Political turnover

Beyond the personal, the Palin candidacy underlines a unique feature of American politics, where relative unknowns constantly show up at the top of the political heap. It is impossible to conceive of a Palin-like candidacy in the European democracies. Obama, too, was an obscure figure until recently. When he won the Democratic nomination and the presidency in 1992, Bill Clinton was the governor of a small state of Arkansas in the South with no ‘national experience’.

Thanks to the strong party system in Europe, national leaders emerge as young politicians steadily work their way up. But the United States is a large, diverse and federal democracy, that offers multiple channels for political mobility. These include the very dynamic local and state-level politics and the primary system that allows fresh faces to challenge the incumbents in their own parties.

There is also the pressure on presidential candidates to build effective social and political coalitions across the nation. A powerful media and a flourishing industry of political consultants also make it easier for outsiders to become insiders. It is the rapid turnover in the political leadership that makes the American democracy so very different and unpredictable.

The writer is a Professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore iscrmohan@ntu.edu.sg