OLLI0166 - Understanding The Profession of Politics From Reading Political Biographies

Course Description

Is politics a profession like medicine, law, or carpentry? If it is a profession, how can we understand it in a systematic fashion? How do people learn or obtain training to be a politician? Why do people choose to enter the profession? What types of people are likely to be attracted to the profession? How does context influence the profession? What skills are needed to succeed? Does the profession have specializations? How do democratic politicians differ from authoritarian ones? Are there better and lesser politicians? In this course, we will attempt to answer these questions. We will rely on reading, analyzing, and discussing selected chapters from several outstanding biographies to help us focus on a range of notable politicians to identify their commonalities and differences. At the very least, participants may develop a new motivation for reading political biographies as well as an appreciation and better understanding of politicians more generally. This course will be recorded.