Why is politics, which should be a profession conducted in service of the people, carried out so badly?

Lack of talent. Lack of ethics. Nepotism (aka 'political dynasties'). Too many opportunities for fraud. Too many mutual favours. Too many vested interests. Too many personal agendas. Too many competing factions. Preference for ideology over utility/fairness. Too many large egos on power trips. Too great a desire to manipulate society.

Few countries have election systems that are free of money and party influence. Ending FPTP would be a start. Also in some countries, anti-government extremism has taken hold.

Because apart from a few exceptions, it attracts the kind of who shouldn't be anywhere near power: sociopaths, psychopaths, narcissists and the like who use the mechanisms of politics as a means to live enrich and empower themselves at the taxpayers' expense.

I mean, how do people who earn a good salary but nothing like something a successful businessperson makes come out of a political career multi-multi-millionaires?

Why is politics, which should be a profession conducted in service of the people, carried out so badly?

Probably when in supposed democracies they went from being public servants to 'officials and authorities'.

And the unrestrained influx of corporate money made politics a widely-available path to self-aggrandizement as long as you were an insider.

And the unrestrained influx of corporate money made politics a widely-available path to self-aggrandizement as long as you were an insider.

It's not restricted to non-socialist governments either. While politicians in socialist governments might not have as much money available, they compensate for that by abusing power instead, and often with deadlier consequences for people who try to get in their way.

because it pays so well.

When the people fear the government, that's oppression. When the government fears the people, that's democracy. Almost all the people fear the government. Democracy is being slapped around wherever it is. And it isn't in enough places anyway.

“the people” are irrelevant. money, power, greed, ego - the four corners of politicians.

Politics is carried out badly for the majority, but it's carried out very well for others.

It's by design.

Because politicians serve themselves, and the MSM is in their pocket.

Because their guidebook, "To Serve People", is actually a cookbook.

We are just livestock to these grifters.

At least at the very high levels, perhaps it attracts the wrong type of characters. It takes some level of narcissism and unhealthy ego regardless of what your political beliefs are.

I don’t know how you get around this.

There are a ton of reasons as mentioned above. I think a more recent cause is the adoption of the "For me to win, you have to lose" mentality of individuals and parties. The idea of, "I don't care if I don't get what I want. As long as I can stop you from getting what you want, then I win." This is neither productive or helpful to anyone except for giving people something to run on. Compromise - RIP.

Some of these points have been alluded to above, but my two cents' worth:

1) It tends to attract the power-hungry, who usually do a terrible job. In contrast, and as has been noted many times before, the kind of people who would make the best politicians often don't want to do the job.

2) It can become a "family business," as seen in Japan and elsewhere. This can (but not always) lead to unsuitable people doing the job.

3) People aren't politically engaged enough to understand and care about the issues, then try to do something about them.

If we can fix point 3) (and I don't know how we do that), we can fix/reduce the impact of 1) and 2), as the people will then actually vote for decent candidates.

Politics, by definition, is in the service of power. It's about who gets what; when, where and why. Only in a democracy, in which the people supposedly have the power, is politics allegedly in service of the people. However, the people in liberal democracies are mostly stupid, uneducated and easily manipulated and conned by the blaggers, grifters and megalomaniacs who even try to make a virtue of their stupidity and lack of sophistication, re-assigning it as solid common sense to make them feel worthy, while twisting reality and leading them by the nose to support policies against their own interests. Plato predicted as much 2400 years ago. Maybe humans don't deserve democracy; only cages and harsh masters. Hell, there are plenty who would vote for that now.

Electorates aren't that great either.

3) People aren't politically engaged enough to understand and care about the issues, then try to do something about them.

If we can fix point 3

I’m with those who believe governments don’t want informed electorates. The last thing you need as a politician is an electorate who can see the crap you are spouting doesn’t add up.

But to be fair to the electorate, how many of us are well informed on all the tasks government has to deal with? Leaving ideologies and partisanship supplied as a package aside, what is the best way to improve the economy, healthcare, education, environment, energy, defence, immigration, trade, infrastructure, care for the disabled/elderly etc. ?

What’s interesting with the rise of populism is the attraction of uniformed candidates.

That’s clearly not the answer.

JimizoToday 03:15 pm JST

But to be fair to the electorate, how many of us are well informed on all the tasks government has to deal with?

Well, no-one's well informed on "everything" but we can still be engaged in general terms, and much more on the things which affect us directly. However, politics just passes a lot of people by, as they don't realize that they can and should influence things.

I think that teaching politics, along with critical thinking, and media literacy in school would help greatly. Such classes do exist, but they're not that widespread to my knowledge. As you say, some politicians don't want this, and they're exactly the kind of politicians we need to rid ourselves of.

I have two friends who became city council members in two different cities. One thing they both have in common is they're not the sharpest tools in the toolbox.

One of them I went to school with and he was somewhat of a below-average student who didn't seem to know Jack about history or geopolitics.

But he was highly opinionated and was very aggressive in getting into positions of power. He wasn't much help for the people he was chosen to represent.

Even at my city office here in Japan, there are a few nincompoops, who are for a lack of another term, dorks.

Comes down to two things:

Money and power.

Because greed for power and money will turn the most honest and considerate. It's just a human thing.

But not everyone turns into their dark side. Many are able to draw the line and stay true to themselves.

Power corrupts absolutely….

The talent would not want to put up with the lower salaries and higher stress of politics. It's very rarely a job that leaves you with positive views and usually half the country hates you. Furthermore most people who do get into politics are either motivated by some sort of SJW cause and/or are corrupt and looking to gain from the system to an extent much more than what is visibly intended.

Greed. Just look at American politicians. They answer to the lobbyists only. No thought for the citizens who voted for them. They're obsessed with money - just look at Nancy Pelosi and her insider trading. There's even an X account, I think, dedicated to informing people the stocks she buys and sells.

Pukey2June 23 10:57 pm JST

Greed. Just look at American politicians. They answer to the lobbyists only. No thought for the citizens who voted for them. They're obsessed with money - just look at Nancy Pelosi and her insider trading. There's even an X account, I think, dedicated to informing people the stocks she buys and sells.

Better the donation based politicians of the US than the pure corruption based politicians of China.

Because you vote for LDP since BigBang.