In every sector of the society, some basic qualifications are needed before entry of such sectors.
Politicians become powerful administrators after winning elections. Then they need basic knowledge and education to perform the works.
A minister having no capability to read and understand files may be unable to take proper decisions on regular basis. It is not good for the country, but common in many developing countries.
Do you think there should be some minimum barrier for qualification (say - graduation) before competing in elections?
The first principle of John Rawls's political justice theory is that every citizen should have the same chance to be elected to every - also the highest - office. One can already think about whether a lack of qualification for such an office can be a reason not to follow this principle. How does modern (democratic) society help itself?
Firstly, it strives to ensure that - as far as possible - all its citizens receive a high level of general education through school. Second, officials in high political positions have a staff of counsellors who should be highly qualified. A poorly educated president can nevertheless often ridicule himself, despite his advisors, if he does not know simple facts.
What qualifications does the most powerful office need, or what does the country lack most - despite having counsellors? I think it is the temptation to act, unwise or unjustly, sometimes to one's own advantage (or the advantage of a particular interest group). Political action is always associated with conflicts, complex contexts and dilemmas - how to make a fair decision? The question is whether an educational course can help here, even if it may be useful. One should know something about ethical behaviour and the danger of its violation by political action. For example, that certain groups in society do not benefit from something in the short term, but that in the long term it has rather negative effects on the whole of society,
Hein Retter
One of the disadvantages of democracy is that a stupid majority will lead you
The first principle of John Rawls's political justice theory is that every citizen should have the same chance to be elected to every - also the highest - office. One can already think about whether a lack of qualification for such an office can be a reason not to follow this principle. How does modern (democratic) society help itself?
Firstly, it strives to ensure that - as far as possible - all its citizens receive a high level of general education through school. Second, officials in high political positions have a staff of counsellors who should be highly qualified. A poorly educated president can nevertheless often ridicule himself, despite his advisors, if he does not know simple facts.
What qualifications does the most powerful office need, or what does the country lack most - despite having counsellors? I think it is the temptation to act, unwise or unjustly, sometimes to one's own advantage (or the advantage of a particular interest group). Political action is always associated with conflicts, complex contexts and dilemmas - how to make a fair decision? The question is whether an educational course can help here, even if it may be useful. One should know something about ethical behaviour and the danger of its violation by political action. For example, that certain groups in society do not benefit from something in the short term, but that in the long term it has rather negative effects on the whole of society,
Hein Retter
Almost for every post in our country, educational qualification of a person is verified. Then why not politicians! They are ones who forms the Government and run the country. For this, they need to understand how economy functions and runs. These knowledge can be better acquired by education. So, what I mean is there should be a certain educational qualification for becoming a politician. They are the discision maker of the country and education helps to take diplomatic discision in any situation. Education helps to communicate in a convenient way.
Thanks
Yes, there should be minimum qualification for political candidates. Without any proper education how can a politician address the problems of the society and how he/she can carry out development in any aspect?
Minimum educational qualifications as well as experience in public life may be good for effective working.
Yes, qualifications should be important for political ministry for example health minister should be Doctor, Sport minister should be Ph.D in sports , finance minister should be Commerce graduate and Agriculture minister should be master degree Agri. so on.....
Yes, education is necessay for all people, but for politicians it is not enough for them to achieve low educational level. They should be educated and highly qualified
Most of the leaders and politicians of the third world countries do not possess the minimum scientific qualifications that correspond to the leadership positions they occupy. Some of them relied on their struggle and partisan history to reach power, family relations, or financial support.
I would like to expressly support all those who attach importance to the best possible education in the exercise of high political office and regard this as a prerequisite for taking up office. This question has actually only been raised in Europe since the time of the French Revolution, 1789 and the following era(s) when for the first time in Europe - albeit paid for with the blood of many innocent people - instead of noble succession to the throne in government, a republic became a modern political power in Europe, at least for some years (see the situation of the USA with the separation from UK and the English Crown. The aristocracy has always ensured that its offspring received the best education from the best educators there were. This also applied to young girls, by the way, because their role was later to act as educated and care for the best education of their own children.
