By Dr Muhammad Jameel Yushau
Governor Deval Patrick’s class on principles and politics has created an electrifying atmosphere that keeps students longing for the class even more. It is a course that is different from a lot of the classes I have taken so far. The teaching atmosphere has the triad features of an intellectual feast, a parade of policy celebrities, and a laboratory for dissecting and diagnosing the meaning of principles in politics. This week the class resembled a presidential town hall.
In the previous two classes, Professor Patrick has invited several guests to interact with students directly. The previous week we had Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker, both of them former presidential candidates in the Democratic Party. On Wednesday 8th February 2023, we had David Axelrod, President Obama’s campaign strategist and the leading architect of his presidential campaign, and Beth Myers, campaign strategist and consultant for Senator Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate in the 2012 elections in the United States.
The beauty of this class is that it is not about party politics or designing a campaign, rather, it is a platform to discuss what drives people into public policy roles and the difficulty of such an endeavor. You wouldn’t believe that the guests have partisan positions on issues. Discussions are honest, engaging and focused on delivering effective policy results.
A key issue that was deliberated with candor in the class was the ‘why’ question. This is important especially in an age where people are obsessed with the glamour that comes with holding public policy positions rather than the difference they can make.
I learnt many things from the class. The most important is perhaps the need to be authentic. If you are not authentic, the magnitude of the role will overwhelm you. You can only mask your character and values for a while.
The second lesson is passion about a public policy challenge. You can’t just jump into public policy and then identify the problem you want to solve. You must care for something. It can be education, healthcare, environmental degradation or more. As I stated during the question and answer session in the class, your why should be a life time project rather than what you want to achieve simply by holding a public office.
Implementing public policy is not easy, not everyone will buy into your ideas. Some will do everything to stifle it from progressing. As such, your passion will serve as the engine of motivation.
The third lesson is impact on family. Many times, people get carried away by their work, and they forget the most important job, their family. It doesn’t matter which part of the world you come from, the family is the bedrock of the society, it can be the sanctuary you need especially in challenging times.
Takeaway: Define your purpose with honesty and sincerity, otherwise you will bask in the ocean of uncertainty and lose your track.
