what makes a government successful essay

What Makes A Good Government? Essay Example

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📌Published:	14 March 2021

What makes a good government? The purpose of government is not only to keep peace within the country by creating and enforcing laws, or protecting the country from other aggressive nations but also to ensure people are treated fairly and equally. In fact for over 200 years there has been a disagreement on what government should have control over or be involved in. Many U.S. Presidents have leaned towards the same view as the founding fathers, that the government should only ensure the safety of the nation and its residents but still other presidents believe a good government does more for its citizens.

A good government is there to help the people by creating laws and enacting punishments when needed. Similarly President Lincoln believed that "The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so we'll do, for themselves-in their separate, and individual capacities"(Lincoln,p.304). Lincoln believed that a government should be there to help their people when the people can't help themselves. John Locke, a famous philosopher that studied politics and government in the late 1600's, believed "Freedom of men under government is, to have a standing rule to live by, common to everyone of that society, and made by the legislative power erected in it; a liberty to follow my own will in all things, where the rule prescribes not" (Locke & McPherson, 2010). This suggests that we need some laws that everyone has to follow making everyone feel safe. It also suggests that we can still feel free because if there is no law that says you can't do something then you can do it.

A good government also focuses on equality and the general welfare of it's citizens. Our founding fathers believed this and included the following in the Declaration of Independence "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. (Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, 1776). This shows that our founding fathers believed that we are all equal even if we have different beliefs. Take the Preamble to The Constitution, "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,..." (U.S. Const., Preamble,). The founding fathers included the words “domestic tranquility" and "promote the general welfare" as a reminder of how important these things are to citizens. President Lincoln said, "government is expressly charged with the duty of providing for the general welfare. We believe that the spreading out and perpetuity of the institution of slavery impairs the general welfare." (Lincoln, Douglas, Jaffa, & Johannsen, 1970,p.304). Lincoln had believed that slavery was something that should be decided by the states themselves but this quote shows his view had changed. In addition throughout history and even today, many people believe a large government is better for the country but there are also many who feel a small government is best.

Some people think that the federal government should only handle what is stated in The Constitution however interpretations have changed and so should we. Thomas Jefferson, in his First Inaugural Address in 1801 said, “Still one thing more, fellow citizens- a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government…..”(Jefferson, 2020). This view doesn't take into account monopolies that hurt free enterprise. Monopolies hurt the economy because they don't allow small businesses to grow. This quote also suggests that the government shouldn't collect taxes but as shown throughout U.S. history, taxes are needed to establish and maintain our military to keep our nation safe. President Grover Cleveland also agreed that the government shouldn't help individuals as shown in this quote, “I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution; and I do not believe that the power and duty of the General Government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit.” (Reed, 2005). This says that people who have fallen on hard times should not receive help from the federal government. In the Declaration of Independence, it says people have "inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." (Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, 1776). People who have fallen on hard times should be given help to achieve their natural rights- their liberty and happiness. All in all, some will argue, that smaller governments allow more individual freedoms but larger governments have the ability to help and protect those freedoms when needed.

All in all a good government keeps everyone safe by creating laws and enforcing them. As Lincoln found during his political career, the purpose of government is to keep people safe, make sure people don't hurt each other, and help people in need. The Federal government has helped many different people over the years which improved the general welfare of the country. Since our founding fathers drafted the constitution, the political interpretation of its meaning has changed, which made us a better country.

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Essay on Government

Students are often asked to write an essay on Government in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Government

What is government.

Government is a group of people who make decisions and laws for a country. They are responsible for providing services like education, healthcare, and security to the public.

Types of Government

There are different types of governments, such as democracy, monarchy, dictatorship, and communism. In a democracy, people choose their leaders through voting.

Roles of Government

Governments have many roles. They protect citizens, make laws, and manage the economy. They also provide public services like schools and hospitals.

Importance of Government

Government is important because it maintains order, protects citizens, and provides necessary services. Without it, society would be chaotic.

250 Words Essay on Government

Introduction.

The term ‘Government’ fundamentally signifies the governing body of a nation or state that exercises authority, controls, and administers public policy. It is the political direction and control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens, or inhabitants of communities, societies, and states.

The Role of Government

The government plays a crucial role in society by ensuring the smooth functioning of the nation. It is responsible for maintaining law and order, protecting citizens’ rights, and providing public services. The government also shapes the economy by implementing policies that either stimulate or slow down economic growth.

Governments can be categorized into several types based on their structure and the extent of power they exercise. These include democracy, where power is vested in the people; monarchy, where power is held by a single ruler; and autocracy, where a single person holds unlimited power.

Government and Democracy

In democratic governments, citizens have the right to elect their representatives who make decisions on their behalf. This system promotes accountability, transparency, and the protection of individual rights. However, democracy’s success hinges on an informed and active citizenry that can hold the government accountable.

In conclusion, the government is a fundamental institution in any society. It plays a pivotal role in maintaining societal order, ensuring the welfare of its citizens, and driving the nation’s growth and development. The efficiency of a government is largely determined by its structure, the extent of its powers, and the level of citizen participation.

500 Words Essay on Government

Introduction to government.

The government’s primary role is to safeguard the rights and freedoms of its citizens. This involves ensuring the security of the people, maintaining law and order, and providing public goods and services. A government has the responsibility to protect its citizens from internal and external threats, which is why it maintains law enforcement agencies and a military.

The government also plays a crucial role in economic regulation and stabilization. By controlling monetary and fiscal policies, it can influence the country’s economic trajectory, ensuring growth, stability, and equity. Furthermore, the government is responsible for the provision of public goods and services such as education, healthcare, infrastructure, and social welfare programs.

Forms of Government

In between these extremes, there are numerous variations, such as constitutional monarchies, where a monarch shares power with a constitutionally organized government, or oligarchies, where power rests with a small number of people.

The Importance of Good Governance

Good governance is integral to the effective functioning of a government. It is characterized by transparency, accountability, efficiency, and adherence to the rule of law. Good governance ensures that the government’s actions benefit the majority of the population and that public resources are used efficiently and ethically.

Conclusion: The Evolving Role of Government

In today’s rapidly changing world, the role of government is evolving. With the advent of technology and globalization, governments are not just confined to traditional roles but are increasingly involved in areas such as digital infrastructure, climate change, and global health crises.

As we move forward, the challenge for governments worldwide will be to adapt to these changes and continue to serve their citizens effectively. Understanding the nature, role, and complexities of government is crucial for us as we navigate the political landscape of the 21st century.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Essay on The Purpose of Government

Categories: Discrimination

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Item 1 - purpose and function of our government - general.

Published on Mon, May 17, 2021 9:00AM PDT | Updated Mon, May 17, 2021 9:10AM PDT

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The United States of America (US) is a federal republic composed of 50 states, a federal district of Washington, D.C., five major and various minor insular areas, as well as over 90,000 local governments, including counties, municipalities, townships, school districts, and special district governments. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 329 million people, the US is the world’s third-largest country by total area and the third most populous.

Our vision and mission

As documented in the US Constitution, the people of the US, through our Government, seek to form a more perfect union by establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

Our strategy

To achieve the mission of the people, our Government raises money, spends money, and exercises its authority. Through these actions, it enables, incentivizes, and forces certain behaviors (e.g. saving for retirement through Social Security and Medicare, attending minimum years of school, getting vaccinated) in an effort to maintain or improve various key metrics related to American life.

Raising and spending money

Our Government raises money through taxes and non-tax sources, including businesses it runs. This money is used to pay government expenditures and to transfer money to individuals and others. At the federal level, when the money raised is not sufficient to cover the money spent (most years), the US Department of the Treasury may borrow money to finance the difference. States may borrow funds for projects but may not borrow to fund annual deficits, except Vermont, where its constitution does not preclude it from doing so.

Exercising authority

Our Government exercises its authority directly by regulating, legislating, and issuing executive orders and court orders. It also grants authority to, and rescinds it from, government agencies and state and local governments.

See more at Government operations below.

Continue exploring

About this report, government structure, explore the 2021 government 10-k, introduction, item 1a. risk factors, item 2. properties, item 3. legal proceedings, item 6. selected financial data, item 7. management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations, item 7a. quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk, item 8. financial statements and supplementary data, item 9a. controls and procedures, item 10. executive officers and governance, item 11. executive officer compensation, item 13. certain relationships and related transactions, and director independence, item 15. exhibits, sign up for the newsletter.

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AP U.S. Government and Politics: Argument Essay

Question 4 of the AP U.S. Government and Politics free response section will always be the Argument Essay. These questions begin with a brief paragraph about a given topic, such as the balance between federal and state powers. The prompt will then give specific instructions about how you must format your essay, including a list of several required foundational documents that are relevant to the topic at hand. You will need to discuss one of the listed documents as well as another piece of specific evidence from your own knowledge.

Argument Essay Strategies

While the scoring for the first three free-response questions is more straightforward—you earn points (or not) based on fully addressing each part of the prompt—the scoring for the Argument Essay is a little more complex. The following rubric outlines what the AP readers are generally looking for when they grade your Argument Essay; note the various categories and the ways you can earn points.

Sample Question

Formulate a defensible thesis that establishes a chain of reasoning.
Federalist 10
U.S. Constitution
Take your other piece of evidence from a different foundational document from the list above OR from your own study.
Logically explain why your evidence supports your thesis.
Present and reply to an alternative viewpoint using refutation, concession, or rebuttal.

Step 1: Analyze the Prompt

Step 2: plan your response.

You’ll want to create a brief outline before you start writing, just like you would for any other full-length essay. As you saw from the rubric, AP readers are interested in your thesis development, your use of evidence, and your treatment of an alternative view. Everything you write should be toward one or more of those ends.

You will need to state a thesis that specifically addresses the prompt and makes a claim. Avoid rewording the prompt or being too general. A good question to ask yourself is, “Am I actually taking a position on this issue that someone else might argue against?” Also, while the Argument Essay necessitates a longer, more detailed response than the other free-response question types, it does not require a formal introduction; in fact, writing a lengthy introduction can take up valuable time and frustrate the AP reader who is scoring your essay. Assert your thesis as soon as possible, and then move into the rest of your response.

It is important to note that the Argument Essay’s topic and prompt wording will always intentionally allow for multiple positions. Therefore, you should be strategic and choose the position that you can best back up with evidence. You may even advocate for a different position than the one you personally agree with! To that end, no matter how strongly you feel about a topic, always present your evidence and claims in a balanced manner. Throughout your essay, even and especially when responding to an alternative viewpoint, avoid wording that makes it seem like your argument is simply your personal opinion (e.g., “I think” or “I believe,” or any language that is overly emotional).

With all of this in mind, a high-scoring writer might write the following outline:

Thesis: Trustee is the best model (ideals of Constitution)

Madison’s fear: large country + big gov’t = factions (many groups disagree)
Trustee can mediate, come to concl, act in best interests
Needed trustee model to make change
Civil rights and women’s rights movements
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965

Response to alternative view: Anti-Feds would fear large repub (Brutus), but pol system in place would keep trustee honest

Step 3: Action! Write Response & Step 4: Proofread

Sample high-scoring response.

The trustee model of legislative representation is the best reflection of the founders’ intentions in setting up American democracy because it offers the best hope for what the Preamble to the Constitution calls “a more perfect union,” one that will bring together war- ring factions and increase harmony.

As James Madison pointed out in Federalist 10, it is inevitable that a republic will contain many groups which vehemently disagree. The bigger a country grows, the more frequent and violent factional clashes are likely to become. Madison was looking ahead to the U.S. that would burst the bounds of the original colonies and create more factionalism. This vision of an expanding, clashing nation makes the trustee model very appealing. A trustee Congressperson is one who will listen to all sides, make an independent judgment, but then go on to explain it so that opponents may be persuaded to change their minds, thus bringing resolution to conflicts.

A trustee is a representative willing to do the principled thing even if the public thinks otherwise. Many issues in our history have seemed so polarized that they were beyond resolution and could not wait for popular consensus. This was the case with civil rights issues and legislation in the 1960s. Technically, African Americans had the right to vote since the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870. However, this right was violently suppressed through intimidation tactics and a variety of restrictive measures such as poll taxes and literacy tests. It was not until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that substantial voting protections were extended to all black people. The Voting Rights Act outlawed literacy tests and other tactics; under this act, federal officials were sent to the South to ensure that African Americans were allowed to vote free from fear and intimidation, and the election practices of local governments were held under greater scrutiny. Civil rights movement leaders had challenged discriminatory practices for decades, but due to intense polarization in society, there was no public consensus on how to address racism in voting practices or even agreement as to whether to address it at all. Legislators had to go against the opinions of the majority in order to act in a way that advanced American ideals for all citizens, and the public eventually caught up.

Similarly, legislators pushed through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which was supported by people within social movements but not by the general populace. Additionally, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 touched on the goals of not just the civil rights movement but also the women’s rights movement; for example, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibited sex discrimination in public accommodations. Members of these movements had been working for years to get society at large to expand rights and protections to all people. However, if legislators had waited to act until a majority of their constituency approved of these civil rights bills, the bills may never have passed. In this way, the trustee model can be used to uphold the rights of the minority despite majority resistance.

The trustee idea would have been opposed by Brutus and other Anti-Federalists. Brutus 1 warns that a large republic would necessarily be disconnected from its people. Following this logic, a concern with the trustee model would be that the representative would deviate too far from the will of the people and become despotic. But it is important to note that the people have the ultimate voice if they disagree with the trustee’s judgments: the power of the ballot. The legislator’s desire to stay in power is a strong check on him or her, acting as an incentive to listen to constituents.

All in all, the trustee is in the best position to reduce the intense factionalism Madison feared. Even before the advance of mass media, the trustee had many means to learn of the people’s different views and to explain why the legislator was voting a certain way, or advancing this or that philosophy. This give and take of ideas surely helped to get the republic through its rocky early decades, and also helped the country to recover from the volatile growing pains and changes in the mid-twentieth century by finding ways to bring people together and advance equal rights for all.

Sample Response Explanation and Scoring

Thesis (0–1 pt): The writer sets up a clear X because Y sentence to introduce the thesis, which could be paraphrased as, The trustee model brings about harmony. Everything that follows is connected to the founders’ ideal of harmony. The writer would therefore earn 1 point for Thesis.
Support (0–3 pts): There is more than enough evidence to gain the full 3 points for Support, as the writer explains Madison’s argument in Federalist 10 and elaborates upon relevant historical examples of disharmony that those acting as trustees helped to fix through assertive actions. In addition, the references to the Constitution and Brutus 1 (while unnecessary for earning full credit in Support) show a strong command of course material.
Reasoning (0–1 pt): The writer earns the 1 point for Reasoning by clearly explaining how a trustee offers the best hope for Madison’s vision. Specifically, the writer asserts in paragraphs 3 and 4 how trustees could not wait for public opinion in order to act.
Reply to Alternative Viewpoint (0–1 pt): There is a whole paragraph at the end dedicated to rebutting the Anti-Federalists’ objections. In this way, the writer makes it clear that this requirement has been met and earns the final 1 point.

Question-Specific Rubric: 6 points (1 + 3 + 1 + 1)

Learn more about the other free response questions on the AP U.S. Government and Politics exam. Concept Application • Quantitative Analysis • SCOTUS Comparison

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Integration and Implementation Insights

A community blog and repository of resources for improving research impact on complex real-world problems

What makes government policy successful?

By Jo Luetjens, Michael Mintrom and Paul ’t Hart

authors_jo-luetjens_michael-mintrom_paul-t-hart

There is considerable pressure on researchers to show that their work has impact and one area in which impact is valued is government policy making. But what makes for a successful government policy? What does it take to achieve striking government performance in difficult circumstances or the thousands of taken-for-granted everyday forms of effective public value creation by and through governments?

We used four dimensions to assess levels of success:

Successful programmatic performance is about designing smart programs that will really have an impact on the issues they are supposed to tackle and delivering those programs in such a manner that they produce social outcomes that are valuable.
Successful process management relates to how policy design, decision-making and delivery are organised and managed, and whether these processes contribute to not only the policy’s effectiveness and efficiency but also to the sense of procedural justice among key stakeholders and the wider public.
Successful attainment of political legitimacy of a policy involves the extent to which both the social outcomes of policy interventions and the manner in which they are achieved are seen as appropriate by relevant stakeholders and accountability forums.
Successful endurance is about maintaining high performance and legitimacy over time through embedded learning in program (re)design and delivery.

We commissioned 20 up-close, in-depth case-study accounts of the genesis and evolution of stand-out public policy accomplishments in Australia and New Zealand across a range of sectors and challenges (Luetjens et al ., 2019). Our case studies threw up six recurrent patterns of policy craftwork.