It was a long struggle, waged in the 19th century, to improve the education of the masses of workers in order to win workers' leaders from their own ranks. It was a very gradually working historical process. Mostly journalism gave a chance to improve education for gifted
To come back to the starting point: What about "reading a file" - which qualification is needed to touch a smartphone screen - to read a file? Normally children learn this independent from school education - and much earlier, the three "R's" are not the problem of higher education. That's my experience. But surely in societies with high rates of illiterates it is the first problem which should be solved.
It sure would be desireable if all politicians had mastered some basic abilities, and it is true that reality shows this is not always the case. But as Hein Retter pointed out in an earlier post, there are their advisors that should be up to the task.
There are, however, some basic priciples colliding:
- In a democracy each and every individual has the right to vote (after aged 18 or 21) and no vote counts more than the other. Even though people are of course not equal (no equal opportunities and such), when it comes to law and political participation the vote of a poor person counts as much as that of one who is rich, the vote of a woman as much as that of a man and that of an uneducated as much as that of an educated person. Intelligence of a person might be supported by education and education might come with wealth and social status of family, but that does not mean that those who were not able to finance higher education are less intelligent and capable than those that enjoyed it, it is often the other way around.
- The same goes for chances to be elected. How could you deny people who by chance had no way to get a higher education the right to be elected? If only the rich and those of social high standing were elected it would defeat the purpose of a democracy.
- Now let us assume a person had been elected who had not enjoyed higher education, who might have been a plumber or bookseller or maybe a simple worker. They had not studied law or politics, but they had not only been voted into office by academics either. Isn't it the right of the people to vote somebody to represent themselves who actually represents themselves?
- Now this person is in office: he will have a number of assistants and advisors to his disposal. From now on it is just a matter of letting them do their job, asking the right questions and listening to their input and be willing to be open-minded and learn. There are, however, people who do not have these traits, who refuse to listen, who surround themselves with others who are less capable than themselves in order to feel superior and there might even be highly educated people who had been elected but since they can not possibly know all they need to know they should listen to their advisors who were working the topic every day. But still they might refuse and not listen and make their own decisions based on feelings and impressions.
This might happen even with highly educated people. We just have to accept that and let democracy work it's magic. There are hundreds of people being elected into parliament and one has to hope that most of those are not complete ignorant idiots. There might be single cases where it happens, but within the grand scope of things we should be fine. There is always a bad apple in a box. It would be nice if they were all good, but that does not spoil the whole box. We are just in trouble if people decide to elect the most incapable, narrow-minded and ignorant person, but that too is the right of the people within a democracy.
As Winston Churchill once said, Democracy is by no means the best form of government, but it is the best we came up with so far. We just have to live with its' shortcomings.
I agree there are some politician who are completely illiterate. In my opinion, they should at least have a bachelor degree to become ministers.
Absolutely, policy-making requires the maximum of education and knowledge / competence in the area.
A good politician needs to have proper commitment and confidence with which he/she can delegate the listeners. A politician has to be elected by his good communication skill and not by his degrees. Being literate is a highly desirable trait, but it can’t be mandatory as well.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/should-minimum-education-qualifications-politicians-payal-dey/
Absolutely. A politician ideally should be well educated or at least have a lot of common sense or street-smartness to be a leader. True, a lot of people function using their remote brain (i.e., their mobile devices, tablets and other gadgets) but there is no substitute to going through the rigors of education and the discipline and cognitive skills thus derived
High political must be hig education in all aspect.
Best regards
Qais Khaleel
Very very valid discussion.
There is a dire need to have a certain level of qualifications for the politicians. Policies related to Atomic Energy/Education/health/Foreign Affairs etc/ require expert deliberations and a semi-literate or less educated politician I doubt can comprehend these issues.
