The American Fix - Professional Standards for Elected Office. Tuesday's Edition.

How to restore trust in America after the Trump-Republican regime falls. Series 16 #2

The United States lets anyone run for any office, even the presidency, regardless of whether they understand how the government, economy, the military, diplomacy, trade, or international relations function. A candidate can win a Senate seat, a president can be in office with no knowledge of how these systems function. And yet they make decisions affecting 330 million people and shape international relations. This undermines American credibility abroad and produces dysfunction domestically.

Politics is a profession requiring specialized knowledge, yet it is the only profession that does not require education, training, an exam, or any other qualifications other than popularity and money.

Doctors complete medical school, then must pass licensing exams and maintain continuing education. Lawyers graduate from law school, then have to pass the bar and complete ongoing legal education. Even a kindergarten teacher must obtain a teaching credential and take continuing education coures. The requirements exist because these professions affect public welfare. A doctor who doesn’t understand medicine harms patients. An engineer who doesn’t understand structural loads produces a building that collapses. An educator who does not understand learning harms students.

A legislator who doesn’t understand governance harms millions of people through bad policy, incoherent legislation, and failed institutions. The profession affects more people than medicine, engineering, and law combined. Yet it requires no education, no examination, no continuing training whatsoever.

Some nations do require national leaders to be qualified. Turkey requires its president to have a university degree. Singapore requires its president to have three years as minister, chief justice, permanent secretary, or three years as CEO of a company with $500M+ average shareholders’ equity.

China uses a different system. Government leaders start at the village or town level, prove competence managing local issues and implementing policy, then earn promotion to county, city, and provincial roles but only after at least five years of measurable success. By the time a Chinese politician reaches national leadership, they have decades of successful governance experience. Xi Jinping ran a county, governed provinces, and managed Shanghai before leading China.

The current system in the United States is a combination of a popularity contest and who has the most money. It no longer functions. The United States needs to adopt a three-step professional standard for federal office.

Step one: public competency requirement. Candidates must hold either a political science degree or obtain a “political office credential.” The credential would cover the information needed to competently and knowledgeably run the government. Candidates who don’t meet this standard cannot run for office.

Step two: licensing examination. Teachers, attorneys, CPAs, ad nauseam, all pass exams proving they can do their jobs. Those who want to run the country need to prove they can run the country. The test would cover the same subjects as the credential program.

Step three: continuing education. Most professions require ongoing training to maintain their licenses. Elected officials need to be up-to-date on current policy challenges, emerging technologies affecting governance, changes in legislative procedure, and updates to federal law.

Yes, this requires changes to the constitution. But it preserves America’s sacred right to vote, and while it still results in a popularity contest, at least the most populare perons is actually qualified. It also fits American cultural perspectives.

Achievement culture where status comes from demonstrated competence, rather than inherited position or social connections. Candidates prove their competence through education and examination.

Low-context communication, preferring explicit rules and clear requirements over implicit understanding. Professional standards make qualifications explicit.

Universalism in which the same rules apply to everyone regardless of relationships or circumstances. Professional standards for elected office fit this value perfectly. Every candidate meets the same objective requirements.

Similarly, professional standards attracted the right archetypes.

Sages who build knowledge through problem-solving and value knowledge. Professional requirements attract this archetype because credentials and licensing exams reward mastery of governance systems.

Guardians create functional structures and lead from commitment to doing what’s right. Professional standards attract this archetype because they formalize governance as a discipline requiring preparation and ongoing competence.

Toxic Power-seekers who pursue authority for personal power and wealth are filtered out because earning credentials requires studying constitutional limits and institutional checks, subjects that constrain power rather than amplify it.

Learn more about the archetypes in M.J. Hornby’s novels

This approach can help restore America’s international credibility. Foreign governments would see that American officials understand the profession and possess the knowledge togovern.

Nations trust competent partners.

Tomorrow: how expert policy councils can deliver expert policy advice that politics can't corrupt.

SIDEBAR: U.S. Federal Office Requirements:

• President: Age 35, natural-born citizen, 14 years U.S. residency

• Senator: Age 30, U.S. citizen 9 years, state residency

• Representative: Age 25, U.S. citizen 7 years, state residency

• No education requirement

• No examination

• No continuing education

If you enjoyed this article, help support my work by “buying me a coffee.”