For example, Australia’s Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) responded to a strong desire to expand the number of school-leavers attending university but was devised in such a way that the flow of benefits was not skewed towards more privileged groups in society.
For example, the economic reforms in New Zealand in the 1980s were propelled by Treasury advice that was devised over a lengthy period and in a way that placed significant weight on intellectual coherence.
A powerful example of this is provided by the New Zealand case of Treaty of Waitangi Settlements. Here, a policy position asserted by a Labour Government was maintained by the incoming National Government. It was steady leadership of the responsible Minister in that government that was crucial to forming and embedding its institutions and processes. This ministerial stewardship continued for years despite the policy frequently being the focus of public disquiet about the cost to tax payers.
For example, gun control schemes had been in development in Australia for quite some time, but only when a horrendous mass shooting occurred in Tasmania was there a political impetus to adopt them. The policy response in Australia to the HIV/AIDS epidemic represents another instance of a crisis serving as a lever to create momentum for nascent but hitherto not yet influential policy communities and policy paradigms.
New Zealand’s Nuclear Free policy offers a good illustration. In 2007, on the twentieth anniversary of the law, the National Party’s spokesperson for foreign affairs conceded that “the retention of this legislation that is called iconic, and that is symbolic of our independence of thought and judgment in international affairs, is not in question” – a far cry from that party’s vociferous opposition to it back in 1987.
In the case of efforts to make Melbourne a more liveable city, there were various challenges which meant that implementation occurred in a slow, incremental fashion. Yet, when people started to see the benefits of the implementation efforts, assessments of the overall initiative grew far more positive. Likewise, the introduction of water markets in Australia had its fair share of frustrations. Indeed, some of those frustrations remain, but overall this effort has now come to be viewed as making the best of a bad situation.

Understanding what makes policy successful can help researchers more effectively plan the questions and issues they investigate, as well as to be more savvy about their interactions with policy makers and the policy process.

What has your experience been with successful policy making and the role that research plays in identifying and fostering it?

To find out more : Luetjens, J., Mintrom, M. and ’t Hart, P. (eds.) (2019). Successful Public Policy: Lessons From Australia and New Zealand . ANU Press: Canberra, Australia (Online – open access): https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/series/anzsog/successful-public-policy

Biography: Jo Luetjens is a doctoral candidate at the Utrecht University School of Governance in the Netherlands. Her research interests include efforts to improve public sector performance and efficiency, the politics of policy reform and successful change management .

Biography: Michael Mintrom PhD is professor of Public Sector Management at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He holds a joint appointment as the Monash Chair of ANZSOG (Australia and New Zealand School of Government), where he serves as Academic Director of the Executive Master of Public Administration degree. His recent research has examined policy entrepreneurship, teamwork in the policy process, the creation of organisational cultures of excellence, and the assessment of public policies as investments .

Biography: Paul ’t Hart PhD is professor of public administration at the Utrecht University School of Governance and the Netherlands School of Public Management in The Hague. His research interests include highly successful public policies, organisations and collaborations, political and public service leadership, crisis politics and crisis governance, and political-administrative relations .

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25 Essay Topics for American Government Classes

Writing Ideas That Will Make Students Think

Teaching Resources
An Introduction to Teaching
Tips & Strategies
Policies & Discipline
Community Involvement
School Administration
Technology in the Classroom
Teaching Adult Learners
Issues In Education
Becoming A Teacher
Assessments & Tests
Elementary Education
Secondary Education
Special Education
Homeschooling
M.Ed., Curriculum and Instruction, University of Florida
B.A., History, University of Florida

If you are a teacher searching for essay topics to assign to your U.S. government or civics class or looking for ideas, do not fret. It is easy to integrate debates and discussions into the classroom environment. These topic suggestions provide a wealth of ideas for written assignments such as position papers , compare-and-contrast essays , and argumentative essays . Scan the following 25 question topics and ideas to find just the right one. You'll soon be reading interesting papers from your students after they grapple with these challenging and important issues.

Compare and contrast what is a direct democracy versus representative democracy.
React to the following statement: Democratic decision-making should be extended to all areas of life including schools, the workplace, and the government.
Compare and contrast the Virginia and New Jersey plans. Explain how these led to the Great Compromise .
Pick one thing about the U.S. Constitution including its amendments that you think should be changed. What modifications would you make? Explain your reasons for making this change.
What did Thomas Jefferson mean when he said, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants?" Do you think that this statement still applies to today's world?
Compare and contrast mandates and conditions of aid regarding the federal government's relationship with states. For example, how has the Federal Emergency Management Agency delivered support to states and commonwealths that have experienced natural disasters?
Should individual states have more or less power compared to the federal government when implementing laws dealing with topics such as the legalization of marijuana and abortion ?
Outline a program that would get more people to vote in presidential elections or local elections.
What are the dangers of gerrymandering when it comes to voting and presidential elections?
Compare and contrast the major political parties in the United States. What policies are they preparing for upcoming elections?
Why would voters choose to vote for a third party, even though they know that their candidate has virtually no chance of winning?
Describe the major sources of money that are donated to political campaigns. Check out the Federal Election Regulatory Commission's website for information.
Should corporations be treated as individuals regarding being allowed to donate to political campaigns? Look at the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC ruling on the issue. Defend your answer.
Explain the role of social media in connecting interest groups that have grown stronger as the major political parties have grown weaker.
Explain why the media has been called the fourth branch of government. Include your opinion on whether this is an accurate portrayal.
Compare and contrast the campaigns of U.S. Senate and House of Representatives candidates.
Should term limits be instituted for members of Congress? Explain your answer.
Should members of Congress vote their conscience or follow the will of the people who elected them into office? Explain your answer.
Explain how executive orders have been used by presidents throughout the history of the U.S. What is the number of executive orders issued by the current president?
In your opinion, which of the three branches of the federal government has the most power? Defend your answer.
Which of the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment do you consider the most important? Explain your answer.
Should a school be required to get a warrant before searching a student's property? Defend your answer.
Why did the Equal Rights Amendment fail? What kind of campaign could be run to see it passed?
Explain how the 14th Amendment has affected civil liberties in the United States from the time of its passage at the end of the Civil War.
Do you think that the federal government has enough, too much or just the right amount of power? Defend your answer.
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Why Democracy is the Best We've Got

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In response to the question " is it important to live in a democracy ", the following essay was selected as a winner of carnegie council's international student essay content..

Although the ongoing debate over the viability and efficacy of living in a democracy underwent a temporary pause after the conclusion of the Cold War and accompanying democratic revolutions, the international rise of authoritarian regimes and simultaneous decline of freedom in the geopolitical sphere makes discussions of democratic ideals and realities increasingly topical.

Democracy is a system of government in which the citizens of a nation determine its policies through elected representatives, direct voting, or in most cases, a combination of the two. Furthermore, in democratic elections, voters must have the capacity to replace political parties and leaders based off popular support. Finally, a democracy must allow the majority of residents to participate in political processes and not exclude certain groups of people from the political sphere on the basis on race, gender, class or sexual orientation.

First and foremost, democracies are a crucial step in achieving equality for oppressed groups by giving people who would otherwise be excluded from politics the ability to vote for the policies and people that they believe in. When given the right to vote, marginalized groups are naturally more likely to support politicians who will work to end the oppressive policies that are prevalent throughout the world. Some argue that democracy alone is insufficient in the pursuit of equality because the majority faction will still overpower minority factions. While this may be true, the importance of democracy should be viewed through a lens of the possible alternatives; other systems of government, such as autocracies, theocracies and monarchies are comparatively worse for achieving equality because they exclusively allow one person or group of people to make decisions for an entire population. Only democracy allows all groups, regardless of race, gender identity, class or sexual orientation, to participate in politics.

Not only does democracy allow all people to have an equal voice, but it is also inherently an extremely flexible system, which allows for the government to adapt according to changing ideologies. Because elected representatives have an incentive to maintain their positions of power, they appeal to public opinion to remain popular. Although many people critique democratic politicians for their inauthenticity, politicians mirroring the beliefs of the people is actually positive because it ensures that that the majority of citizens' beliefs are reflected in national policies. Furthermore, it functions as a crucial check on people in positions of power because if they act in an unpopular or unethical way, they will likely be voted out of office.

Finally, living in a democracy is important because democracies are the most statistically significant factor in reducing inter and intra state conflict. Director of Policy Studies at the Kroc Institute David Cortright and his colleagues conducted a study to determine the validity of democratic peace theory and examine how regime type relates to violence. They concluded that democracies are much less likely to both engage in war with other states and to participate in civil wars. This is likely because war, in any form, is politically unpopular as it costs human lives, which thus incentivizes democracies to avoid it at all costs. Civil wars in particular are unlikely in democracies because democratic governments function as a safety valve for discontent; while disaffected civilians living in democracies can express their grievances in the form of free speech or exercising their right to vote, citizens living in autocracies have no choice other than violence if they hope for governmental change because they lack political power. Cortright also cites Rudolph Rummel's book Death By Government, in which Rummel finds that autocratic regimes are three and a half times more likely to commit genocide than democratic regimes. Cortright suggests this is a result of the prevalence of exclusionary ideology that is reinforced by authoritarian regimes in comparison with democratic ones.

Some may argue that autocratic governments are preferable to democracies because they are more efficient. It is true that autocratic regimes are able to pass and implement policies in a more timely manner. However, the power of democracy lies in its ability to gradually change. Complex issues should not be swiftly and unilaterally decided by one ruler; they should be debated upon by large groups of people examining both sides of the issue until the majority is able to find a consensus.

Another common criticism of democracy that proponents of autocracies present is the lack of expertise of voters. While every voter is certainly not an expert on every topic, democracies encourage citizens to learn more about the world around them by creating a mutual responsibility between each voter and his or her nation, and by extension, his or her world. Democracies motivate voters to do research on important candidates and policies, whereas non-democratic governments foster political apathy because one's opinions have no impact on the world around them.

The 2018 Varieties of Democracy Report concludes that one third of the world's population lives in a country in which democracy is declining. Even more frighteningly, the Freedom House reports that the global freedom index decreased for the twelfth successive year. Editor Gideon Rose grimly wrote in the May/June 2018 issue of Foreign Affairs, "Some say that global democracy is experiencing its worst setback since the 1930s and that it will continue to retreat unless rich countries find ways to reduce inequality and manage the information revolution. Those are the optimists. Pessimists fear the game is already over, that democratic dominance has ended for good."

I fall on the side of the optimists. In the face of the global decline of rule of law, freedom of the press, equal representation, separation of powers and freedom of speech, democracy will be resilient—but only if we fight for it. The time is now to advocate for a more democratic world, and many are taking up the cause. Countries such as Ethiopia are experiencing democratic reforms as the new prime minister has freed political prisoners and promised more fair elections. Even in democratic nations such as the United States, the effects of political movements such as the Women's March and March For Our Lives, which were only possible because of the right of citizens to peaceably assemble, are evident.

Although democracy is far from a perfect political system, it is undoubtedly an important tool in achieving equality, decreasing conflict, and increasing civic engagement, making it the best available system of government.

Alexandra Mork is a former winner of Carnegie Council's international student essay contest. In 2018, while a junior at Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles, Mork drafted the winning student essay titled, "Why Democracy is the Best We've Got." Mork is currently a student at Brown University where she serves as managing editor for the Brown Political Review.

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Writing in Government

How do i write a gov paper .

Expos teaches you about the fundamentals of writing an analytical argument. As you write papers in Gov, you are adapting the elements of argument to a particular audience: readers in the social sciences. These readers have specific expectations about how to present arguments and supporting evidence. Writing successfully in Gov requires you to identify those expectations in assignment prompts and then respond to them by making well-supported and clearly reasoned arguments.

__________________________________

"Everybody's work has to stand or fall on the basis of the arguments presented and the evidence." - Prof. Eric Nelson

Do the Exercise

In these exercises, you have two goals: to identify the common elements of essay prompts, and to learn strategies for developing arguments that respond effectively to the expectations presented by a given prompt.

Decoding Prompts

Developing a thesis.

What to Do:

Prepare by reading about the elements of paper prompts in the "Tips" tool to the right.
Read the three sample prompts below and select one to work with.
Answer the questions in the text boxes below the sample prompts.
Write a 1-sentence version in your own words of the prompt you have selected. You can do this in the first “Re-write” box below the questions.
Try re-writing the other two prompts in a single sentence.

Please note that these forms are not monitored; no feedback will be sent at this time.

Sample Prompts

1. The traditional definition of democracy is captured by Schumpeter’s statement that democracy is the “institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people’s vote.” Is Schumpeter’s “free competition for the free vote” a sufficient conceptual and normative definition of “democracy”? What else, if anything, would you add to this definition?

2. The majority of Gov 97 has focused on state actors, but the Internet is a whole new non-state world that currently has little to no formal governance. Should the Internet be governed democratically? What does it mean to have democratic governance of the Internet? (Will there be elected bodies? Will the Internet be governed by democratic principles?) If you were on a committee to develop Internet governance, what democratic processes (if any) would you recommend? Why?

3. How do new technologies affect democratic politics? We have read a number of accounts of traditional forms of democratic participation and democratic institutions – choose one topic or outcome (e.g. elections, campaign finance, regime change, economic institutions, the welfare state, democratic peace etc.) that we have read about, and think about how new technologies challenge or add to traditional theories about that outcome.

( Taken from Gov 97, Spring 2015)

Understanding Prompts

Design and purpose.

Instructors have two main goals with most prompts: First, they want to test how well you’ve understood assigned material for the course and gauge your progress over the term. Second, they want to encourage you to think about certain questions in a way that may not be directly covered in the course materials themselves. In this way, prompts facilitates guided learning through writing.

In most cases, the instructor will have both of these goals in mind. Depending on the assignment, though, one goal may carry greater emphasis than the other.

Central Question

This is the main question that the instructor wants you to answer. It may be a yes/no question, where you need to agree or disagree with a given statement. Or it may be an open-ended question, where you need to develop your own line of argument. Either way, the central question is the core of the paper, i.e., the question your instructor is asking in order to test your knowledge about material from the course or to encourage you to develop a reasoned opinion based on that material. Your thesis statement should respond directly to this central question.

Example of a central question:

What do you think is Aristotle’s strongest justification for participatory citizenship?

Example of a multi-part central question:

What do you think is Aristotle’s strongest justification for participatory citizenship? Does it translate from ancient democracy to the present; does it apply today?

Supporting Questions

In addition to the central question, prompts typically include additional points to consider as you write your paper, and these points often come in the form of secondary or supporting questions. Supporting questions are meant to prompt your thinking and can help remind you of important debates that may exist within the topic you are writing about.

That being said, prompts made up of more than one question can be harder to decode. For one thing, the first question in the prompt is not always the central question, and it might be possible to interpret more than one of the questions as the central question. This ambiguity might be intentional (to allow students to write a range of essays), or it might be unintentional. For these reasons, it is always helpful to try putting the prompt in your own words. What is the central question being asked? And what is the central question your paper is answering with its thesis? What are the supporting questions being asked? And how will your paper answer those questions in relation to your thesis?

In the following example prompt, notice how the first set of questions (greyed out and in italics) form a multi-part central question about an idea of Aristotle and its relevance to the present day. The subsequent supporting questions provide a number of possible directions in which to elaborate on this question, but none of these supporting questions should be the main focus of an argument responding to this particular prompt.

Example:

What do you think is Aristotle’s strongest justification for participatory citizenship? Does it translate from ancient democracy to the present; does it apply today? How do modern democracies define citizenship? Do modern democratic institutions (representation, voting and elections, political parties) and/or the organized groups of civil society (voluntary associations, demonstrations, social movements) provide arenas for political participation? If so, how and why is participation valued? If not, why not, and how is the division of political labor justified?

Additional Cues

Prompts often provide cues about what should or shouldn't be the focus of a writing assignment. For instance, there may be debates or themes that have been raised in the course, but which are not meant to be the particular focus of the paper at hand. In the following excerpt from a prompt, you can see that Aristotle's definition of "citizen" is crucial, but the goal of the essay is to use the definition to make a further point, rather than getting bogged down in the definition itself.

Example from a Gov prompt:

In the Politics , Aristotle defined a citizen as someone who takes turns in ruling and being ruled, identified who was eligible (and ineligible) for citizenship, gave an account of citizens’ judgment, and set out reasons for popular political participation.

Restrictions

Prompts often include additional requirements that either guide or limit a writing assignment. These restrictions are usually straightforward requirements for the essay's form (how long it should be) or for its content (what question(s) it should answer and which sources or cases it should use).

You must analyze Aristotle’s text
You may pick just one or two government institutions or civil society groups to  illustrate your answer.
You must refer to at least two authors (in addition to Aristotle) in composing your  response.
Prepare by reading about the elements of thesis statements in the "Tips" tool to the right.
Read the sample prompt below.
Answer the questions in the text boxes below the sample prompts.

Sample Prompt & Theses

Making reference to the cases of Rwanda and Yugoslavia, construct an argument that addresses the following questions: When you consider the various theories you've encountered about the emergence of ethnic politics in your readings as well as in lecture, how well (or how poorly) do specific elements of these two cases fit those theories? What is the strongest explanation overall for why ethnic violence broke out in these two cases and eventually assumed the proportions it did? Does the same answer apply to both cases, or do different answers best explain Rwanda and Yugoslavia separately?