We have educational qualifications for all the posts in services so why not this level - the highest level - the level where all the important decisions are taken.
BUT will this happen??
May not happen as the legislation to this effect also has to come from these politicians and why would they take such a decision?
To become a politician is for service goal & they should not become crazy for the respect they receive from the people .It is difficult for the politician to accept this generally under a noble goal anyhow politician & his contribution may help him to become a popular among masses & with his popularity he becomes also a minister in the government .
People offering a post of minister ship it is absolutely essential & desirable that he should have a a suitable qualification which can help him to carry out the job effectively .
This is my personal opinion
Arben J Salihu
I think in the same manner, but there is a close correlation between the status "well-educated" and deeper knowledge in principles or philosophy of ethics. This is an important root for fair moral behavior. On the other hand the ability to learn to resist the temptation to succumb to corruption in a real situation depends of unreflected spontaneous reaction, and correlates to a significant extend with the experienced relationship to the parents in the early childhood. Children need and use role models of parents for the own behavior in later stages of their life.
Hein Retter
Yes Dr Shibabrata Pattanayak .. There must be a standardized qualification for contesting in a parliamentary election.
The last contributions show that in India the problem is highly relevant that politicians of high range have no education.
The latest contributions show that in India the problem is very relevant that politicians in high positions have an insufficient or inadequate general education. As an outsider who knows too little about real conditions, I would like to ask why the difference between scientists and politicians is so great? This is not the case to this extent in European countries. It is not unusual for scientists and professors to become government ministers in EU. Is this quite different in India?
Hein Retter
Dear Dr. Retter,
It is not possible for the technocrats to compete in the elections if not backed by the mainstream political parties. It requires a huge amount of money to compete in elections. Here, power politics is having very close liaison with corruptions of different level. Honest people feel no interest in politics due to these reasons.
In the administrative sectors, the persons selected in civil services of the country are the actual decision makers. You may see that an ex -student of History or Economics is making projects and plans of Medical or Agriculture sectors. Technocrats are kept subordinate to such administrators. Very strong bossism is working here. So, the ultimate fate of such projects will be easily imagined. You may check it from various sources.
The Govt. services are not given according to the efficiency of the candidates. 50% of all seats are filled on caste basis. The promotion of the employees are also performed in that way. There are other corruption factors working within the rest 50%.
What quality of service can you expect in such a condition?
I believe that the criteria for choosing a minister in most underdeveloped countries is loyalty to the ruler
Most third world countries. Politicians are ignorant, they do not want people with diplomas with them. Minister of Commerce for example must have a PhD in commerce. It's the minimum.
Unfortunately or fortunately, the presence of education occupies one of the last places in the list of necessary qualities of a candidate for state position. At the beginning of his career, he usually is a loyal member of the team, and this loyalty to the group is the most important thing for his subsequent career. He also needs leadership skills, the ability to make quick and effective decisions in critical situations, etc. etc. I see no place for education... Knowledge is in demand only among the experts who willingly serve such a leader. On the other hand, knowing a bit this type of people who are called "scientists", I would not allow them enter into politics in any way. Because in most cases they are irresponsible. Their main attribute is own interest to the object of study (shortest way to understand "how it works" is fully destroy this, in politic this approach is deadful), and not the coordination of dissimilar interests of political subjects. So, in my opinion, politic needs only the most general knowlege, and the ability to understand the arguments of others, including of the "highly educated." Understanding, what he should work for commonweal, not in interest of his "gang" is also needed.
I would like to thank all those who last responded to my question and wrote a comment in response. I find this situation dramatic - and this fact should be clear at the very beginning for all participants in such a discussion from the developed countries. Because the nature of democracy has to endure a severe test of endurance from the very beginning - due to this social rupture, which it normally cannot endure: Its function is obviously severely damaged from the outset. This becomes far too unclear to someone from Europe who is only trying to answer the question of the education of politicians - unless you live there for several years. So, in fact, further, deeper questions about the state of democracy must be asked and discussions held. Thank you for your willingness to talk about this.
