“Hat” theory of public office

by Walter Olson on April 24, 2009

Scott Greenfield:

A buddy of mine who holds elected office has the “hat” theory. As soon as elected officials put on the “hat” of office, it squeezes their heads so tight that they can no longer think. They forget all they knew before, of the wrongs and the remedies, of why somebody decided to vote for them in the first place, and assume the position dictated by the hat. He says they can’t help themselves because it’s the hat.

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{ 3 comments }

1 Pete Warden 04.24.09 at 6:36 pm

There’s actually strong research evidence that power does affect people at a very deep level, turning otherwise decent people them into jerks:
http://bobsutton.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/01/it_isnt_just_a_.html

Of course there’s also the more cynical tradition, that people don’t change, they just reveal themselves….

2 Richard Nieporent 04.25.09 at 8:58 am

This is not a new observation. Lord Acton, stated the following in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”

3 Ron Coleman 04.26.09 at 8:51 pm

It’s a misquote, Richard, though you are ultimately correct. The correct quote is, “Great men are almost always _bald_ men.”

Hence the hats.

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