The Rwandan and Yugoslav genocides were similar in some ways. In other ways, though, they were different.
Ethnic politics leads to the emergence of ethnic violence.
I argue that ethnic politics is important for understanding violence in Rwanda and Yugoslavia and for explaining the genocides there.
Rwanda and Yugoslavia both experienced similar levels of ethnic politics and ethnic violence during the 1990s and followed similar paths to genocide.
Ethnic politics does not always lead to ethnic violence, but in cases where the state collapses like it did in Rwanda and Yugoslavia, the path from ethnic politics to genocide will be similar.

Taken from Gov 20, Fall 2015

What is an Argument?

In the social sciences, an argument typically make claims about the way the world works. It argues that the world is one way rather than another, and explains why it is that way .

The first part of the bolded statement above is really important. In social science courses, you will rarely be asked to just summarize a set of facts. You will instead be asked to make assertions about how something came to be or how some phenomenon caused another.

This implies a counterfactual , which is a statement about how the world would have been, if something else had happened. For example, you might argue that polarization in American politics is caused by people moving to areas where most people share their political beliefs. This implies that if people didn't move to neighborhoods or cities with like-minded people, there wouldn't be polarization. But they do , so there is .

The first part of the bolded statement above also implies that you will give evidence to show us that your argument is correct.

The latter part of the statement, in turn, implies that you will show us the "why" of the phenomenon you're looking at: how exactly does it work?

Thesis Requirements

A thesis statement will be in response to a specific question, whether that question is explicitly asked in a prompt or is a question you have yourself developed in response to course readings or class discussions. Therefore, your thesis statement should clearly be an answer to a question!

Your answer should not just contain a "what is" statement, but a statement of "how" your argument works. What is the "mechanism" of your argument? If you say that wealth causes democracy, make sure the “how” or “because” is also clearly previewed in your thesis.

This is also your introduction to the reader of what the paper’s really about, and it is your chance to explain how the paper will work. It should prepare them for the direction the paper is going, so they know what kinds of evidence they should expect.

In college-level papers, thesis statements can be more than one sentence long. Being concise is good, but it's ok to have a slightly longer thesis statement if your thesis is somewhat complex, e.g., if there are two or three steps in the "how" part of your paper.

Scope Conditions

Most papers are not about making universal arguments that showcase everything you know, but about making an valid argument within a set of parameters that are either provided by the assignment itself, or that you decide to keep your argument clear and effective.

In writing, be clear: what are the “scope conditions” of your argument? In other words, under what conditions or in which cases is your argument valid?

Example: “In democracies,” i.e., not for every country we’ve looked at, but only for democracies.

Example: “Among late developers” i.e., only in those countries that developed recently.

Make sure your these boundaries are clearly stated in your thesis statement . Do you think it will be intuitive to the reader why you used these scope conditions in particular? If not, you may need to briefly explain why you're using them, either in the thesis statement itself or just before (or after) your thesis statement.

Evaluating Theses

Can readers take your thesis statement and test it like they would a hypothesis? Would they know what to look for in order to evaluate how well your argument is made? If so, it's probably a strong thesis.

A hypothesis is a statement that can be tested . For example, in the statement "wealth leads to democracy," we can imagine testing it by looking for wealthy countries that aren't democratic.

If readers can look at your thesis statement and come up new evidence to refute your claim, it might mean there's room for healthy debate on the topic--and it might mean there's a genuine weakness in your argument--but it also means you probably have a clearly written thesis statement!

A really common thesis-related problem for students is that readers don't know how to evaluate whether the argument is right or wrong . This idea of being able to test arguments against new evidence is what makes political science "scientific."

Additional Tips

Be direct, and own your answer. Don’t say, “The purpose of my paper is to show that economic development causes democracy.” Say, “Economic development causes democracy, because…”

But it is OK to use the first-person voice in political science! (Example: "Wealth is a necessary condition for democracy. I show this by examining all countries with an average GDP above $6,000 per year")

Make it clear where your thesis statement is. You don’t have to put the thesis statement at the end of a short, first paragraph...but this is common, because it keeps you from writing too much/too little introduction, and it’s often where your reader will look first (because it is so common!)

Avoid the word “prove,” which implies definitive proof (which is rarely possible in social sciences)

Avoid overly stylized language in your thesis statement, and keep it as clear, specific, and unambiguous as possible.

It’s ok to argue that sometimes things work one way, and sometimes another. For example, “wealthy countries are usually democratic, but sometimes they aren’t.” However, it’s much stronger to try and make this difference part of your argument---”Wealthy countries are usually democratic because [reason], but oil-rich countries are an exception because [reason].”

Elements of a successful government transformation

In our conversations with public-sector leaders across the world, we hear real urgency—and a fair amount of anxiety—about the need to transform government services. At the national, state, and city levels, governments know they must find new ways to meet the expectations of citizens, many of whom are increasingly discontented. Often governments must also provide “more for less” in an environment of fiscal constraint, and myriad forces that trigger government transformations make their task more challenging (Exhibit 1).

New research by the McKinsey Center for Government shows just how hard it is to get such transformations right. Around 80 percent of government efforts to transform fail to meet their objectives, according to a survey of nearly 3,000 public officials across 18 countries that formed part of the study’s evidence base. The study also included insights from 80 transformation cases and from in-depth interviews with 30 leaders who have led transformations in government.

What distinguishes the 20 percent of transformations that succeed from the 80 percent that do not? Our study distilled five essential disciplines, “the five Cs,” and found that transformations that apply all of them are more than three times as likely as other change initiatives to succeed. The disciplines are as follows: committed leadership, clear purpose and priorities, cadence and coordination in delivery, compelling communication, and capability for change. These might seem obvious, but they are rarely applied effectively—and they are particularly difficult to implement in the context of the political cycles, complex delivery systems, and multiple stakeholders that characterize the public sector.

Committed leadership

The experience of the transformation leaders we interviewed made it clear that a high degree of personal commitment and energy—and often true courage to challenge established conventions—are necessary in bringing the five Cs to life. Our survey corroborates this: leaders of successful transformations were twice as likely as their peers in unsuccessful initiatives to model the behavior they expected of public servants. Fredrik Reinfeldt, former prime minister of Sweden, told us: “For eight years, I spent more than 250 days traveling throughout Sweden. I went everywhere, met civil servants, discussed with them what was happening, and asked them what they were seeing.” Another leader we spoke to risked reelection to pursue a crucial reform to the country’s school system. And a third leader consciously challenged the central government’s procurement rules to expedite change, confident that showing early results was worth the risk.

Of course, this is easier said than done. Leaders often have limited political capital and must carefully choose how to spend it. They might not have the longevity to complete large-scale reforms; for example, a review of ministers of health across 23 countries from 1990 to 2009 found that half of them served for fewer than two years in office. And governments often find it difficult to prioritize because of the number of vocal stakeholders, each with their own demands.

One government that has overcome such challenges is the Colombian city of Medellín. Until recently, it was notorious for having one of the world’s highest homicide rates, but the city has decreased this by more than 80 percent. This remarkable transformation is thanks in part to the bold vision and deep commitment of a series of mayors of Medellín as well as governors of the surrounding Antioquia province and the partnerships they built with the private sector. One of those leaders was Aníbal Gaviria, who served as governor from 2004 to 2007 and mayor from 2012 to 2015. Gaviria translated his personal commitment into a clear vision for change. “We faced incredulity and people thinking that we were forever condemned to be a failed city,” he said. “The change in mentality—when people begin to see that it is possible to have breakthroughs that benefit everybody—has been the most important gain.”

Clear purpose and priorities

Successful transformations paint a compelling picture of their destination—and make it crystal clear to public servants and citizens why the change is necessary. When it comes to objectives, less is more: successful efforts keep targets few, specific, and outcome based. Jaime Saavedra Chanduví, former minister of education in Peru, made rapid improvement in the country’s education system by simplifying more than 200 objectives into a four-point plan, “so that a cab driver understood it.”

Another example is from Dalton McGuinty, premier of the Canadian province of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. McGuinty committed his leadership to the reform of education in the province, leading to impressive improvements in quality. For example, the number of low-performing schools dropped from 800 to 63. As he told us, that success came about only because of ruthless prioritization. “I learned that it’s very important to settle on just a few priorities,” he emphasized. “Of course, we wanted to get hospital waiting times down. Of course, we wanted to see queues for the courts reduced. But if you try to boil the ocean, you’re not going to succeed. That is why my single greatest priority was education.”

McGuinty also set ambitious targets, which raised the motivation of everyone involved. As he said, “When I made my commitments to increase test scores and graduation rates, I didn’t know how I was going to get there.” But he knew that he had to bring teachers with him. “I did everything I could to enlist teachers to the cause by treating them respectfully, building capacity by investing heavily in them and their training, and publishing graduation rates and the test scores, which kept the pressure on them and on me.”

Cadence and coordination in delivery

Successful transformation efforts are characterized by smart approaches to delivery, which differ markedly from traditional public-sector approaches to policy development and implementation. A smart approach requires a fast yet steady pace, a flatter hierarchy with close collaboration among different agencies and functions, and the flexibility to solve problems as they arise. It also requires an empowered and focused transformation team to spur the pace and track progress. According to our survey, a dedicated team centrally coordinated the change program in 51 percent of successful transformations, whereas such a team was present in only 26 percent of unsuccessful ones.

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An example comes from the Indian state of Maharashtra. There, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis created a war room in 2015 that focused on accelerating infrastructure delivery. A faster pace is critical in this populous, fast-growing region with historic backlogs in infrastructure ranging from transport to water. The war room convenes regular meetings focused solely on the issues holding back each project. These meetings, chaired by the chief minister, bring together heads of the different departments and agencies so they can make decisions on the spot to resolve the issues. This focus and rapid escalation has enabled a dramatic acceleration in delivery—for example, from opening 11 kilometers of metro lines in the previous decade to 250 kilometers in the past three years.

Compelling communication

Every government communicates, but only a few do so effectively enough to win hearts and minds. Nearly 90 percent of participants in our transformation survey said that engaging more with frontline employees would have enhanced success. Transformations need well-planned, in-depth, genuine two-way communication with all the groups affected by the change—especially the organizations’ own employees.

Two examples from the United Kingdom offer powerful illustrations of this need. The first is the FiReControl project, which was launched in 2004 to merge 46 local fire-control centers into nine. According to the UK National Audit Office, the effort did a poor job of communicating the purpose of the change to local fire services and did not take sufficient account of their needs and concerns. As a result, the project didn’t have users’ support and failed to deliver a system that met their requirements. The project was canceled in 2010, wasting around $700 million.

The transformation of HM Land Registry , whose mission is to protect UK land and property rights, took a very different approach. Graham Farrant was appointed chief executive and chief land registrar in 2015 with a mandate to transform the agency into “the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity, and an open approach to data.” Farrant kicked off the transformation by conducting town-hall meetings with all 4,000 staff in groups of 30 to 50 at a time. Farrant learned that HM Land Registry’s staff felt passionate about upholding the integrity of the property-registration system. This knowledge helped him craft a transformation message that spoke directly to advancing that widely held and deeply felt professional mission rather than focusing simply on efficiency gains, as his predecessors had done. Farrant also introduced a weekly blog, which allowed staff to post comments, and personally responded to people’s thoughts and ideas. He made it clear that he cared about employees’ views and wanted to build on the strengths and professionalism of the organization. Farrant’s collaborative approach has contributed to the ongoing success of the full transformation, which has dramatically reduced the backlog of cases.

Capability for change

Finally, governments need to rethink their approach to public-service capabilities if they are to increase their odds of success in major change programs. Over centuries, governments have honed their skills in areas such as policy and diplomacy. They now need to build new capacity and encourage agility to transform how they deliver services. Sometimes acquiring the right capabilities means hiring experienced change leaders from outside government and, critically, investing in their orientation to help them become an integral part of the team. But it also requires focusing on internal capability building, as our survey findings make clear. When we compared successful and unsuccessful transformations, we found that the former were three times more likely to train initiative leaders in change-leadership skills. They were also twice as likely to offer broader capability-building programs to employees involved in the transformation (Exhibit 2).

One public-sector change effort that grasped the importance of capabilities was that of the Ethiopian federal tax authority, which embarked on an ambitious effort to improve the effectiveness of its tax collection . The authority put transformation capabilities at the heart of its program, starting with a top-team workshop in which leaders agreed to a common vision of reform, identified the values they wanted to demonstrate to their people, and made explicit personal commitments to the program. More than 200 key frontline staff received training and coaching both on tax-specific skills (such as debt-collections tracking) and project-delivery capabilities.

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Another example is New Zealand’s transformation of policing, launched in 2009. A key component was the Prevention First model, which addressed the underlying causes of crime. This required a focus on early intervention and engagement with the community. To make this change, police received training in preventative policing and engagement techniques.

Beyond the five Cs: Putting citizens at the heart of transformations

The task of transforming large-scale public-sector organizations is daunting—all the more so given the high failure rate revealed in our survey. By embedding the five Cs, public-sector leaders can substantially improve their odds of success (Exhibit 3). However, our study also identified further technology-inspired techniques to support faster and better change: citizen experience, design thinking, and agile practices.

Pioneering organizations are using the concept of citizen experience to understand people’s end-to-end journeys in services such as public transport and business licensing. They are drawing on design thinking to reconfigure such services in a way that integrates the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements of the provider organization. And they are deploying agile practices to quickly design, prototype, and test services with users.

A department of corrections in the United States provides an example of several of these innovations. This department sought to reduce violence in prisons and lower recidivism among several thousand offenders. In one project, the agency used design thinking, including journey mapping, to improve the effectiveness of rehabilitation. The agency identified “offender segments”—analogous to the customer segments used by private-sector marketers—based on factors such as education, employment, behavioral therapy, and mental health. The transformation team also designed “offender journeys” for each segment, much in the way private-sector firms reimagine customer journeys. The aim was to allow corrections staff to set goals for the offender’s rehabilitation and direct the appropriate programming and resources from the start of the offender’s stay through parole and reintegration into the community. Another government used citizen-journey design to dramatically streamline the process of setting up medical facilities—a policy priority for the country in question (Exhibit 4).

Governments exploring the next horizon of transformations are also harnessing technology to engage with citizens much more frequently and imaginatively. In India, for example, the government launched the MyGov online platform in 2014 to invite citizens to share comments, ideas, and concerns. To date, nearly two million citizens have participated by submitting suggestions in policy areas ranging from environmental pollution to girls’ education to health. One proposal submitted through the platform was to turn rural post offices into simple banks to increase financial inclusion—an idea included in India’s 2015 budget. By March 2017, banking sections had been installed in 25,000 post offices. Such participative planning puts citizens at the heart of designing and delivering effective services.

The world urgently needs successful government transformations—to improve health and education outcomes, foster growth and job creation, make cities more livable, make constrained public-sector budgets go further—and, ultimately, to restore citizens’ confidence in governments’ ability to deliver. Although the failure rate of such efforts is high, there is every reason to believe it can be radically improved. For these efforts to be successful, commitment and sharp focus by leaders, engagement and consistent discipline in delivery, and the foresight to shape a set of capabilities for a new era of government are necessary.

This article is adapted from Delivering for citizens: How to triple the success rate of government transformations .

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Tera Allas is senior fellow in McKinsey’s London office, where Richard Dobbs is a senior partner; Martin Checinski is an associate partner in the Dubai office; and Roland Dillon is an associate partner in the Melbourne office.

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How Democracy Makes America Great

Two longtime servants of American democracy make the case for the greatness that lies within the system.

The 2020 American election is a gift that keeps on giving for the propagandists of hostile regimes. Russian commentators are having a field day, describing the presidential poll as “neither free nor fair” and speaking glibly of ballot stuffing and “administrative measures” to rig the results. In China, the official media hammer at themes of chaos and disorder in the campaign, the extravagant cost of American politics, racial unrest, polarization, and the potential for violence or coup attempts.

This commentary on the election is part of the authoritarian indictment of liberal democracy as anarchic and spent—“obsolete,” according to President Vladimir Putin. The objective varies from country to country. In Russia, the underlying domestic message is that elections under Putin, where opposition candidates are jailed or prevented from registering and opposition politicians poisoned or murdered, are just as valid as American polls—unruly affairs, open to fraud and arranged to entrench elite domination. In China, coverage of American politics is designed to buttress the Communist Party’s theme that one-party rule—orderly, efficient, decisive—is superior to American democracy’s disputes, gridlock, and chaos.

The election of Joe Biden will, if anything, intensify the anti-democratic drumbeat. America’s critics have had years to perfect their arguments for internal audiences. Now these critiques, developed by RT—Russia’s state-controlled television network—and other Russian sources, have been embraced by populists and demagogues in America and Europe as well. We have reached the point at which President Trump and his followers have concocted the bizarre scenario of an election stolen by the Democrats; a few have gone as far as to call for martial law and a new election. For the immediate future, at least, a sizable segment of the voting public will have views of American democracy that dovetail with the lies broadcast by the Kremlin’s cynical information warriors.