Democracy has been exported to countries ruled by an uneducated majority and this leads to the fact that this unqualified and uneducated majority will lead you
Not even minimum .....
Politicians must have enough qualifications to be leaders....politically or socially. The persons who will lead from the front must know about the people, the place, the time, the society, the culture, the science, the philosophy .....and many more so as to take decisions, motivate his followers and bring progress and prosperity of a country and its people.
The best politicians around the world are always true educationist, well competent, great visionary, having ethical and moral values and persons of wisdom.
Even a score card based PET(Political eligibility test) may be initiated followed by practical training for a certain period to select political leaders of a country.
Hope this suggestive model or some of its modified version may be critically considered for future selection of political leaders.
Perhaps a distinction should be made between short-term and long-term measures by demanding that politicians have education and should prove it. In the long term, the solution to the problem lies in the fact that every citizen of the state has not only the right but also the duty to obtain a qualified qualification through the public education system. Education Civic duty. However, the state has the task of providing schools, equipment, teacher training and funding for public education.
Politicians have deep toots in a society and visions that help to motivate people for the betterment of that society. If a politician has a master degree relevant to a particular ministry, he/she may be assigned that ministry.
In case, a politician has school/college level education, he/she should work with the society as political worker to promote his/her political party.
Really, I want to know that , therefor I should follow the answers.
Good luck Sir.
Basic question that deserves a reflection!
Every position of the state requires a well-recognized educational level,
especially strategic positions, of high responsibility!
Good leaders delegates and great leaders inspire. It has nothing to do with ability to read files because they can always surround themselves with quality people to help them navigate.
I agree. People who have no knowledge of how to handle administrative positions must not be allowed to sit for electoral polls.
I agree.It will help us in getting efficient leaders who can lead the country in the right direction with their mission and vision.
Without well-trained and well-educated people - including members of parliament and government - there can be no democracy. The lower the level of education in a society, the more democracy (as the most complex and sensitive form of state rule) is in danger of being damaged - and society suffers.
To my comment above, I would like to add: Bad forms of democracy are always possible and - seen worldwide - are also constantly practiced. But then the name "democracy" is only a fig leaf for an unjust rule.
In the UK, most politicians are. Some are highly educated. But the previous cabinet were an unfortunate throwback to an old elite running the country/the cabinet by and large knew each other from university or private school, with a sprinkling of the old aristocracy. In the end they by and large proved both incompetent -some might disagree-and entitled.
One problem in the UK is the unavoidable inceatous nature of politics with each person knowing the other, and knowing each other early in life, or through functioning largely in politics. They acquire degrees in politics and history from Oxbridge Colleges or in the Labour party often Russell Universities. Exceptions are the present leader of the Opposition, Corbyn, who has a fairly limited education even though he comes from a prosperous family. His generation sometimes rejected higher education as brainwashing.
I was in local politics, and many got involved in order to acquire extremely well paid work in the local Councils. It was a matter of networking, but a great deal is. For others it was often merely recreational, for others ideological. I found it by and large repetititive and all talk, no action. But some people like that!
I agree with you that the politician must have some minimum scientific qualifications for the purpose of keeping up with what is being discussed or discussed and raised from the topics even if simplified.
Education / qualification are not always the same. Leadership is not always about Intelligence but the laws and requirements seems very low for political office entry than any profession. Whilst politics control all other things in society, economy, justice, security and administration etc. My submission is the entry requirements for career politicians be higher not lower.
The higher is a political position occupied by a person, the more serious are educational, moral, and life experiences required for a successful work. It is travesty to elect / appoint an individual for any other reason. It's a recipe for disaster.
Absolutely I agree with you.. There should be a minimum qualification at least to read the files.
