
Democracy v Psychology: why people keep electing idiots (2015) - sergeant3
https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2015/apr/02/democracy-psychology-idiots-election
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CM30
Well, the disdain for 'normal' people from certain intellectual types can't
help much. If you go around treating people like they're stupid and
complaining about how their fears or worries are due to being 'bigoted', then
of course they'll vote for people who treat them better (regardless of
intelligence).

A politician who at least pretends to emphasise with people he or she might
disagree with is a lot more electable than one that looks down on people with
contempt.

On a different note, there's also the obvious factor that a less well thought
out answer can be a lot simpler than a complicated one, and appear to be an
'easy' solution to a difficult issue. It's one of the reasons why literal
facists and extremists tend to do well in bad economic/social times, because
they reduce complex issues down to 'there is some other group that's making
everything difficult'.Contrast that to the alternative, lots of diplomacy,
improvements to various social systems, etc etc.

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n4r9
I think the story is much, much more complicated. For starters, it feels like
different (albeit related) notions are being conflated: genuine vs feigned
stupidity, and public election vs internal promotion. For example, it's
unclear why Boris Johnson would feign stupidity rather than simply feign
confidence, of which he has ample anyway. David Cameron has achieved political
success by appearing and being both shrewd and confident. As for Cameron's
choice of cabinet, a more personally satisfying explanation for his cabinet
choices is that they are loyal to the point of taking the bullet for his less
popular policies. I don't think any of them are idiots or even appear idiotic
to the general public, despite their policies being vulnerable to criticism.

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platz
Its not about 'idiots'

It's a battle between the Idealogues and the Transactional/Machine
politicians, for both parties. The latest "The weeds" podcast is lengthy, but
breaks it down pretty well.

[http://www.vox.com/2016/2/12/10978874/the-weeds-political-
re...](http://www.vox.com/2016/2/12/10978874/the-weeds-political-realism)

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nine_k
Well, ruling a country is a demanding job. Electing officials to actually rule
the country is a pretty important part of the job. We'll have democratically
elected idiots (or, worse, dangerous faux-idiots with an agenda) as long as
people will see voting as a somehow daunting pastime, instead of a work that
requires consideration, preparation, and (gasp) qualification.

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mixedCase
In this article:

Left-wing intelligent! Right-wing evil or idiots!