So far, democracy’s advocates have responded to this propaganda onslaught with bewilderment or complaints that this or that action by President Trump breaks institutional norms. A more assertive response is required, one that reminds the American people why democracy matters and, more particularly, why liberal democracy is essential to Americans’ economic well-being, physical security, and honest government, and to America’s standing in the world—in other words, why democracy is essential to American greatness.

Consider, for example:

1. It is a strong alliance of democratic states that stems both the ambitions of autocratic powers seeking global domination and the sense of security strongmen feel from challenge. This resistance is especially important when, as now, a loose but effective coalition of regimes—a kind of Autocracy International—provides military, diplomatic, and economic assistance to beleaguered autocratic regimes like those of Venezuela, Belarus, and Iran.

2. Democracies rarely go to war with one another and are highly unlikely to present military threats to America or their own neighbors. Past wars and nuclear standoffs have invariably involved totalitarian regimes or dictatorships. Most recently, Russia has invaded Georgia and Ukraine; and China has provoked apprehensions about its military aggression in East Asia and, now, in South Asian states like India, Nepal, and Bhutan. In contrast, alliances with Japan, South Korea, and NATO have played crucial roles in maintaining peace in difficult times. The fact that American military strategy has been revised to focus attention and resources on China and Russia is powerful evidence that our chief adversaries, even in what has been called a post-ideological age, are two of the world’s leading autocracies.

3. Democracies are relatively likely to be safe and prosperous and, thus, less likely to produce refugees and asylum seekers. Repressive countries like Eritrea, South Sudan, Myanmar, Venezuela, and Syria, as well as countries with weak democratic institutions and adherence to the rule of law—like El Salvador and Honduras—are major refugee producers as well.

4. Democracies do not arrest and hold American citizens for ransom, while in recent years China, Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates have all held Americans, Britons, Canadians, and Australians as prisoners with dubious justification.

5. Democracies are much less likely to strip assets from corporations, expropriate property, arrest American business personnel on fraudulent charges, extort transfers of technology or intellectual property, or hack American hospitals and medical research facilities (as Russia has done during this pandemic, to say nothing of its massive hack in 2020 of U.S. government agencies, companies, and think tanks). American businesses are generally secure in systems in which the rule of law prevails, while doing business in an autocracy is more likely than not a risky enterprise.

6. While private parties in democracies try to influence U.S. government policy through lobbyists and public relations campaigns, they do not employ the often underhanded and frequently illegal methods that characterize business-government relations in Russia, China, and other autocracies.

7. Democracies, though they are victims of terrorist acts, seldom incubate terrorism. Democracies are less likely to allow terrorist groups safe haven, cede territorial control to them, or collapse into failed states that are unable to resist them.

8. Democracies grapple with the threats that new technologies pose to privacy, civil liberties, and the rule of law; but they are much more likely to regulate new technologies with ethical rules meant to limit abuse. In contrast, China touts artificial intelligence and other new technologies as tools of an advanced surveillance state and aggressively markets technologies of repression beyond its borders.

9. Democracies accept and even encourage freedom of expression. In contrast, modern autocracies are developing increasingly powerful tools to censor the internet, prevent open debate on sensitive political issues, and muzzle leading dissidents and opposition figures, even outside their borders. Autocracies thus cripple the free speech that political stability requires.

10. Democracies are more likely to discourage corruption. Anti-corruption institutions and initiatives are more prevalent in the United States and other democracies, including new democracies like Romania and Ukraine. In autocracies, by contrast, corruption is an accepted part of doing business; often, these regimes are even complicit in transnational money laundering and other illicit cross-border enterprises, as with the use of Russian and Chinese money in the United States and Europe, stolen wealth from Malaysia, African kleptocracy, Azerbaijan’s bribery in the Council of Europe, and Venezuela’s state involvement in drug trafficking.

11. Democracies are more likely to cooperate and vote with the United States in international forums like the United Nations.

12. The combination of effective institutions and opportunities provided by democratic societies ultimately produces more durable economic progress. Democratic, market-based countries also tend to be more reliable and trusted trading partners.

13. Kleptocracy can flourish only in a non-democratic country, where there are few checks on executive authority from formal institutions like the judiciary or from non-state institutions like civil society watchdog groups and an independent press, especially investigative journalism. For the same reason, kleptocracy requires repression. Kleptocratic states, in turn, often engage in transnational crimes from money laundering to drug and arms trafficking, thereby destabilizing regimes and subverting the rule of law.

14. Climate change is both an existential threat in itself and an increasing driver of desperate migration. For the most part, democracies are more likely to act to mitigate this threat. The Trump Administration pulled out of the Paris Agreement; but America will rejoin the accords, and most of the world’s democracies remain committed to them.

For all the commotion from Trump and his supporters in the wake of the 2020 election, things could have been much worse. Trump could have been re-elected. In a second Trump term, America would have moved closer to a system with authoritarian characteristics: heightened attacks, fortified by proposed laws and policies, on the media; baseless investigations and prosecutions of political opponents; further scapegoating of minorities and immigrants; worse corruption; and slavish devotion to the party’s leader from congressional figures.

Fortunately, some seven million more voters chose Biden over Trump—eighty-one million to seventy-four million. Biden’s electoral college numbers match Trump’s numbers from 2016. The outcome is a source of enormous relief to democracies and concern to autocracies around the world. That alone should be reason for renewed hope in America’s ability to correct course and return to the democratic fold. Biden will have his hands full, but American democracy will have another chance to demonstrate its worth.

Arch Puddington has written widely on global democracy. He is author of the Freedom House Special Report , Breaking Down Democracy: Goals, Strategies, and Methods of Modern Authoritarians (2017).

David J. Kramer , a contributing editor of American Purpose, is a senior fellow at Florida International University’s Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs. He served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights & Labor in the George W. Bush Administration.

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Characteristics of a Good Leader Argumentative Essay

To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
As a template for you assignment

What makes a good leader of a country?

A leader can be defined as someone who leads others. According to Greer, “a leader can be someone who is in charge or commands others in an organization or a country” (30). Leadership cannot be based solely on an individual’s responsibility. It is important to add that a leader is not just about politics.

Thus, leaders can be found in every sector including sports, entertainment, and corporate sector among other areas. The argument about leadership focus on: what are the right qualities? What should the leaders do to strengthen these qualities? How are these qualities developed? This paper seeks to argue the qualities that ultimately define a good leader in a country.

To answer the question on what makes a good leader appropriate, it is important to acknowledge that traditional qualities that have defined a good leader such as aptitude, strength, determination, and vision are not sufficient in today’s world. In this changing world, a leader- in addition to the listed qualities- needs a high degree of emotional intelligence.

A look at history can reveal a number of highly skilled and intelligent leaders who took over leadership of their country only for them to perform dismally. Therefore, it can be concluded that finding the right leader is an art and science. Notably, “although leaders may share general qualities, each leader has a personal style of doing things. Some leaders are passive and analytical while others are very proactive and confrontational” (Daft and Lane 52).

Another important thing to acknowledge is that a leader, especially in a country or state, will often face different situations that will often require different approaches. While pursuing diplomacy, the leader will be required to be a sensitive negotiator; while consoling victims of a disaster, the leader will need to show empathy and comfort; when dealing with state enemies, the leader is needed to have a forceful authority.

The general conclusion, in my opinion, is that, to be leader, intelligence, hard work, and vision are important aspects to consider. However, even with all these, a leader should have the emotional intelligence to be successful and sustain the leadership status that is made possible by the primary characteristics listed.

There are various aspects of emotional intelligence that are critical to good leadership. According to Goleman, “they include self-awareness, enthusiasm and responsiveness. Others include group skills and self-regulation” (21). Researchers have carried out studies in the corporate world, and the results have shown that emotional intelligence is often what distinguishes the outstanding leader.

The first component I analyze is the aspect of self-awareness. This refers to the ability to have a deep understanding of one’s emotions, strengths, weaknesses, motivational factors. To be self aware means that one is honest with his or herself. It also implies that the individual is neither critical of others nor unrealistic.

Further, individuals who are self aware can predict how different emotions will affect them and the performance of their work. For example, a leader who has self awareness may know that interviews with the press often make him or her nervous. Therefore, it is prudent to avoid such interviews and choose other methods of communication.

The same self awareness can be applied when it comes to ideals and values in which an individual believes. It has often been said that a leader who does not believe in anything will fall for anything. Therefore, the leader with self-awareness will be able to turn down an investor’s request to set up a big industry in the country if that investment will hurt the environment.

Weak leaders who lack self awareness will accept to do something, but after two or three years down the line, they will rescind their decision. It can be noted that people who have self awareness are coherent and articulate. They are able to speak openly and precisely tackle the areas they are addressing. They are also able to describe themselves accurately (Northouse 154).

The other component of emotional intelligence is self regulation. From the onset, it is important to acknowledge that emotions are part human life. Although humans cannot do away with emotions, it is possible to control and manage them.

Self regulation is the ability to manage and control one’s feelings in order to make one free from distractions. In this case, individuals should also be able to direct these feelings to a useful channel. For example, a leader may witness a shambolic presentation by members of his cabinet to a key investor.

With the disappointment, the leader may feel the urge to kick a chair or bang the table which will bring a negative side of him to the investors. Therefore, self-regulation is the ability to apologize to the investor and carefully select the words that will authoritatively, yet humbly explain to the members of the cabinet the areas that will need to be corrected. Another example is when the leader of a country faces a threat of attack from another country.

In such a delicate matter, one wrong move can cost the country in many ways. However, if the leader maintains calmness, does not panic, and can prepare the relevant stakeholders to deal with the problem, then the effect is different, and the damage can be controlled.

Self-regulation is also a strong pillar of integrity. Thornton noted, “on many occasions, people with integrity are often caught in decisions that lack integrity” (p.13). Although such leaders have integrity, they lack self-regulation, which often enhances integrity. An example is a leader who is faced with a crisis and has no solution for the crisis.

In the heat of things, the leaders may decide to apply a solution that is outside the law. Thus, although the action may have been intended to help the country, lack of self regulation may lead the leader to undermine his own integrity. The third aspect of emotional intelligence is motivation. It is almost an unwritten rule that a good leader should have motivation. In this context, motivation refers to the urge to achieve.

A motivated leader is one who is never contented with the status quo. They are always striving to do better things and doing them differently. Such leaders often raise the performance bar, and they keep track of the scores. In this case, a good example is Thomas Sankara, the slain leader of Burkina Faso from Africa. Sankara became the leader of Burkina Faso at a time when the country was reliant on donor funds.

Uncomfortable, with the status quo, he led his countrymen on an overdrive to practice farming to a level that had hitherto been unseen. The country was for the first time able to feed all its population without the aid from foreign countries. The same leader introduced a government policy requiring all top government officials to stop the usage of the extravagant Mercedes Benzes. Instead, government officials were encouraged to use the modest Volkswagen vehicles so as to save money for increment of teacher’s salaries.

The fourth component of emotional integrity is empathy. The uniqueness of this component is that, unlike the aforementioned components, this component is very easy to identify and recognize. However, the modern world will rarely reward a leader in business or politics on account of empathy. In this case, the conventional understanding of empathy is to be able to take other peoples’ feelings and give them priority as if they were one’s own.

In this context, empathy refers to the ability of the leader to consider the interests of all stakeholders when making decisions. The last component is the idea of social skills. The two components are related as they are concerned with the ability to establish meaningful relationships with other people. A leader is always leading and managing people. Thus, a good leader should be able to get along with these people.

From the discussion, it is clear that, to lead a country, a great team is what will deliver great leadership. However, in every country, there is a leader. Some are led by a monarch, others by dictators, or others like the United States by a democratically elected leader. In monarchs and dictatorships, leaderships will tend to be highly concentrated around an individual.

On the other hand, democracies allow power to be decentralized to other institutions like the parliament, judiciary and the executive. The common denominator is that, whether the power is decentralized or centralized, the leader or leaders of the country need to possess certain qualities to lead the country effectively. The argument put forward is that, apart from the conventional qualities, a good leader of a country should possess the quality of emotional intelligence.

Works Cited

Daft, Richard, and Patricia Lane. The Leadership Experience . Mason, OH: Thomson/South-Western, 2008. Print.

Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ . London: Bloomsbury, 1996. Print.

Greer, Eddie. “Dare To Lead: Continuous Learning Creates The Best Leaders.” Professional Safety, 56.6 (2011): 30-31. Print.

Northouse, Peter. Leadership: Theory and Practice . Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2010. Print.

Thornton, Grant. What makes a good leader? 2008. Web. www.grant-thornton.co.uk/pdf/20-leadership-report.pdf

Qualities That Make You a Good Leader
Intelligence in What Makes a Leader? by D. Goleman
Individual Presentation and Plan: Developing Self-Awareness
Political Firsts: Hiram Rhodes Revels and Romualdo Pacheco
Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards
Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy: Partners or Opponents?
Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia
A Critical Evaluation of Criteria for a Successful Presidency from a Citizen’s Perspective
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Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2018, June 18). Characteristics of a Good Leader. https://ivypanda.com/essays/qualities-of-a-good-leader/

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IvyPanda . (2018) 'Characteristics of a Good Leader'. 18 June.

IvyPanda . 2018. "Characteristics of a Good Leader." June 18, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/qualities-of-a-good-leader/.

1. IvyPanda . "Characteristics of a Good Leader." June 18, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/qualities-of-a-good-leader/.

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IvyPanda . "Characteristics of a Good Leader." June 18, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/qualities-of-a-good-leader/.

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UPSC Essays Simplified: Structure and Flow of a good essay– the third step

How to build a 'structure and flow' in a good essay our expert takes you through the third stage of writing an essay in upsc essentials' new series. don't miss the essay exercise towards the end of the article..

How to write essays for UPSC Civil Services Exams? This is one of the most popular questions among aspirants. In UPSC Essentials’ special series UPSC Essays Simplified , we take you through various steps of writing a good essay. While there is no set formula or fixed criteria prescribed, Manas Srivastava talks to Ravi Kapoor , our expert, in this new series who guides the aspirants with a simplified framework on how to write a good essay. Don’t miss ‘The Essay Exercise’ towards the end of the article.

Ravi Kapoor focuses on the following steps of pre-writing and writing stages which will help aspirants to write a ‘good essay’.

	)
	)

Today, we will focus on Step 3.

About our Expert: Ravi Kapoor IRS (R) , has now ditched his coveted rank of deputy commissioner and has offered free quality mentorship to UPSC aspirants, drawing upon his ten years of experience to create customised and productive curriculum. Through a free mentorship programme, he integrates tailored educational materials, psychological principles, visual learning techniques, and a strong emphasis on mental well-being into his teaching skills granting aspirants a chance to learn from his expertise.

How to have a ‘Structure and Flow’ in a good essay?

Everyone knows that an essay should be broken down into an introduction, body and conclusion. But what is written inside these 3 components and HOW it is written makes the difference between an essay fetching average or excellent scores.

Structuring and flow refer to the organisation of the essay and your ideas therein.

A good structure is a way of organising information that fits well with the essay topic and the ideas you wish to present in your arguments such that the reader can make sense of the entire write-up without much effort.

Good flow refers to how your arguments and counterarguments connect from one to another such that the reader finds it logically connected and easy to comprehend.

An essay without these elements will appear to be disorganized, jargoned, hard to comprehend and overall, complicated.

Contrary to popular belief, flow and structure are not subjective writing skills that are inborn in good writers but can be learned and improved upon. What follows is a series of structuring techniques that will help you choose the best one for any essay topic you may encounter.

What are different types of structures?

1. 2 side face-off:.

This is the oldest trick in the book. While writing the body of the essay, you divide it into arguments and counterarguments. In other words, you compare one side of the debate with the other.

For example:

“Thinking is like a game; it does not begin unless there is an opposite team”

The body of the essay can be divided into 2 parts- one agreeing with the statement and one disagreeing with it as follows:

Thinking is reciprocal as thought builds on other thoughts. The Socratic method, championed by Socrates, is a testament to this idea. Socrates would go around Athens spreading knowledge by asking questions and inciting dialogue which would lead the conversationist to the point of realization about something new and profound.

Similarly, when Einstein said he was standing on the shoulders of giants, he meant that his theory of relativity was built using many ideas developed by mathematicians and physicists who came before him.

The reciprocal nature of thought helps to improve it by allowing dissent and counterarguments much like a game of chess. An example is the Case study pioneered by Harvard Business School wherein one case is debated upon in detail considering various strategies before arriving at the optimal one.

While dissent and opposition can lead to many a good idea, there are more ways for thought to develop into ideas within human consciousness. Human cognition is too complex to be restricted to one mode of thinking. A Case in point is intuitive or creative thinking that can arise spontaneously without the interlocking of two human intelligences.

For instance, creative geniuses often hit upon their best ideas out of the blue in ‘Eureka’ moments that seem to arise from within the subconscious mind without the presence of an opponent.

Another example is ‘thought-experiments’ used by philosophers that are designed to be introspective exercises that one engages with, with oneself. Thought experiments are indispensable tools for philosophers and physicists to offer insight into a profound problem of logic and metaphysics.

