Managing constituents: Governance and showtime.

Whether at the Republican or Democratic national conventions, the architects and engineers of government, the career bureaucrats, were nowhere on stage, in front of a camera, or even posting on social media. They understand that to effectively manage their licenses to exploit and regulate human behavior, desires, and needs, they must stay behind the green curtain.

Future managers of the local, state, and federal executive branches, along with their elected colleagues, are best at their primary roles as narrative spinners after first accepting that this is their primary role. There should be no blurred line between helping constituents and managing constituents. The primary and only objective is the management of constituent behavior. If this entails offering packages that deteriorate in value just prior to the next election, then the second concern should be managing the value to ensure longevity in office.

Part of that management is to create an environment of a clear and present danger to the delivery of services that are used to manage constituent sentiment. The veracity at which the threat is painted depends on whether the messaging comes from a manager versus a politician. The manager, especially on the state or local level, wants to hint to the taxpayer at the existence of a bogey man and allow the taxpayer to do the advocating.

The politician goes whole hog and wants to appear as not only the person who identifies the threat, but also wants to appear as the only person who can vanquish the threat.

How best to execute these roles requires a recognition of stakeholders, sources of constituent power and weakness, and the impact of the economy and its markets.

Alton Drew

24 August 2024

For more of my take on American political economy, buy my book at amazon.com/author/altondrew.