The Long Read: An extraordinary number of Britain’s elite studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford. But does it produce an out-of-touch ruling class?
I am completely satisfied with the idea that all doctors should be career doctors who have dedicated a large part of their life to the study and practice of medicine.
I am not entirely as satisfied with the idea that all politicians should be career politicians who have dedicated a large part of their life to the study and practice of politics.
Parliament would be a much richer and more effective place if it were populated by people from a range of backgrounds and specialisms. I don’t think it’s a good thing that a sizeable fraction of them all studied the same politics degree at the same two universities.
I think it’s more a commentary on the fact its all from Oxford, rather than just the subject. Not “They all have PPE degrees” but “They all have PPE degrees from oxford”
Politicians in a democracy are supposed to be representatives of the electorate, as such there is no “qualification” needed, nor should there be. That there is such an academic pathway, and from a single institution, is fundamentally anathema to representative democracy.
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I am completely satisfied with the idea that all doctors should be career doctors who have dedicated a large part of their life to the study and practice of medicine.
I am not entirely as satisfied with the idea that all politicians should be career politicians who have dedicated a large part of their life to the study and practice of politics.
Parliament would be a much richer and more effective place if it were populated by people from a range of backgrounds and specialisms. I don’t think it’s a good thing that a sizeable fraction of them all studied the same politics degree at the same two universities.
I think it’s more a commentary on the fact its all from Oxford, rather than just the subject. Not “They all have PPE degrees” but “They all have PPE degrees from oxford”
Politicians in a democracy are supposed to be representatives of the electorate, as such there is no “qualification” needed, nor should there be. That there is such an academic pathway, and from a single institution, is fundamentally anathema to representative democracy.