2.Dimensional analysis:

It has become fashionable to break the essay topic into various dimensions such as Social, Cultural, Historical, Economic etc. But this is not a one-size-fits-all method and may or may not work with every essay topic.

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in the school…”

While this topic can be written about based on various dimensions such as economic, historical, social etc, it is not necessarily the best structure for it.

Instead, a better way to present the information in this essay topic would have a mix of chronology and analysis in the following way-

We are blank slates when we are born onto which society and culture leave their imprint. Through childhood and adolescence, the education system seeks to put us through a treadmill of learning, hoping for a fully functional human to emerge at the end. Sadly, the world that awaits a young adult after school is often very different from what the education system has imparted.

Memorization, exams, grades and NCERT books amount to nothing in a world driven by start-ups, ChatGPT and Social Media influencers…. Please note that the dimensions such as social, cultural and historical factors can also be mentioned in the body of the essay as supporting content ideas.

In most essay topics, these dimensions are best used to describe the reasons and impact of an issue or debate instead of as just a structure.

3. Timeline and Chronology

Some essay topics are uniquely suited for a chronological structure wherein you take the reader through a historical journey or evolution such as :

“History is a series of victories won by the scientific man over the romantic man”

This topic is about the ancient debate between rationality and idealism. To write well about it, you would have to trace the through major historical intellectual movements such as the Scientific Revolution, the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, etc. While doing so, you could mention how each stage was relevant for rational thinking versus idealism with relevant examples.

While you do so chronologically, remember to also present a balanced approach in your arguments- On every stage, you can mention how rational thinking and idealism have been in a tight relationship, but both have been an integral part of human consciousness representing creativity and logic. You may also mention how this to and fro has enriched human civilisation and led to the development of science and art.

4. Anecdotes and stories

Many students like to start their essays with an anecdote- a personal story or an imaginary one about characters highlighting the debate presented in the essay topic. While this is not a bad strategy, it requires a fair amount of creative writing ability to pull off properly. It is also important to mention that anecdotes are not the most suitable vehicle to comprehensively deal with the essay topic as not all arguments can easily fit into a personal story.

An example of a good use of anecdotal structure is:

“Not all who wander are lost”

About 2000 years ago, a wandering prince changed the world by questioning the most profound and radical assumptions about human existence. Prince Siddhartha was bathed in luxury and wanted for nothing. But when we saw the naked reality of the world and all its suffering, he could not silence his mind to the questions that we take for granted- why is there suffering and death? If suffering is inevitable then what is the point of life? Is there peace to be found or are we doomed to suffer in this life?

He wandered for years in search of answers, as lost as a soul can be. But in the end, it was his wandering that changed the world forever. When he became the Buddha, he not only found himself but saved millions of others from being lost themselves….

Anecdotes can make for good hooks or introductions to an essay but may not serve well to cover the entire body of the essay.

The Essay Exercise


	1. Use Anecdotes or historical examples in intro 2. 2 side face-offs in body of the essay 3. Balanced conclusion
	Start with comparing USSR and USA in the cold war. Preparation for nuclear war and hint at how being pre-emptive is strategic but not always a good thing.
	Argument- Counter-argument-
	Conclude by saying that we must strike a balance between preparedness and being spontaneous:

Important points to note:

You can choose which type of structure to use- there is no single best choice.
You may use more than 1 type of structure.
You may use structures for introduction, body and conclusion.

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.

The UPSC articles of Indian Express is now on Telegram. Join our Telegram channel- Indian Express UPSC Hub and stay updated with the latest Updates. For your answers, queries and suggestions write at manas.srivastava@ indianexpress.com .

Manas Srivastava is currently working as deputy copy editor at The Indian Express and writes for UPSC and other competitive exams related projects.

Manas Srivastava is currently working as Deputy Copy Editor with The Indian Express (digital) and majorly writes for UPSC-related projects leading a unique initiative known as UPSC Essentials. In the past, Manas has represented India at the G-20 Youth Summit in Mexico. He is a former member of the Youth Council, GOI. A two-time topper/gold medallist in History (both in graduation and post-graduation) from Delhi University, he has mentored and taught UPSC aspirants for more than four years. His diverse role in The Indian Express consists of writing, editing, anchoring/ hosting, interviewing experts, and curating and simplifying news for the benefit of students. He hosts the YouTube talk show called ‘Art and Culture with Devdutt Pattanaik’ and a LIVE series on Instagram and YouTube called ‘You Ask We Answer’.His talks on ‘How to read a newspaper’ focus on newspaper reading as an essential habit for students. His articles and videos aim at finding solutions to the general queries of students and hence he believes in being students' editor, preparing them not just for any exam but helping them to become informed citizens. This is where he makes his teaching profession meet journalism. He is also currently working on a monthly magazine for UPSC Aspirants. He is a recipient of the Dip Chand Memorial Award, the Lala Ram Mohan Prize and Prof. Papiya Ghosh Memorial Prize for academic excellence. He was also awarded the University’s Post-Graduate Scholarship for pursuing M.A. in History where he chose to specialise in Ancient India due to his keen interest in Archaeology. He has also successfully completed a Certificate course on Women’s Studies by the Women’s Studies Development Centre, DU. As a part of N.S.S in the past, Manas has worked with national and international organisations and has shown keen interest and active participation in Social Service. He has led and been a part of projects involving areas such as gender sensitisation, persons with disability, helping slum dwellers, environment, adopting our heritage programme. He has also presented a case study on ‘Psychological stress among students’ at ICSQCC- Sri Lanka. As a compere for seminars and other events he likes to keep his orating hobby alive. His interests also lie in International Relations, Governance, Social issues, Essays and poetry. ... Read More

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Afghanistan's Gulbadin Naib celebrates after defeating Australia by 21 runs in their men's T20 World Cup cricket match at Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saturday, June 22, 2024. (AP Photo)

Afghanistan's historic win over Australia has created a three-way race for the semifinal spots in Group 1, with India currently leading. To secure qualification, India needs to beat Australia or avoid a heavy defeat.

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The Consumption Riddle: Will government expenditure and a good monsoon boost the revival in consumer spending?

Byline: Arnab Dutta & Surabhi
Producer: Arnav Das Sharma

Once growing at a fast clip, the rural market and the mass-market consumer goods categories have been under stress for three years. While green shoots are visible, with rural growth returning for FMCG and two-wheelers, manufacturers’ hopes are riding on a good monsoon and government spending

Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic introduced the work-from-home routine, Ramesh Sharma (name changed on request), a corporate professional living in Delhi, started spending more on his food and groceries. Sharma, 45, has always been particular about the quality of his diet. But now, he buys more organic groceries and cold-pressed cooking oils and juices even though they are costlier and add to the general inflation in his food and grocery bill. Meanwhile, domestic worker Kusum is scouting for a second-hand refrigerator for her family of five. After multiple repairs, her fridge stopped working this summer. Kusum’s husband is a driver, but they don’t have Rs 10,000 for a new fridge. Her budget: Rs 3,000-4,000 for a second-hand one. With rising expenses, buying new appliances remains a dream.

" The company’s strategy has been penetration-led volume growth. So, I wantto get back to volume growth as quickly as possible and not linger on with just value growth " Suresh Narayanan CMD Nestlé India

Consumers like Sharma and Kusum are familiar to Kamal Nandi, Business Head & EVP of Godrej Appliances. A veteran of the consumer durables industry who tracks purchasing patterns, Nandi says the inflationary cycle that began in 2021 has throttled demand for mass-market home appliances. “For the past two to three years, the mass-market categories of essential appliances like refrigerators and air coolers have been subdued,” he says.

In refrigerators, sales of single-door direct cool models have been contracting 5-10% a year since the pandemic. These models account for 70% of volumes. “Whatever growth was recorded was in the premium segment. Last year (2023), the refrigerator market remained flat as the mass segment de-grew by 6-7% [by volume]. In 2022, the mass segment was flat, but premium grew by 20-22%,” Nandi says. Overall growth was 7%, against 10% in 2021.

The picture is not much different for TVs: Sales of 32-inch or smaller sets, the preferred choice of over 80% of Indian consumers, are under severe stress. Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO of Super Plastronics Pvt. Ltd, which makes smart TVs under licence for popular brands such as Kodak, Thomson and Blaupunkt, says sales of smart TVs larger than 40 inches have overtaken 32-inch TVs post-Covid. “Demand for 55-inch and larger smart TVs is the highest, followed by 40- and 42-inch TVs, while the 32-inch models are de-growing,” he says. In 2023, TV sales had declined by up to 15% year-on-year due to subdued demand in smaller (cheaper) categories. Marwah says the current demand is primarily from households that are upgrading.

The trend: practically no demand from poorer households, whose incomes do not give them leeway for discretionary spends. But affluent consumers continue to buy. Ditto in rural areas, where most buyers are not making purchases while a handful opts for premium products.

The home refrigerator market remained flat in 2023 at Rs 25,000 crore or 13 million units after growing 8-10% between 2010 and 2019. It sank in 2020 and perked up in 2022 on the back of premium models. The TV market shrank to 12 million units in 2023 from 15 million in 2019.

The story is different for home air-conditioners. Although ACs are considered expensive consumer goods that add to electricity bills, the market is surging, helped by the low household penetration of only 7%. (While some 80% of the households have TVs, household penetration of refrigerators is about 33%.)

Industry veterans such as Nandi and B. Thiagarajan, MD of AC major Blue Star, say sales are growing at 20-30% this summer.

A Widespread Crisis

Daily essentials such as branded packaged foods and personal care items are also feeling the chill. Take India’s branded FMCG market, valued at Rs 5 lakh crore and ranked the world’s fourth largest. With consumers spending less, the volume offtake has continuously fallen since early 2022. While offtake in urban markets had slowed significantly in recent quarters, the steep decline in the rural market was a drag on overall growth. Between the March and December quarters of 2022, FMCG volumes in the rural market had shrunk by 6-10% every quarter. Rural India, which has nearly 70% of India’s population, accounts for 36% of FMCG sales. While rural consumption has shown signs of recovery since 2023, most leading FMCG players remain “cautiously optimistic”.

" Monsoon impacts the agri economy and rural consumption. And I think in that sense, most likely, the worst is past us, and from here onwards, we do see a gradual recovery in rural consumption " Rohit Jawa CEO & MD HUL

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), the country’s largest FMCG firm, reported a 5.7% drop in its net profit in the March quarter to Rs 2,406 crore, while revenue stood almost flat at Rs 14,693 crore. HUL has been marking up prices during the past two years to offset the faltering volume offtake. Now, it is passing on the benefits of lower commodity prices, either by reducing MRP or increasing pack size. This impacted its top-line growth not only for the quarter but for FY24. While its revenue for the year was Rs 59,579 crore, or 2% higher than the Rs 58,154 crore it had posted in FY23, its net profit margin of 16.73% was the lowest since FY19, the year before the pandemic.

Rohit Jawa, CEO & MD of HUL, notes that rural consumption is recovering, but urban has been more resilient, especially at the premium level. “Over the last few years, because the inflation or price increases are quite sizeable, they had an impact on rural,” Jawa said in a post-earnings call in April.

He said that, in FY24, “volume recovery remained gradual due to high levels of cumulative inflation over the past few years, coupled with a weak monsoon affecting rural demand. Urban, organised trade and premium portfolio stayed resilient and led growth for FMCG overall”. HUL is now betting on spending more to lure urban consumers towards its premium portfolio.

“ Despite some recovery in this segment post-Covid-19, the lowest 20% still face challenges in returning to their pre-pandemic financial status " Rajesh Shukla MD & CEO PRICE

HUL’s peers are facing similar challenges. Poor offtake by low-income households in urban and, especially, rural areas is hurting their sales growth. The crisis is severe in the hinterlands, where incomes are lower than in urban areas.

Suresh Narayanan, Chairman & MD of Nestlé India, says the food and beverages major is ramping up its rural distribution and getting into smaller packs as it is “still impacted by inflation”. “The company’s strategy has been penetration-led volume growth. So, I want to get back to volume growth as strongly and quickly as possible and not linger on with just value growth,” he says.

Nestlé India, a subsidiary of Swiss F&B giant Nestlé S.A., aims to increase its direct reach to 6 million outlets in the next four or five years, up from the current 5.1 million. Nestlé India, which has relatively low exposure to the rural market, grew its volume offtake even during the worst period of 2022 and 2023, when most of its peers registered subdued growth.

Narayanan says Nestlé’s focus on growing its rural reach helped. Urban-focussed Nestlé used to get some 10% of its sales from the rural market in 2015. Over time, its share has grown to over 20% as it has increased its distribution reach from 20,000 villages in 2018 to 200,000 by early 2024.

" In the past few years, vehicle prices at the entry-level segment went up much faster than buyers’ income levels [of that segment]… Further, the inflation scenario resulted in less money for mass-market consumers " R.C. Bhargava Chairman Maruti Suzuki India Ltd

Bumps on the Road

The auto sales numbers show diverging consumption trends among poorer and affluent households. Sales of two-wheelers and passenger cars were affected similarly: entry-level passenger cars have few takers, while consumers flock to dealerships to drive away in (costlier) SUVs. In April-May, sales of SUVs jumped 19.4% year-on-year, extending its lead over all other passenger car segments as domestic sales grew to 362,212 units.

In comparison, during the first two months of FY25, overall passenger car sales, excluding SUVs, declined 17.4% YoY, while sales of mini cars were down 18.1% and compact cars 15%. In April-May 2024, domestic sales of Maruti Suzuki’s mini cars, the Alto and S-Presso, declined 18.7%, and sales of compact hatchbacks, including some popular models such as the Swift, Baleno, Dzire, and WagonR, fell 15%. Maruti’s overall passenger car sales, excluding SUVs, declined 15.2%. But its SUV sales jumped 33.5%.

R.C. Bhargava, Chairman of India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki, says the company had to mark up prices of entry-level cars. “In the past few years, vehicle prices at the entry-level segment went up much faster than buyers’ income levels [of that segment]… Further, the overall inflation scenario resulted in less money for mass-market consumers,” he says. Bhargava says the entry-level car segment can have healthy growth when two-wheeler users can upgrade, but that is still some time away.

The two-wheeler market has been giving manufacturers and dealers sleepless nights as demand for entry-level models has been badly affected in rural India. Manish Raj Singhania, President of the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations, says the premium end has been doing well. “Anything premium—be it two-wheelers or passenger cars—was doing very well [for the past few years]. That was not a cause of worry. We were worried over the demand in entry-level segments,” says Singhania. After falling for several quarters, sales of two-wheelers, especially in the entry-level segment (up to 125cc), have grown since the festive season in October.

Singhania says people suffered during the pandemic, with many losing jobs and savings. Thus, despite being a necessity in the hinterlands, sales of small cars have been hit. Poor sales in the rural market also affected overall industry growth. While demand for entry-level cars has fallen, SUVs, considered premium, have taken the lead and captured nearly 64% of the passenger vehicle market in India. “Also, there has been a significant rise in prices of entry-level cars. But we expect the demand to come back, albeit slowly,” he says.

Macroeconomic Challenges

The gap between household types is widening. Gautam Duggad, Head of research for institutional equities at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, says weak growth in rural consumption during the past two years was primarily due to lower disposable income growth and poor monsoons.

Rajesh Shukla, MD and CEO of People Research on India’s Consumer Economy (PRICE), says the pandemic has significantly impacted the bottom 60% of India’s income pyramid, eroding savings while increasing debt. “Despite some recovery in this segment post-Covid-19, the lowest 20% still face challenges in returning to their pre-pandemic financial status,” he says. This group, primarily consumers of low-end two-wheelers and FMCG products, now thinks only about essential spending, emergency savings, and repaying debt.

" Aspiration and relevance are increasing in rural areas, but affordability remains challenging. We aim to crack affordability, which we see as a key driver for growth in these markets " Sudhir Sitapati MD & CEO GCPL

High inflation and limited job openings are not helping matters.

PRICE’s ICE 360° surveys show that the average annual household income among the poorest 20% has fallen by 21% from Rs 1.4 lakh in 2016 to Rs 1.1 lakh in 2023. If adjusted for inflation, the real income levels in 2023 are even lower. The average annual household income of the upper middle class has increased by 33% and that of the richest 20% by 51%.

“The Indian economy is witnessing a significant shift towards premiumisation, driven primarily by the large middle class and affluent consumers who prefer high-end products in segments such as luxury cars, upscale houses, leisure holiday trips, high-end apparel, and personal care,” Shukla says. Growth in premium consumption is not confined to metropolitan elites; the aspirational households in boom towns, niche cities, and developed rural areas contribute significantly to this trend.

The financial distress in rural households has hurt manufacturers of consumer products across sectors. Data from Motilal Oswal shows that real agricultural wages contracted by 0.4% in FY24 and 0.8% in the March quarter. Real non-farm wages contracted by 0.1% for the third successive year in FY24, following a contraction of 1.1% in FY23. During the past three years (FY22-FY24), urban consumption has outpaced rural consumption in each quarter, in contrast to FY20-FY21, when rural consumption grew faster.

Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist at Bank of Baroda, says high inflation and rising prices have kept demand low. “Demand has been muted in rural and urban areas; demand has come from only one segment. People are spending more on services than goods and sectors such as tourism and hospitality, but here, too, it is only the middle- and high-income groups that are spending,” he says.

Sabnavis says bank credit for other personal loans has also been increasing by double digits, and people seem to be borrowing for consumption. Net household savings, which touched a high of Rs 23.29 lakh crore in FY22 as the pandemic-led lockdown and mobility restrictions dampened consumption, have, however, fallen sharply since then due to various factors, including the release of pent-up demand, more credit demand, and the use of savings to fund current expenditure.

Per NSO data, gross financial savings of households rose nearly 14% to Rs 29.73 lakh crore in FY23 from Rs 26.11 lakh crore in FY22. Of this, savings in the form of gold and silver ornaments rose to Rs 63,397 crore in FY23 from Rs 61,327 crore in FY22. But financial liabilities of households rose to Rs 15.57 lakh crore in FY23, a 73% jump from Rs 8.99 lakh crore in FY22.

" We have not seen any change, be it in consumption or sales, from rural India. Amul has penetrated rural India very deeply and gets 38% of its sales from centres with a population of fewer than 20,000 " Jayen Mehta MD GCMMF (Amul)

Net household savings in financial instruments fell to Rs 14.16 lakh crore in FY23 from Rs 17.12 lakh crore in the previous fiscal, a multi-year low. Price rises, or increases in the cost of living, have also impacted spending capabilities for many households. Retail inflation has remained above the Reserve Bank of India’s target of 4% (with a leeway of two percentage points either way) for as many as 56 months up to May this year.

According to some, the problem is deeper-rooted. “Demonetisation and implementation of GST during 2016-2017 hurt the MSMEs, which support a significant portion of livelihoods… then came the pandemic,” says a former FMCG industry executive who now advises leading corporates.

Silver lining

While a full-fledged recovery in demand, especially from rural and low-income households, may be some time away, things are looking up. Sanjiv Puri, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), says things are looking up. “We are seeing some green shoots of a pick-up in the rural economy. The monsoon is better, which will help have better crops and this augurs well for the rural economy,” he said at a press conference in mid-June.

Sales of two-wheelers at the dealer level have grown by 33% in April, albeit on a low base, continuing a slow recovery that began last October. Maruti Suzuki’s Bhargava says it may take over two years for consumers to return to the small-car market. “Small-car sales will revive after the two-wheeler volumes reclaim their levels before BSVI came into force and prices went up. I guess we have to wait at least till late 2026 before customers are back as the impact of these high prices will be absorbed by the increase in the purchasing power of people in that category,” he says.

In the FMCG market, demand from rural households is gaining pace. The latest data from Nielsen IQ shows that while volume offtake in the rural market remained muted till March 2023, volumes have begun to grow. From 4% last July, rural volumes have grown 5.8% in December and at a relatively fair rate of 7.6% in the March quarter. In fact, in that quarter, volume growth in the rural market outpaced the urban growth (5.7%) after more than three years.

Mohit Malhotra, CEO of Dabur India, which has greater exposure to the rural market than its peers, is riding the wave. He says there was an uptick in rural consumption in the March quarter, with rural growth ahead of urban for the first time in three years. “Rural growth is kind of coming back. We’ve seen 120-150 basis points improvement in rural India. While urban growth is almost the same or a little bit down, rural growth is picking up, and that’s happening sequentially in the two to three months we have seen,” Malhotra says.

From contracting at a rate of 5%, rural growth is now closing towards 6% or growing at 130 basis points ahead of the urban rate, Malhotra says. “We are optimistic that with the expected normal monsoons, improving macroeconomic indicators, government spending, and lower inflation, FMCG demand will see a gradual uptick primarily driven by rural, [and] that augurs well for Dabur,” he says.

According to Sudhir Sitapati, MD & CEO of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), the company has launched a drive to grow rural sales. “One of the areas we are focussing on is rural distribution, particularly for new categories… Aspiration and relevance are increasing in rural areas, but affordability remains challenging. We aim to crack affordability, which we see as a key driver for growth in these markets,” he says.

Others like Nestlé’s Narayanan say the market will be watching out for a good monsoon, and with a new government in place, some re-injection of money into the market will help revive demand.

" We’ve seen 120-150 basis points improvement in rural India. While urban growth is almost the same or a little bit down, rural growth is picking up, and that’s happening sequentially in the two to three months we have seen " Mohit Malhotra CEO Dabur India

HUL’s Jawa is also banking on a better monsoon. “Monsoon does have an impact, as we all know. It might not be the only impact, but it impacts the agri economy and rural consumption. And I think in that sense, most likely, the worst is past us, and from here onwards, we do see a gradual recovery in rural consumption,” he said in the April earnings call. He expects urban consumption to remain “more resilient, especially at the premium end”.

The one brand that is not worried is Amul, whether in rural or urban India. Demand for its milk and milk products is steady. On June 3, it marked up retail prices of milk. Jayen S. Mehta, MD of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which owns Amul, says, “We have not seen any change, be it in consumption or sales, from rural India.”

Mehta says Amul has penetrated rural India very deeply and gets 38% of its sales from centres with a population of fewer than 20,000.

Challenges, however, remain. Repeated increases in milk prices have added to the overall food inflation as value-added dairy products have become costlier. Between July 2021 and June 2024, the price of packaged milk has gone up by 24.5%. Overall, food inflation continues to remain a concern for consumer goods makers. In May, CPI inflation moderated to 4.75%, down from 4.8% in April. But food inflation has stayed above 8.5% for four months up to May 2024.

" We are seeing some green shoots of a pick-up in the rural economy. The monsoon is better which will help have better crops and this augurs well for the rural economy " Sanjiv Puri President CII

Dipti Deshpande, Principal Economist at CRISIL, says, “In May, the food inflation rate remained unchanged at 8.7% as inflation in cereals and pulses rose unexpectedly. We expect some softening from June due to a high base effect.”

Meanwhile, white goods makers such as Godrej are sensing a groundswell of demand in the mass-market categories, which Nandi says are now on par with premium ones. But they would like the government to lower taxes on electronics and appliances to make them more affordable. The industry wants GST on large appliances to be lowered from 28% to 18%.

“Now, with the election verdict, it is expected that the government will try to prop up rural consumption through some populist measures in the Budget,” says Duggad of Motilal Oswal. Leading players are keeping their fingers crossed: inflation, shifting consumer preferences, and weather-related disruptions could limit the revival.

“Last year, companies hoped demand would recover after the rains, but it did not happen. Tractor and two-wheeler sales continue to remain low. The expectation is that demand will recover further this year due to some pent-up demand and the expectation of a good monsoon,” says Sabnavis.

Analysts at Motilal Oswal are more cautious. While hopes may be running high and the rural economy—based on its indicators—may not decline again this year, it may be challenging to grow more than 5% in FY25.

UI Developer : Pankaj Negi Creative Producer : Raj Verma

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What Makes for ‘Good’ Mathematics?

February 1, 2024

Peter Greenwood for Quanta Magazine

Introduction

We tend to think of mathematics as purely logical, but the teaching of math, its values, its usefulness and its workings are packed with nuance. So what is “good” mathematics? In 2007, the mathematician Terence Tao wrote an essay for the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society that sought to answer this question. Today, as the recipient of a Fields Medal, a Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics and a MacArthur Fellowship, Tao is one of the most honored and prolific mathematicians alive. In this episode, he joins our host and fellow mathematician Steven Strogatz to revisit the makings of good mathematics.

Listen on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Google Podcasts , TuneIn or your favorite podcasting app, or you can stream it from Quanta .

STEVEN STROGATZ : Back in October 2007, way back when the first-generation iPhone was still a hot commodity and the stock market was at an all-time high before the Great Recession, Terence Tao, a professor of math at UCLA, was determined to answer a question that had long been debated among mathematicians: What exactly is good mathematics?

Is it about rigor? Elegance? Real-world utility? Terry wrote a very thoughtful and generous, I would even say openhearted, essay about all the ways that math could be good. But now, more than 15 years later, do we need to rethink what good mathematics is?

I’m Steve Strogatz, and this is “The Joy of Why,” a podcast from Quanta Magazine where my co-host, Janna Levin, and I take turns exploring some of the biggest unanswered questions in math and science today.

( Theme plays )

Here today to revisit the eternal question of what makes math good is Terry Tao himself. Professor Tao has authored more than 300 research papers on an amazingly wide swath of mathematics including harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, combinatorics, number theory, data science, random matrices and much more. He’s been referred to as the “Mozart of Mathematics.” And as the winner of a Fields Medal, a Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics, a MacArthur Fellowship and many other awards, that moniker is certainly well-deserved.

Terry, welcome to “The Joy of Why.”

TERENCE TAO : Pleasure to be here.

STROGATZ : I’m very excited to be able to talk to you about this question of what it is that makes some types of mathematical research good. I can remember pretty vividly flipping through the Bulletin of the American Math Society back in 2007 and coming across your essay about this issue that you posed for us. It’s something that all mathematicians think about. But for people out there who may not be so familiar, could you tell us, how did you land on this question? How did you define good math back at the time?

TAO : Right, yes. It was actually a solicitation. So the editor of the Bulletin at the time had asked me to contribute an article. I think I had a very naive idea of what mathematics was as a student. I kind of had this idea that there was some sort of council of greybeards that would hand out problems for people to work on. And it was kind of a shock to me as a graduate student, realizing that there wasn’t actually this central authority to hand out problems, and people did self-directed research.

I kept going to talks and listening to how other mathematicians talked about what they find exciting and what makes them excited about math, and the fact that each mathematician has a different way of approaching mathematics. Like, some would pursue applications, some by sort of aesthetic beauty, some by just problem solving. They wanted to solve a problem and they would focus on sort of the most difficult, the most challenging tasks. Some would focus on technique; some would try to make things as elegant as possible.

But what struck me when sort of listening to so many of these different mathematicians talk about what they find valuable in mathematics is that, even though we all had sort of different ideals as to what good mathematics should look like, they all kind of tend to converge to the same thing.

If a piece of mathematics is really good, people who pursue beauty will eventually happen across it. People who pursue, who value, you know, technical power or applications will eventually land upon it.

Eugene Wigner had a very famous essay on the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in the physical sciences almost a century ago, where he just observed that there were areas of mathematics — for example, Riemannian geometry, the study of curved space — that was initially just a purely theoretical exercise to mathematicians, you know, trying to prove the parallel postulate and so forth, turning out to be precisely what Einstein and Poincaré and Hilbert needed to describe the mathematics of general relativity. And that’s just a phenomenon that occurs.

So it’s not just that mathematics, that [what] mathematicians find intellectually interesting end up being physically important. But even within mathematics, subjects that mathematicians find elegant also happen to provide deep insight.

What I feel like is that, you know, there is some platonic good mathematics out there, and all our different value systems are just different ways of accessing that objective good stuff.

STROGATZ : That’s very interesting. Being a sort of person inclined to platonic thinking myself, I’m tempted to agree. Although I’m a little surprised to hear you say that, because I would have thought where you were going initially seemed to be, like, there are so many different points of view about this. It is an interesting fact, though, kind of an empirical fact, that we do converge on agreeing about what is good or not good, even though, as you say, we come at it from so many different values.

TAO : Right. The convergence may take time. You know, so there are definitely fields, for example, where they look a lot better as measured by one metric than others. Like maybe they have a lot of applications, but their presentation is extremely disgusting, you know.

(Strogatz laughs)

Or things that are very elegant but don’t yet have many good applications in the real world. But I do feel like eventually it will converge.

STROGATZ : Well, let me ask you about this point of contact with the real world. It’s an interesting tension in math. And, you know, as little kids, let’s say, when we first learn about geometry, you might think at that point that triangles are real, or circles or straight lines are real, and that they can tell you about the rectangular shapes you see in buildings out in the world, or that surveyors need to use geometry. And after all, the word comes from the measurement of the Earth, right, “geometry.” And so, there was a time when geometry was empirical.

But what I wanted to ask you has to do with a comment that John von Neumann made. So von Neumann, for anyone not familiar, was himself a great mathematician. And he made this comment in this essay, “ The Mathematician ,” about the relationship between math and the empirical world, the real world, where he says roughly that mathematical ideas originate in empirics, but that at some point, once you get the mathematical ideas, the subject starts to take on a life of its own. And then it’s more like a creative piece of art. Aesthetic criteria become important. But he says that causes danger. That when a subject starts to become too far removed from its empirical source, like especially in its second or third generation, he says that there’s a chance the subject can suffer from too much abstract inbreeding and it’s in danger of degeneration.

Any thoughts about that? I mean, does math have to stay in contact with its empirical source?

TAO: Yes, I think it does have to be grounded. When I say that, empirically, all these different ways of doing mathematics do converge, it’s only because — this only happens when the subject is healthy. So, you know, the good news is that usually it is.

But, for example, mathematicians value short proofs over long ones, all other things being equal. But one could imagine people going overboard and, like, one subfield of mathematics being obsessed with making proofs as short as possible and having these extremely opaque two-line proofs of deep theorems. And they make it kind of this contest, and then it becomes this sort of abstruse game and then you lose all the intuition. You lose maybe deeper understanding because you’re just so obsessed with making all your proofs as short as possible. Now, this doesn’t actually happen in practice. But this is kind of a theoretical example, and I think von Neumann was making a similar point.

And in the sixties and seventies, like, there was an era of mathematics where abstraction was making huge strides in simplifying and unifying a lot of mathematics that was previously very empirical. Especially in algebra, people were realizing, you know, numbers and polynomials and many other objects that were previously treated separately, you could all think of them as members of the same algebraic class, in this case a ring.

And a lot of progress in mathematics was being made by finding the right abstraction, you know, whether it was a topological space or a vector space, whatever, and proving theorems in great generality. And this is sometimes what we call the Bourbaki era in mathematics. And it did veer a little bit too far from being grounded.

We of course had, like, the whole New Math episode in the States, where educators tried to teach math in the Bourbaki style and eventually realized that that was not the appropriate pedagogy at that level.

But now the pendulum has swung back quite a bit. We have kind of — the subject has matured quite a bit and every field of mathematics, geometry, topology, whatever, we have kind of satisfactory formalizations and we kind of know what the right abstractions are. And now the field is again focusing on interconnections and applications. It’s connecting much more to the real world now.

I mean, not just sort of physics, which is a traditional connection, but, you know, computer science, life sciences, social sciences, you know. With the rise of big data, pretty much almost any human discipline now can be mathematized to some extent.

STROGATZ : I’m very interested in the word that you just used a minute ago about “interconnections,” because that seems like a central point for us to discuss. It’s something that you mention in your essay that, along with these, what you call “local” criteria about elegance, or real-world applications, or whatever, you mention this “global” aspect of good mathematics: that good mathematics connects to other good mathematics.

That’s almost key to what makes it good, that it’s integrated with other parts. But it’s interesting because it sounds almost like circular reasoning: that good math is the math that connects to other good math. But it’s a really powerful idea, and I’m just wondering if you could expand on it a little bit more.

TAO : Yeah, so, I mean, what mathematics is about — one of the things that mathematics does is that it makes connections that are very basic and fundamental, but not obvious if you just look at it from the surface level. A very early example of this is Descartes’ invention of Cartesian coordinates that made a fundamental connection between geometry — the study of points and lines and spatial objects — and numbers, algebra.

So, for example, a circle you can think of as a geometric object, but you can also think of it as an equation: x 2 + y 2 = 1 is the equation of a circle. At the time, it was a very revolutionary connection. You know, the ancient Greeks viewed number theory and geometry as almost completely disjointed subjects.

But with Descartes, there was this fundamental connection. And now it’s internalized; you know, the way we teach mathematics. It’s not surprising anymore that if you have a geometric problem, you attack it with numbers. Or if you have a problem with numbers, you may attack it with geometry.

It’s somewhat because both geometry and numbers are aspects of the same mathematical concept. We have an entire field called algebraic geometry, which is neither algebra nor geometry, but it’s a unified subject studying objects that you can either think of as geometric shapes, like lines and circles and so forth, or as equations.

But really, it’s a holistic union of the two that we study. And as the subject has deepened, we’ve realized that that is more fundamental somehow than either algebra or geometry separately, in some ways. So, these connections are helping us discover sort of the real mathematics that initially, somehow, our empirical studies only give us a corner of the subject.

There’s this famous parable of the elephant, I forget where, that if you have… There are four blind men, and they discover an elephant. And one of them feels the leg of the elephant and they think, “Oh, this, it’s very rough. It must be like a tree or something.”

