R: Throw Your Hat in the Ring

For the sake of this debate, to throw your hat in the ring means to run for political office. Perhaps some are called to the contemplative life and others are called to the active life, but we must still consider whether we have an obligation to enter political life at the local, state, or federal level.

The affirmative believes that we have a duty to our fellow citizens, community, and country to run for office if we feel even slightly called to do so. Conscientious individuals ought to give back to those around them. There comes a point where we have a responsibility to step up and provide good governance. This reason is all the more compelling when incumbents or other candidates are unqualified, incompetent, or just plain wicked. Additionally, controlling the levers of policy may be the best way to promote conservative values while preventing moral decay. And even if we don’t win, campaigning shapes public discourse. Someone who throws his or her hat in the ring is able to interject his or her concerns into the respective race. Such concerns might outlive our candidate’s campaign if other politicians and voters take them up.

The negative contends that it is far too challenging to balance political life with family life. An officeholder must tend to the needs of his or her constituents. These responsibilities require him or her to work around the clock for the good of the people. The duties of a political leader are in tension with the obligations a parent has to children and spouses have to one another. Furthermore, it is not as though politics is the only way to cultivate the good, the true, and the beautiful in our society. Would-be candidates should consider starting a business or creating some kind of civil society organization. We must remember that politics is inherently dirty. It is not worth staining one’s soul when there are other avenues to accomplish the same end.

Is politics the best means for creating a virtuous society? Should we trust leaders who volunteer to run for office? Can one simultaneously be a responsible parent and politician?