QUOTE
“The most important attribute for a professional politician
is time, the time necessary to devote oneself to learning the intricacies of
the political art. Also if the politician is not to derive a living entirely
‘off’ of politics and live ‘for’ politics, he must also be “economically
dispensable” meaning he does not depend upon politics at all for an income.”
In this quote Max Weber wants
to remind us that an ideal politician should fulfill two requirements: first a
politician must have a time in order to learn the basics of politic and more
importantly how to use them to do politic; second a politician should be
independent financially if he really wants to succeed.
I chose this quote because up
to today those two rules are still applied.
It is almost impossible to become a politician today if you do not have
enough time for politic. Therefore if a person job required a lot of hours it
will be difficult for that individual to accomplish her/his politic ambitious.
In addition, being financially independent will give a hedge to one person who
can finance her/his campaign herself than a one who has raise money from
corporations and individuals. The second person once in office will not be
entirely independent because he will have the impression that he owes every one
who helped her financially. At this point we will see certain laws will pass in
order to satisfy corporation regardless if it benefits the general population
or not. For example the mayor of New York Mike Bloomberg financed his own
campaign and I do not think that he has the filling of a person who got
contribution from others. However, having too much money could be a danger for
our politic system. For instance the Mike Bloomberg was able to buy a third
term that led a lot of critics from New Yorkers.
TILLY'S ARGUMENT
Tilly’s argument relates to the theory of rationalization of
the state as defined by Weber as follow: Tilly like Weber considers the state
as an entity that uses force in order to establish itself within a territory.
For instance Tilly noted that a state implements itself by war. The war will
help the state to eliminate totally the enemy. Once this physical work is done
the government will move to the next step in order to secure a capital for the
economy and the security national (police). Therefore, tax will help the state
to guaranty the capital and police forces will help to reinforce laws and keep
order in the state. In addition courts will take care of cases. Basically Tilly
and Weber have the same view of how a state is made.
The causes that make the state grow in power are: first war
helps a state to become dominant in substantial territory, second after a
victory of the war a state will exploit the resources that the one that lost (“for
example men, food, lodging, transportation supplies, and/or money to buy them
from the population within that territory”).
It is extremely important that if one goes into politics they have the time for it. It is a profession that demands real dedication and patience. If you are going to be one of the leaders of any city, state, or country then one should be an expert in the field of politics. Voters deserve to have a representative that knows every law inside out and that is ready to serve his or her constituency. I agree that the money situation is a problem. If a politician is really wealthy he or she can just out spend their opponent and get the better promoted campaign. Same thing goes if one candidate has more companies supporting him than the other.
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