And one of them feels the trunk, and it’s only a lot later that they see that there’s a single elephant object that is explaining all their separate hypotheses. Yeah, so we’re all blind initially, you know. We’re just watching the shadows on Plato’s cave and only later realizing —

STROGATZ : Wow, you are very philosophical here. This is something. I can’t resist now: If you’re going to start talking about the elephant and the blind people, this suggests that you think mathematics is out there — that it is something like the elephant and that we are the blind… Or, you know, we’re trying to see something that exists independent of human beings. Is that really what you believe?

TAO : When you do good mathematics, like, it’s not just pushing symbols around. You do feel like there is some actual object that you’re trying to understand, and all our equations we have are just sort of approximations of that, or shadows.

You can debate the philosophical point of what is actually reality and so forth. I mean, these are things you can actually touch, and the more real things get mathematically, sometimes the less physical they seem. As you said, geometry initially, you know, was a very tangible thing about objects in physical space that you could — you know, you can actually build a circle and a square and so forth.

But in modern geometry, you know, we work in higher dimensions. We can talk about discrete geometries, all kinds of wacky topologies. And, I mean, the subject still deserves to be called geometry, even though there is no Earth being measured anymore. The ancient Greek etymology is very outdated but it’s, but there’s definitely something there. Whether — how real you want to call it. But I guess the point is that for the purpose of actually doing mathematics, it helps to believe it’s real.

STROGATZ : Yeah, isn’t that interesting? It does. It seems like that’s something that goes very deep in the history of math. I was struck by an essay by Archimedes writing to his friend, or at least colleague, Eratosthenes.

We’re talking now, like, 250 B.C. And he makes the remark, he’s discovered a way to find the area of what we would call the segment of a parabola. He’s taking a parabola, he cuts across it with a line segment that’s at an oblique angle to the axis of the parabola, and he figures out this area. He gets a very beautiful result. But he says something to Eratosthenes like, “These results were inherent in the figures all along.” You know, like, they’re there. They’re there. They’re just waiting for him to find.

It’s not like he created them. It’s not like poetry. I mean, it’s interesting, actually, isn’t it? That a lot of great artists — Michelangelo talked about releasing the statue from the stone, you know, as if it were in there to begin with. And it sounds like you and many other great mathematicians have — as you say, it’s very useful to believe this idea, that it’s there waiting for us, waiting for the right minds to discover it.

TAO : Right. Well, I think one manifestation of that is that ideas that are often very complicated to explain when they’re first discovered, they get simplified. I mean, you know, often the reason why something looks very deep or difficult at the beginning is you don’t have the right notation.

For example, we have decimal notation now to manipulate numbers, and it’s very convenient. But in the past, we had like, you know, Roman numerals and then there were even more primitive number systems that were just really, really difficult to work with if you wanted to do mathematics.

Euclid’s Elements , you know — some of the arguments in these ancient texts. Like, there’s one theorem in Euclid’s Elements I think called the Bridge of Fools or something. It’s like the statement that, I think the statement is like an isosceles triangle, the two base angles are equal. Like, this is like a two-line proof in modern geometric texts, you know, with the right axioms. But Euclid had this horrendous way of doing it. And it was where many students of geometry in the classical era just completely gave up on mathematics.

STROGATZ : True. ( laughs )

TAO : But, you know, we now have a much better way of doing that. So often the complications we see in mathematics are artifacts of our own limitations. And, so, as we mature, you know, things become simpler. And it feels more real because of that. We’re not seeing the artifacts. We’re seeing the essence.

STROGATZ : Well, so going back to your essay: When you wrote it, at the time — I mean, this was pretty early in your career, not the very beginning, but still. Why did you feel back then that it was important to try to define what good mathematics was?

TAO : I think… So by that point, I was already starting to advise graduate students, and I was noticing that, you know, there was some misconceptions about, sort of, what is good and what is not. And I was also talking to mathematicians in different fields, and what one’s field valued in mathematics seemed different from others. But yet, somehow we were all studying the same subject.

And sometimes someone would say something that sort of rubbed me the wrong way, you know, like, “This mathematics has no applications, therefore it has no value.” Or “This proof is just too complicated; therefore it has no value,” or something. Or conversely, you know, “This proof is too simple; therefore it is not worth…” You know. Like, there was some, like, sort of snobbery and so forth, sometimes I would encounter.

And in my experience, the best mathematics came when I understood a different point of view, a different way of thinking about mathematics from someone in a different field and applying it to a problem that I cared about. And so my experience of how to use mathematics properly, how to wield it, was so different from these — sort of the “one true way of doing mathematics.”

I felt like this point had to be made somehow. That there’s really a plural way of doing mathematics, but whereas mathematics is still united.

STROGATZ : That’s very revealing, because I had wondered, you know, like, in my introduction I mentioned the many different branches of math that you have explored, and I didn’t even include some. Like, I can remember just a few years ago, your work about this mystery in fluid dynamics, about whether certain equations that we think do a good job of approximating the motions of water and air. I don’t want to go into details too much, but just to say, here you are, people think of you doing number theory or harmonic analysis, and suddenly you’re working on fluid dynamics questions. I mean, I realize it’s partial differential equations. But still, your breadth of interest seems to be related to your breadth of accepting different insights, different valuable ideas from all the different ways of doing good math.

TAO : I forget who said it, but there are two types of mathematicians. There’s hedgehogs and foxes. A fox is someone who knows a little bit about everything. A hedgehog is a creature that knows one thing very, very well. And neither is better than the other. They complement each other. I mean, in mathematics, you need people who are really deep domain experts in one subfield, and they know a subject inside-out. And you need people who can see the connections between one field and another. So I definitely identify as a fox, but I work with a lot of hedgehogs. The work I’m most proud of is often a collaboration like that.

STROGATZ : Oh, yeah. Do they realize that they’re hedgehogs?

TAO : Well, okay, the roles change over time. Like, there are other collaborations where I’m the hedgehog and someone else is the fox. These are sort of not permanent — you know, these are not in your DNA.

STROGATZ : Ah, good point. We can adopt — we can wear both cloaks.

Well, what about, was there a response to the essay at the time? Did people say anything back to you?

TAO : I got a fairly positive response in general. I mean, the Bulletin of the AMS is not a hugely, widely circulated publication, I think. And also, I didn’t really say anything too controversial. Also, this kind of predated social media, so, I think maybe there’s a few math blogs that picked it up, but there was no Twitter. There was nothing to make it go viral.

Yeah, also I think, in general, mathematicians don’t spend much of their time and intellectual capital on speculation. I mean, there’s another mathematician called Minhyong Kim who had this very nice metaphor that, to mathematicians, credibility is like currency, like money. If you prove theorems and you demonstrate that you know the subject, you’re accumulating somehow this currency of credibility in the bank. And once you have enough currency, you can afford to speculate a little bit by being a bit philosophical and saying what might be true rather than what you can actually prove.

But we tend to be conservative, and we don’t want an overdraft in our bank account. You know, you don’t want most of your writing to be speculative and only like one percent to actually prove something.

STROGATZ : Fair enough. So, okay. So, lots of years have passed since then. What are we talking about? It’s more than 15 years.

TAO : Oh yeah, time flies.

STROGATZ : Has your opinion changed? Is there anything we need to revise?

TAO : Well, the culture of math is changing quite a bit. I already had a broad view of mathematics, and now I have an even broader one.

So, one very concrete example is: Computer-assisted proofs were still controversial in 2007. There was a famous conjecture called the Kepler conjecture, which concerns the most efficient way to pack unit balls in three-dimensional space. And there’s a standard packing, I think it’s called the cubic central packing or something, that Kepler conjectured to be the best possible.

This was finally resolved, but the proof was very computer-assisted . It was quite complicated, and [Thomas] Hales eventually actually created a whole computer language to formally verify this particular proof, but it was not accepted as a real proof for many years. But it illustrated how controversial the concept of a proof that you needed computer assistance to verify was.

In the years since, there’s been many, many other examples of proofs where a human can reduce a complicated problem to something which still requires a computer to verify. And then the computer goes ahead and verifies it. We’ve kind of developed practices about how to do this responsibly. You know, how to publish code and data and ways to check and new open-source things and so forth. And now, there’s widespread acceptance of computer-assisted proofs.

Now, I think, the next cultural shift will be whether AI-generated proofs will be accepted . Right now, AI tools are not at the level where they can generate proofs to really advance mathematical problems. Maybe undergraduate-level homework assignments, they can kind of manage, but research mathematics, they’re not at that level yet. But at some point, we’re going to start seeing AI-assisted papers come out and there will be a debate.

The way our culture has changed in some ways… Back in 2007, only a fraction of mathematicians made their preprints available before publishing. Authors would jealously guard their preprints until they had the notification of acceptance from the journal. And then they might share.

But now everyone puts their papers on public servers like the arXiv . There’s a lot more openness to put videos and blog posts, about where the ideas of a paper come from. Because people realize that this is what makes work more influential and more impactful. If you try to not publicize your work and be very secretive about it, it doesn’t make a splash.

Math has become much more collaborative . You know, 50 years ago, I would say that the majority of papers in mathematics were single-author. Now, definitely the majority are two or three or four authors. And we’re just beginning to see really big projects like we do in the sciences, you know, like tens, hundreds of people collaborate. That’s still difficult for mathematicians to do, but I think we’re going to get there.

Concurrently, we’re becoming much more interdisciplinary. We’re working with other sciences a lot more. We’re working between fields of mathematics. And because of the internet, we can collaborate with people across the world. So, the way we do mathematics is definitely changing.

I hope in the future, we will be able to utilize the amateur math community more. There are other fields like astronomy, where astronomers make great use of the amateur astronomy community, like, you know, a lot of comets, for example, are found by amateurs.

But mathematicians… There’s a few isolated areas of mathematics such as like, tiling, two-dimensional tiling, and maybe finding records in prime numbers. There’s some very select fields of mathematics where amateurs do contribute, and they’re welcomed. But there’s a lot of barriers. In most areas of mathematics, you need so much training and internalized or conventional wisdom that we can’t crowd source things. But this may change in the future. Maybe one impact of AI would be to allow amateur mathematicians to contribute meaningfully to mathematics.

STROGATZ : That’s very interesting.

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STROGATZ : So the amateurs might, with the help of AIs, either ask new questions that are good or help with good explorations of existing questions, that sort of thing?

TAO : There are many different modalities — yeah. So, for example, there are now projects to formalize proofs of big theorems in these things called formal proof assistants , which are like computer languages that can 100% verify that a theorem is true or not and — is proven or not. This actually enables large-scale collaboration in mathematics.

So in the past, if you collaborate with 10 other people to prove a theorem, and each one contributes a step, everyone has to verify everyone else’s math. Because the thing about math is that if one step has an error in it, the whole thing can fall apart.

So you need trust, and so — therefore this prevents, this really inhibits really large-scale collaborations in mathematics. But there are now, there have been successful examples of really large theorems being formalized where there’s a huge community, they don’t all know each other, they don’t all trust each other, but they communicate through uploading to some Github repository or something, like, individual proofs of individual steps in the argument. And the formal proof software verifies everything, and so you don’t need to worry about trust. So we are enabling new modes of collaboration, which we haven’t seen really in the past.

STROGATZ : It’s really interesting to hear your vision, Terry. It’s a fascinating thought. You don’t hear the phrase “citizen mathematician.” You hear of citizen science, but why not citizen math?

But I’m just wondering, are there any trends that you are worried about, for example, with computer-assisted proofs or AI-generated proofs? Will we know that certain results are true, but we won’t understand why?

TAO : So that is a problem. I mean, it’s already a problem even before the advent of AI. So, there are many fields where the papers in a subject are getting longer and longer, hundreds of pages. And I’m hopeful that AI can actually conversely help simplify and it can explain as well as prove.

So there’s already experimental software where, like, if you take a proof that has been formalized, you can actually convert it into an interactive human-readable document, where you have the proof and you see the high-level steps and if there’s a sentence you don’t understand you can double-click on it, and it will expand into smaller steps. Soon I think you can also get an AI chatbot sitting next to you while you’re going through the proof, and they can take questions and they can explain each step as if they were the author. I think we’re already very close to that.

There are concerns. We have to change the way we educate our students, particularly now that many of our traditional ways of assigning homework and so forth, we are almost at the point where these AI tools can just instantly answer many of our standard exam questions. And so, we need to teach our students new skills, like how to verify whether an AI-generated output is correct or not and how to get a second opinion.

And we may see the advent of a more experimental side to mathematics, you know. So, mathematics is almost entirely theoretical, whereas most sciences have both a theoretical and experimental component. We may eventually have results that are first only proven by computers and, as you say, we don’t understand. But then once we have the data that the AI, the computer-generated proofs provide, we may be able to run experiments.

There’s a little bit of experimental mathematics now. People do study, like, large data sets of various things, elliptic curves, say. But it could become much bigger in the future.

STROGATZ : Gee, you have a very optimistic view, it sounds like to me. It’s not like the Golden Age is in the past. If I’m hearing you right, you think that there’s a lot of very exciting stuff ahead.

TAO : Yeah, a lot of the new technological tools are very empowering. I mean, AI in general has many complex ups and downsides. And outside the sciences, there’s a lot of possible disruption to the economy, intellectual property rights and so forth. But within math, I think the ratio of good to bad is better than in many other areas.

And, you know, the internet really has transformed the way we do mathematics. I collaborate with a lot of people in a lot of different fields. I could not do this without the internet. The fact that I can go on Wikipedia or whatever and get started learning a subject, and I can email somebody, and we can collaborate online. If I had to do things old-school where I could only talk to people in my department and use physical mail for everything else, I could not do the math that I do now.

STROGATZ : Wow, all right. I just have to underline what you just said, because I never thought in a million years I was going to hear this: Terry Tao reads Wikipedia to learn math?

TAO : As a starting point. I mean, it’s not always Wikipedia, but just to get the keywords, and then I will do a more specialized search of, say, MathSciNet or some other database. But yeah.

STROGATZ : It’s not a criticism. I mean, I do the same thing. Wikipedia is actually, if there’s any criticism of the math on Wikipedia, maybe it’s that sometimes it’s a little too advanced for the readers that it’s intended for, I think. Not always. I mean, it depends. It varies a lot from article to article. But that’s just funny. I love hearing that.

TAO : I mean, these tools, you have to be able to vet the output. You know, so, I mean, the reason why I can use Wikipedia to do mathematics is because I already know enough mathematics that I can smell if a piece of Wikipedia in mathematics is suspicious or not. You know, it may get some sources and one of them is going to be a better source than the other. And I know the authors, and I have an idea of which reference is going to be better for me. If I used Wikipedia to learn about a subject that I had no experience in, then I think it would be more of a random variable.

STROGATZ : Well, so we’ve been talking quite a bit about what it is that makes good mathematics, the possible future for new kinds of good mathematics. But maybe we should address the question: Why does this even matter? Why is it important for math to be good?

TAO : Well, so, first of all, I mean, why do we have mathematicians at all? Why does society value mathematicians and give us the resources to do what we do? You know, it’s because we do provide some value. We can have applications to the real world. There’s intellectual interest, and some of the theories we develop eventually end up providing insight into other phenomena.

And not all mathematics is of equal value. I mean, you could compute more and more digits of pi, but at some point, you don’t learn anything. Any subject needs some sort of value judgment because you have to allocate resources. There’s so much mathematics out there. What advances do you want to highlight and publicize and let other people know about, and which ones maybe should just be sitting quietly on a journal somewhere?

Even if you think of a subject as being completely objective and, you know, there’s only true or false, we still have to make choices. You know, just because time is a limited resource. Attention is a limited resource. Money is a limited resource. So, these are always important questions.

STROGATZ : Well, interesting that you mention about publicizing, because it is something that I think is a distinctive feature of your work, that you’ve also put in a lot of effort to make math publicly accessible through your blog, through various articles you’ve written. I remember discussing one that you wrote in American Scientist about universality and that idea. Why is it important to make math publicly accessible and understandable? I mean, what is it that you’re trying to do?

TAO : It kind of happened organically. Early in my career, the World Wide Web was still very new, and mathematicians started having webpages with various content, but there wasn’t much of a central directory. Before Google and so forth, it was actually hard to find individual resources.

So, I started sort of making little directories on my webpage . And I would also make webpages for my own papers, and I’d make some commentary. Initially, it was more for my own benefit, just as an organizational tool, just to help me find things. As a byproduct, it was available to the public, but I was kind of the primary consumer, or at least so I thought, of my own webpages.

But I remember very distinctly, there was one time when I wrote a paper and I put it on my webpage, and I had a little subpage called “What’s New?” And I just said, “Here’s a paper. There’s a question in it that I still couldn’t answer, and I don’t know how to solve it.” And I just made this comment. And then like two days later, I got an email saying, “Oh, I was just checking your homepage. I know the answer to this. There’s a paper which will solve your problem.”

And it made me realize, first of all, that people were actually visiting my webpage, which I didn’t really know. But that interaction with the community could really — well, it could help me directly solve my questions.

There’s this law called Metcalfe’s law in networking that, you know, if you have n people, and they all talk to each other, there’s about n 2 connections between them. And so, the larger the audience and the larger the forum where everyone can talk to everybody else, the more potential connections you can make and the more good things can happen.

