Recent research has found that public confidence in Western democracies has markedly declined. Professor Yascha Mounk, a political scientist at Harvard and Johns Hopkins University, attributes this to multiple perceived economic and social failures in governance. These perceived failures often prompt calls for leaders with different skill sets capable of implementing more effective policies.
This exercise in saviour-searching often turns to the business world to find problem-solvers who can handle the challenges that politicians have failed to overcome. This logic led to the choice of leaders such as Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, Bidzina Ivanishvili in Georgia, Sebastián Piñera in Chile, Thaksin Shinawatra in Thailand, Marc Ravalomanana in Madagascar, Patrice Talon in Benin, Moïse Katumbi in the Congo, Rafic Hariri in Lebanon, among others.
However, immediately, there are inherent contradictions. Can someone who spent their career pursuing private interests be an effective public servant? And more importantly, can they be trusted?
Operational limits
Businessmen who enter politics often step down from public roles after they realise just how restricted their operational capacity is in government. That was the case recently with Rex Tillerson, the former chief executive of ExxonMobil who served as secretary of state in the United States. Politics requires balancing myriad interests, whereas businesses often operate more like dictatorships.
