Politicians are lazy? Think again

#240

My Dear Friend of Democracy,

Do you have the impression, as I have, that politicians have a bad reputation?

I often hear people saying that politicians are lazy, don't really make an effort, mostly argue and rarely achieve results.

I have been working in the political environment for many years and know that most of the time the opposite is true. The least I can say: They are not lazy.

But where does this perception come from?

Here is my explanation.

I want to start with an example.

Last year, 107 bills were passed in the German Bundestag. And, of course, the laws were not just passed. They were discussed, changed and discussed again. However, how many laws has the average citizen heard of? Maybe 3. Maybe 10. Maybe 15. In any case, only from a fraction.

This is not a criticism of people. We all perceive things selectively. We are interested in what seems important to us. Federal politics often does not seem important to us. However, politicians can hardly afford to be so selective. They must have had at least a rough idea of ​​all the legislative changes discussed in parliament.

So, politics is a very complex business. And most politicians delve into this complexity.

Many people do not perceive it that way.

This is a problem for democracy. If politicians are viewed negatively, parliamentary democracy is also viewed negatively. People then think that their concerns are not being taken up and implemented by politicians.

What to do?

✊ Let us raise awareness of the scope of parliamentary work. Let us bring topics and debates in parliament into the public (digital) space. For example, I have subscribed to the calendar feed of the German Bundestag. I can now see the schedules of all sessions (see screenshot above; interested? check here). With that calendar you will learn how diverse politics is and how little of it even makes it to the back pages of newspapers.

See you in Europe,

Johannes