I mean, in my career, so much of the discoveries I’ve made, or the connections I’ve made is because of an unexpected connection. My whole career experience has been sort of the more connections equals just better stuff happening.

STROGATZ : I think a beautiful example of what you’re just referring to, but I’d love to hear you talk about it, is the connections that you made with people in data science who are interested in questions having to do with medical resonance imaging, MRI. Could you tell us a little about that story?

TAO : So, this was about 2006, 2005, I think. So, there was an interdisciplinary program here on campus at UCLA on, I think, multiscale geometric analysis, or something like that, where they were bringing together pure mathematicians who were interested in sort of multiscale type geometry in its own right, and then, you know, people who had very concrete data type problems.

And I had just started working on some problems in random matrix theory, so I was sort of known as someone who could manipulate matrices. And I met someone who I already knew, Emmanuel Candès , because at the time he worked right next door in Caltech. And he and another collaborator, Justin Romberg , they had discovered this unusual phenomena.

So they were looking at MRI images, but they’re very slow. To collect enough really high-resolution image of a human body, or enough to maybe catch a tumor, or whatever medically important feature you want to find, it often takes several minutes because they have to scan all these different angles and then synthesize the data. And this was a problem, actually, because little kids, for example, just to sit still for three minutes in the MRI machine was quite problematic.

So they were experimenting with a different way, using some linear algebra. They were hoping to get a 10%, 20% better performance improvement. You know, a slightly sharper image by tweaking the standard algorithm a little bit.

So the standard algorithm was called least squares approximation, and they were doing something else, called total variation minimization. But then when they ran the computer software, they got like almost perfect reconstruction of their test image. Massive, massive improvement. And they couldn’t explain this.

But Emmanuel was at this program, and we were chatting at tea or something. And he just mentioned this and, actually, my first thought was that you must have made a mistake in your calculation, that what you’re saying is not actually possible. And I remember going back home that night and trying to write down an actual proof that what they were seeing could not actually happen. And then halfway through, I realized I had made an assumption which wasn’t true. And then I realized that actually it could work. And then I figured out what might be the explanation. And then we worked together, and we actually found a good explanation and we published that.

And once we did that, people realized that there were many other situations where you had to take a measurement which normally required lots and lots of data, and in some cases you can take a much smaller amount of data and still get a really high-resolution measurement.

So now, modern MRI machines, for example — a scan that used to take three minutes can now take 30 seconds because this software, this algorithm is hardwired, hard-coded into the machines now.

STROGATZ : It’s a beautiful story, it’s such a great story. I mean, talk about important mathematics that is changing lives, literally, in this context of medical imaging. I love the serendipity of it and your open-mindedness, you know, to hear this idea and then think, well, “this is impossible, I can prove it.” And then realizing, no, actually. Fantastic to see math making such an impact.

Well, okay, I think I better let you go, Terry. It’s been a real pleasure discussing the essence of good mathematics with you. Thanks so much for joining us today.

TAO : Yeah, no, it’s been a pleasure.

STROGATZ : “The Joy of Why” is a podcast from Quanta Magazine , an editorially independent publication supported by the Simons Foundation. Funding decisions by the Simons Foundation have no influence on the selection of topics, guests or other editorial decisions in this podcast or in Quanta Magazine .

“The Joy of Why” is produced by PRX Productions . The production team is Caitlin Faulds, Livia Brock, Genevieve Sponsler and Merritt Jacob. The executive producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Morgan Church and Edwin Ochoa provided additional assistance. From Quanta Magazine , John Rennie and Thomas Lin provided editorial guidance, with support from Matt Carlstrom, Samuel Velasco, Nona Griffin, Arleen Santana and Madison Goldberg.

Our theme music is from APM Music. Julian Lin came up with the podcast name. The episode art is by Peter Greenwood and our logo is by Jaki King and Kristina Armitage. Special thanks to the Columbia Journalism School and Burt Odom-Reed at the Cornell Broadcast Studios.

I’m your host, Steve Strogatz. If you have any questions or comments for us, please email us at [email protected] . Thanks for listening.

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The Motivated Ignorance of Trump Supporters

They can’t claim they didn’t know.

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Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

O n the morning of August 8, 2022 , 30 FBI agents and two federal prosecutors conducted a court-authorized search of Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, estate. The reason for the search, according to a 38-count indictment , was that after leaving office Trump mishandled classified documents, including some involving sensitive nuclear programs, and then obstructed the government’s efforts to reclaim them.

On the day before the FBI obtained the search warrant, one of the agents on the case sent an email to his bosses, according to The New York Times . “The F.B.I. intends for the execution of the warrant to be handled in a professional, low key manner,” he wrote, “and to be mindful of the optics of the search.” It was, and they were.

Over the course of 10 hours, the Times reported, “there was little drama as [agents] hauled away a trove of boxes containing highly sensitive state secrets in three vans and a rented Ryder box truck.”

On the day of the search, Trump was out of the state. The club at Mar-a-Lago was closed. Agents alerted one of Trump’s lawyers in advance of the search. And before the search, the FBI communicated with the Secret Service “to make sure we could get into Mar-a-Lago with no issues,” according to the testimony of former Assistant FBI Director Steven D’Antuono. It wasn’t a “show of force,” he said. “I was adamant about that, and that was something we all agreed on.”

The search warrant itself included a standard statement from the Department of Justice’s policy on the use of deadly force. There was nothing exceptional about it. But that didn’t prevent Trump or his supporters from claiming that President Joe Biden and federal law-enforcement agents had been involved in a plot to assassinate the former president.

In a fundraising appeal, Trump wrote,

BIDEN’S DOJ WAS AUTHORIZED TO SHOOT ME! It’s just been revealed that Biden’s DOJ was authorized to use DEADLY FORCE for their DESPICABLE raid in Mar-a-Lago. You know they’re just itching to do the unthinkable … Joe Biden was locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger.

On May 23, Trump publicly claimed that the Department of Justice “authorized the use of ‘deadly force’ in their Illegal, UnConstitutional, and Un-American RAID of Mar-a-Lago, and that would include against our Great Secret Service, who they thought might be ‘in the line of fire.’”

Read: The two-time Trump voters who have had enough

Trump supporters echoed those claims, as he knew they would. Steve Bannon, one of the architects of the MAGA movement, said , “This was an attempted assassination attempt on Donald John Trump or people associated with him. They wanted a gunfight.” Right-wing radio hosts stoked one another’s fury, claiming that there’s nothing Trump critics won’t do to stop him, up to and including attempting to assassinate him and putting the lives of his Secret Service detail in danger.

The statement by Trump went beyond inflaming his supporters; it created a mindset that moved them closer to violence, the very same mindset that led thousands of them to attack the Capitol on January 6 and threaten to hang Vice President Mike Pence. Which is why Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a motion asking the judge overseeing Trump’s classified-documents case to block him from making public statements that could put law enforcement in danger. “Those deceptive and inflammatory assertions irresponsibly put a target on the backs of the FBI agents involved in this case, as Trump well knows,” he wrote.

M otivated ignorance refers to willfully blinding oneself to facts. It’s choosing not to know. In many cases, for many people, knowing the truth is simply too costly, too psychologically painful, too threatening to their core identity. Nescience is therefore incentivized; people actively decide to remain in a state of ignorance. If they are presented with strong arguments against a position they hold, or compelling evidence that disproves the narrative they embrace, they will reject them. Doing so fends off the psychological distress of the realization that they’ve been lying to themselves and to others.

Motivated ignorance is a widespread phenomenon; most people, to one degree or another, employ it. What matters is the degree to which one embraces it, and the consequences of doing so. In the case of MAGA world, the lies that Trump supporters believe, or say they believe, are obviously untrue and obviously destructive. Since 2016 there’s been a ratchet effect, each conspiracy theory getting more preposterous and more malicious. Things that Trump supporters wouldn’t believe or accept in the past have since become loyalty tests. Election denialism is one example. The claim that Trump is the target of “lawfare,” victim to the weaponization of the justice system, is another.

I have struggled to understand how to view individuals who have not just voted for Trump but who celebrate him, who don’t merely tolerate him but who constantly defend his lawlessness and undisguised cruelty. How should I think about people who, in other domains of their lives, are admirable human beings and yet provide oxygen to his malicious movement? How complicit are people who live in an epistemic hall of mirrors and have sincerely—or half-sincerely—convinced themselves they are on the side of the angels?

Throughout my career I’ve tried to resist the temptation to make unwarranted judgments about the character of people based on their political views. For one thing, it’s quite possible my views on politics are misguided or distorted, so I exercise a degree of humility in assessing the views of others. For another, I know full well that politics forms only a part of our lives, and not the most important part. People can be personally upstanding and still be wrong on politics.

But something has changed for me in the Trump era. I struggle more than I once did to wall off a person’s character from their politics when their politics is binding them to an unusually—and I would say undeniably—destructive person. The lies that MAGA world parrots are so manifestly untrue, and the Trump ethic is so manifestly cruel, that they are difficult to set aside.

If a person insists, despite the overwhelming evidence, that Trump was the target of an assassination plot hatched by Biden and carried out by the FBI, this is more than an intellectual failure; it is a moral failure, and a serious one at that. It’s only reasonable to conclude that such Trump supporters have not made a good-faith effort to understand what is really and truly happening. They are choosing to live within the lie, to invoke the words of the former Czech dissident and playwright Vaclav Havel.

One of the criteria that need to be taken into account in assessing the moral culpability of people is how absurd the lies are that they are espousing; a second is how intentionally they are avoiding evidence that exposes the lies because they are deeply invested in the lie; and a third is is how consequential the lie is.

It’s one thing to embrace a conspiracy theory that is relevant only to you and your tiny corner of the world. It’s an entirely different matter if the falsehood you’re embracing and promoting is venomous, harming others, and eroding cherished principles, promoting violence and subverting American democracy.

I n his book The Bible Told Them So: How Southern Evangelicals Fought to Preserve White Supremacy , J. Russell Hawkins tells the story of a June 1963 gathering of more than 200 religious leaders in the White House. President John F. Kennedy was trying to rally their support for civil-rights legislation.

Among those in attendance was Albert Garner, a Baptist minister from Florida, who told Kennedy that many southern white Christians held “strong moral convictions” on racial integration. It was, according to Garner, “against the will of their Creator.”

“Segregation is a principle of the Old Testament,” Garner said, adding, “Prior to this century neither Christianity nor any denomination of it ever accepted the integration philosophy.”

Two months later, in Hanahan, South Carolina, members of a Southern Baptist church—they described themselves as “Christ centered” and “Bible believing”—voted to take a firm stand against civil-rights legislation.

“The Hanahan Baptists were not alone,” according to Hawkins. “Across the South, white Christians thought the president was flaunting Christian orthodoxy in pursuing his civil rights agenda.” Kennedy “simply could not comprehend the truth Garner was communicating: based on their religious beliefs, southern white Christians thought integration was evil.”

A decade earlier, the Reverend Carey Daniel, pastor of First Baptist Church in West Dallas, Texas, had delivered a sermon titled “ God the Original Segregationist ,” in response to the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education . It became influential within pro-segregationist southern states. Daniel later became president of the Central Texas Division of the Citizens Council of America for Segregation, which asked for a boycott of all businesses, lunch counters included, that served Black patrons. In 1960, Daniel attacked those “trying to destroy the white South by breaking the color line, thus giving aid and comfort to our Communist enemies.”

Now ask yourself this: Did the fierce advocacy on behalf of segregation, and the dehumanization of Black Americans, reflect in any meaningful way on the character of those who advanced such views, even if, say, they volunteered once a month at a homeless shelter and wrote a popular commentary on the Book of Romans? Readers can decide whether MAGA supporters are better or worse than Albert Garner and Carey Daniel. My point is that all of us believe there’s some place on the continuum in which the political choices we make reflect on our character. Some movements are overt and malignant enough that to willingly be a part of them becomes ethically problematic.

Read: The voters who don’t really know Trump

This doesn’t mean those in MAGA world can’t be impressive people in other domains of life, just like critics of Trump may act reprehensibly in their personal lives and at their jobs. I’ve never argued, and I wouldn’t argue today, that politics tells us the most important things about a person’s life. Trump supporters and Trump critics alike can brighten the lives of others, encourage those who are suffering, and demonstrate moments of kindness and grandeur.

I understand, too, if their moral convictions keep them from voting for Joe Biden.

But it would be an affectation for me, at least, to pretend that in this particular circumstance otherwise good people, in joining the MAGA movement, in actively advocating on its behalf, and in planning to cast a vote for Trump, haven’t—given all we know—done something grievously wrong.

Some of them are cynical and know better; others are blind to the cultlike world to which they belong. Still others have convinced themselves that Trump, although flawed, is the best of bad options. It’s a “binary choice,” they say, and so they have talked themselves into supporting arguably the most comprehensively corrupt man in the history of American politics, certainly in presidential politics.

Whichever justification applies, they are giving not just their vote but their allegiance to a man and movement that have done great harm to our country and its ideals, and which seek to inflict even deeper wounds in the years ahead. Many of them are self-proclaimed evangelicals and fundamentalists, and they are also doing inestimable damage to the Christian faith they claim is central to their lives. That collaboration needs to be named. A generation from now, and probably sooner, it will be obvious to everyone that Trump supporters can’t claim they didn’t know.

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FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces New Actions to Keep Families Together

Since his first day in office, President Biden has called on Congress to secure our border and address our broken immigration system. As Congressional Republicans have continued to put partisan politics ahead of national security – twice voting against the toughest and fairest set of reforms in decades – the President and his Administration have taken actions to secure the border, including:

Implementing executive actions to bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum when encounters are high;
Deploying record numbers of law enforcement personnel, infrastructure, and technology to the Southern border;
Seizing record amounts of fentanyl at our ports of entry;
Revoking the visas of CEOs and government officials outside the U.S. who profit from migrants coming to the U.S. unlawfully; and
Expanding efforts to dismantle human smuggling networks and prosecuting individuals who violate immigration laws.

President Biden believes that securing the border is essential. He also believes in expanding lawful pathways and keeping families together, and that immigrants who have been in the United States for decades, paying taxes and contributing to their communities, are part of the social fabric of our country. The Day One immigration reform plan that the President sent to Congress reflects both the need for a secure border and protections for the long-term undocumented. While Congress has failed to act on these reforms, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked to strengthen our lawful immigration system. In addition to vigorously defending the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood arrivals) policy, the Administration has extended Affordable Care Act coverage to DACA recipients and streamlined, expanded, and instituted new reunification programs so that families can stay together while they complete the immigration process. Still, there is more that we can do to bring peace of mind and stability to Americans living in mixed-status families as well as young people educated in this country, including Dreamers. That is why today, President Biden announced new actions for people who have been here many years to keep American families together and allow more young people to contribute to our economy. Keeping American Families Together

Today, President Biden is announcing that the Department of Homeland Security will take action to ensure that U.S. citizens with noncitizen spouses and children can keep their families together.
This new process will help certain noncitizen spouses and children apply for lawful permanent residence – status that they are already eligible for – without leaving the country.
These actions will promote family unity and strengthen our economy, providing a significant benefit to the country and helping U.S. citizens and their noncitizen family members stay together.
In order to be eligible, noncitizens must – as of June 17, 2024 – have resided in the United States for 10 or more years and be legally married to a U.S. citizen, while satisfying all applicable legal requirements. On average, those who are eligible for this process have resided in the U.S. for 23 years.
Those who are approved after DHS’s case-by-case assessment of their application will be afforded a three-year period to apply for permanent residency. They will be allowed to remain with their families in the United States and be eligible for work authorization for up to three years. This will apply to all married couples who are eligible.
This action will protect approximately half a million spouses of U.S. citizens, and approximately 50,000 noncitizen children under the age of 21 whose parent is married to a U.S. citizen.

Easing the Visa Process for U.S. College Graduates, Including Dreamers

President Obama and then-Vice President Biden established the DACA policy to allow young people who were brought here as children to come out of the shadows and contribute to our country in significant ways. Twelve years later, DACA recipients who started as high school and college students are now building successful careers and establishing families of their own.
Today’s announcement will allow individuals, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers, who have earned a degree at an accredited U.S. institution of higher education in the United States, and who have received an offer of employment from a U.S. employer in a field related to their degree, to more quickly receive work visas.
Recognizing that it is in our national interest to ensure that individuals who are educated in the U.S. are able to use their skills and education to benefit our country, the Administration is taking action to facilitate the employment visa process for those who have graduated from college and have a high-skilled job offer, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers.

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Essay Example. What makes a good government? The purpose of government is not only to keep peace within the country by creating and enforcing laws, or protecting the country from other aggressive nations but also to ensure people are treated fairly and equally. In fact for over 200 years there has been a disagreement on what government should ...
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The protection of individual rights is a fundamental aspect of government's role in promoting the common good and ensuring the well-being of society. This is only a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. In conclusion, the purpose of government is multifaceted, encompassing the maintenance of order, the provision of essential ...
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