are poor if the voters remove him
from political life. He directs his campaigning to the citizens as they are
and as they think, not to the economists and political philosophers that
they are not.
A third line of rebuttal denies the common idea that politicians try to
sell their programs to voters for votes quite as businessmen try to sell their
wares to consumers for dollars. Ļe analogy is defective in many respects.
For example, candidates go beyond direct appeals to the electorate. Ļey
also seek votes indirectly by appealing to influential opinionmakers and to
other politicians. Alliances are essential for getting nominations, getting
allocations of party funds and other help in campaigns, and logrolling the
enactment of one’s favorite projects (and thereby gaining in personal sta-
tus). Ļe individual politician has to tailor his appeal partly to other politi-
cians, most of whom incline toward an activist government for the reasons
under discussion. Even the exceptional politician is restrained, then, from
advocating as much limitation of government power as he might other-
wise personally favor.
Our amateur psychologizing about politicians should pay some atten-
tion to the members of legislators’ staffs. With government expansion and
legislative burdens making increasing demands on their employers’ time
and ability to absorb information, staff members have growing influence.
Ļey further their own careers by helping their employers gain promi-
nence. Bright ideas help. Although a few ideas may focus on repealing