Fully agree with the statement made. Some of my specific suggestions in this regard are:
1. There should be prescribed minimum qualification to enter into.
2. Age limit should be there for sound mind and vital decision making process.
3. A national level special entrance test (May be known as PET-Political Entrance Test ) should be there and based on the score/grade followed by interview and GD, different posts are to be offered. Reputed persons from home and abroad may be assigned as examiner/judge.
4. There should have a periodical review and monitoring system.
5. Gainful practical experiences in terms of development in respective fields should be encouraged and rewarded.
I think so. Politicians should have some minimum educational qualification.
In fact, in democratic systems, any citizen (regardless of educational level) can opt for any political position. Therefore, we can find ministers without academic qualification or professional experience in an area, administering, generating policies or making important decisions about problems. This can, in some way, be remedied if the political staff has the support of a team of specialists in the area. But I want to highlight another situation, that of the "professional politicians." These have some academic training, in many cases even higher education, but their only professional experience is political. From an early age, they moved from one political position to another, and their livelihood was politics. These cling to political positions with full force, their political project is summarized in "if this is good for me, then it is good for the country" and, unfortunately, in many cases they have been the cause of political corruption. ..
I fully Agree with you Dr.Ilhhami . It should be at least graduation and preferably masters in political science . I suggest that even after election there should be a comprehensive course for all elected members about demographics of country , International relations and political system . There should be periodical refresher courses for them . These types of interventions can produce good and educated politicians which can participate better in uplift of any country .
This condition must be met by every one high position in the country.
Certainly, the minister must have a high degree of education and culture, because this affects his independence in decision-making
I have replied the similar nature of the question sometimes back 19 Oct 2018
Education of local leaders required. Leaders should understand laws, since they implement government projects.
I believe you hit the nail again dear Shibabrata Pattanayak
There should be a minimum university degree for those applying to become ministers and higher. "It should be understood" rather than legislated (because it can't be legislated by uneducated politicians!
Just in time to catch the next USA hopefuls and get rid of some of them!
I agree with the question statement of you that politicians should have some basic qualification. Moreover, I think ministers should have passed any of national level examinations or tests also including administrative recruitment tests or professional competency tests etc. In India, a number of universities have very less academic reputations, then being a graduate from such university - is meaningless.
Ministers work over administrators and professionals, therefore they must have ability to know the things better.
Ministers should know how to sustain development within the society and environment.
Michael Issigonis: It is very sad that policy makers in different countries are accused of violating laws. What can be expected from such policy makers for a bright future of society. Roles of muscle power and money power should be controlled in elections properly. Agree with you
"it can't be legislated by uneducated politicians! ".
I agree with you. Politicians should bring testimonies of minimum qualifications. They are also expected to be all-rounded personalities as they are expected to carry out different aspects of responsibilities in the world of work.
Yes definately . Ideal example is Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji & Arvind Kejriwal.
I think it depends on his/her services or outcomes rather than his/her educational qualification. Politicians should be diplomatics and politics rather than scholars.
Here, self-awareness would have to carry much more weight, that in order to exercise a government office, one needs higher education in order to assume responsibility for the good of society. Only people who are prone to corruption will avoid the demands that a high office places on the incumbent.
In my view, though it depends on personnel competence, it is better to have at least a BSC degree.
By the way, is there anyone you know having a position you mentioning with low level of education? Please update
I fully agree. Politicians should have some minimum educational qualification. Persons can not read files should not be ministers. Not only this but I add:
Politicians must have the prescribed educational qualifications. The educational qualifications should be framed by the people of the country of origin. The acedemecians should frame special educational program whereby the contents that should be included at pg level should be Pronciples of management, administration of justice, Ethics, organized crimes, and so on...
Nelson Mandela "A vision without action is just a dream; an action without vision passes the time; a vision with an action changes the world"
So in my perspective, politicians should have not only a minimum educational qualification but also they sufficiently should have a vision with an action to change their peoples. I think education is not sufficiently enough because it possibly depends on their competence
I totally agree that higher officials should be educated personality.
I think politicians should have high ethics and then high educational qualification.
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