Politician

For other uses, see The Politician (disambiguation).

Politician

U.S. politicians (Kissinger, Nixon, Ford, Haig) in the White House's Oval Office discussing Representative Ford's nomination to the vice presidency
Occupation
Names	President Member of congress Senator Prime minister Minister Speaker Member of parliament Governor Lieutenant governor Chairman Chief minister Premier Mayor Councillor
Occupation type	Politician
Activity sectors	Government
Description
Competencies	Leadership Critical thinking Public speaking Law making Decision making Public influence Budgeting Public relations Statesmanship
Education required	Qualification is not required
Fields of employment	Government
Related jobs	Monarch

Identity

Nineteenth-century painting by Philipp Foltz depicting the Athenian politician Pericles delivering his famous funeral oration in front of the Assembly.

Politicians are people who participate in policy-making, having a multifaceted positions of responsibility both domestically and internationally.

The role of the politician has changed dramatically over time, for example, Pericles of Athens played an important role in politics in ancient Greece both in public life and in decision-making as depicted in Philip Foltz's 19th-century.

Over time the figure of the politician has evolved to include many forms and functions. For example, In the United States of America, George Washington played a pivotal role as a politician because he was the first President of the United States of America. Today, political offices take many forms in the modern century in the United States of America such as ministers, mayors, governors, senators, and presidents, each of whom has different duties.

The identity of politicians is affected by their social and work environment, their ideology, and the parties to which they belong, moreover, the development of means of communication and social media have increased public participation in policy-making, leading to the formation of the identity of the politician and increasing the complexity of political work.

" All government leaders are considered politicians." with sources; but not all politicians are subject to voters, autocratic and dictatorial regimes remain extant.

Media and rhetoric

Politicians are influential people who use rhetoric to impact people as in speeches or campaign advertisements. They are especially known for using common themes,  and media platforms that allow them to develop their political positions,  developing communication between them and the people.

Politicians of necessity become expert users of the media. Politicians in the 19th century made heavy use of newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets, as well as posters to disseminate their messages to appeal to voters' emotions and beliefs in their campaigns. In the 20th century, the scope of media expanded out into radio and television, and a major change occurred as speech was now presented visually as well as verbally as evidenced by the Kennedy-Nixon debates, marking a new era where visual media became crucial to campaigns. The twenty-first century has provided wide and diverse media platforms represented by Facebook, and Twitter, which has now become X, Instagram, YouTube, and others. This development has made their rhetorical messages faster, shorter more efficient, and characterized by the speed of spread and interaction.

This continuous evolution in media has made politicians adapt their discourse to these diverse and evolving platforms for greater communication and effectiveness.

challenges:

In this century of advanced communications, politicians face challenges and difficulties while communicating with people through various social media platforms, which revolve around misinformation and rumors that complicate their political behavior and communication with people. The implicit importance of social media for politics stems from the virtual space these platforms have created for expressing ideas and spreading mutual messages without restrictions.

Government job and spoils

Historically, in patronage-based systems, especially in the 19th century, winning politicians replaced civil servants and government employees who were not protected by the rules of government service with their supporters, a so-called “spoils system.” In response to the corruption this system fostered, government job reforms were introduced. These reforms required elected politicians to work with existing civil servants and officials to pursue long-term public interest goals, rather than simply rewarding their supporters. This shift aimed to reduce corruption and prioritize the integrity of government positions.

A notable example of government reform over time are

The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 passed by the U.S. Congress to combat corruption, favoritism in hiring, and the spoils system. It advocated hiring based on merit and protected civil servants from political influence.

In the modern century, many laws have been put in place to protect employees and reduce corruption and favoritism in employment, for example, the Mexican government introduced the Federal Law on Administrative Responsibilities of Public Officials (2002) which establishes professional and accountable standards for officials against corruption and the spoils system.

Also, The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012 in the USA has established corruption to protect federal employees who report corruption, fraud, or other illegal activities within the government.

Careers and biographies

Mattozzi and Merlo argue that two main career paths are typically followed by politicians in modern democracies. First, is career politicians. They are politicians who rule the government sector until retirement. Second, are the "political careerists". These are politicians who gain a reputation for expertise in ruling certain levels of government such as International Governments, Federal Governments, State Governments and Local Governments, then leave politics and start a new business venture making use of their political contacts.

The personal histories of politicians have been frequently studied, as it is presumed that their experiences and characteristics shape their beliefs and behaviors. There are four pathways by which a politician's biography could influence their leadership style and abilities. The first is that biography may influence one's core beliefs, which are used to shape a worldview. The second is that politicians' skills and competence are influenced by personal experience. The areas of skill and competence can define where they devote resources and attention as a leader. The third pathway is that biographical attributes may define and shape political incentives. A leader's previous profession, for example, could be viewed as of higher importance, causing a disproportionate investment of leadership resources to ensure the growth and health of that profession, including former colleagues. Other examples besides profession include the politician's innate characteristics, such as race or gender. The fourth pathway is how a politician's biography affects their public perception, which can, in turn, affect their leadership style. Female politicians, for example, may use different strategies to attract the same level of respect given to male politicians.

Characteristics

Numerous scholars have studied the characteristics of politicians, comparing those at the local and national levels, and comparing the more liberal or the more conservative ones, and comparing the more successful and less successful in terms of elections. In recent years, special attention has focused on the distinctive career path of women politicians. For example, there are studies of the "Supermadre" model in Latin American politics.

Criticism

Many critics attack politicians for being out of touch with the public. Areas of friction include how politicians speak, which has been described as being overly formal and filled with many euphemistic and metaphorical expressions and commonly perceived as an attempt to "obscure, mislead, and confuse".

In the popular image, politicians are thought of as clueless, selfish, manipulative, dishonest, incompetent and corrupt, taking money in exchange for goods or services, rather than working for the general public good. Politicians in many countries are regarded as the "most hated professionals".

See also

• Political campaign
• Political party
• Independent politician

Further reading

• D. Putnam, and Bert A. Rockman, eds., Bureaucrats and politicians in western democracies (Harvard University Press, 1981)
• Heywood, Paul M. ed. Routledge Handbook of Political Corruption (2014)
• Stebbins, Robert A. From Humility to Hubris among Scholars and Politicians: Exploring Expressions of Self-Esteem and Achievement. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing, 2017.
• Stebbins, Robert A. "Democracy's Politicians: An Occupation Like no Other." Society, 56(5), 461–462, 2019, doi:10.1007/s12115-019-00399-w.
• Welch, Susan, John Gruhl, John Comer, and Susan M. Rigdon. UnGovernment. 8th ed. Belmont: Thompson Wadsworth, 2006

External links

• Herre, Bastian. 2021. Identifying Ideologues: A Global Dataset on Political Leaders, 1945–2019 (PDF).
• Comparative Legislators Database. A dataset on over 1,000,000 legislators from 16 countries.
• Media related to Politicians at Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition of politician at Wiktionary
• Quotations related to Politician at Wikiquote