Politics Is About Ideas, Not People

If we want effective politics, we need to stop fixating on personalities, values and parties. The true battleground isn’t who is speaking or leading—it’s what ideas they are pushing and actually doing

In today's political discourse, conversations often revolve around personalities and party allegiances. This means we are truly losing the battle for stability, fairness, justice, and equity.

Our Obsession With Personalities and People

What I keep hearing is:

• “I can’t stand David Seymour.”

• “I would never vote for National.”

• “Christopher Luxon is useless.”

• “Winston Peters? Don’t even start.”

Or the reverse:

• “Chlöe Swarbrick can do no wrong.”

• “The Greens are the only morally viable option.”

• “Chris Hipkins is just like Chris Luxon but a step to the left.”

Personality and party identities matter, but we have forgotten in what order or political priorities. Political leaders and parties are not the foundation of politics, and certainly not enough to justify basing your vote on charisma, aversion, tribal, or ideological loyalty. When we allow politics to become about personalities, we miss the point entirely and fail in our responsibility as voters and citizens.

Politics is About Ideas

At its heart, politics is a contest of ideas.

It’s about defining, debating, and bringing them to life. While credibility and leadership are important, what should be driving our votes, discussions, and concerns are the ideas themselves. Yes, politics needs politicians—but I believe we’ve got our priorities backward. Here’s how a political Centre ideology hierarchy of things works:

1. Ideas

2. Context

3. Policies

4. Parties

5. Political Leaders

Politics isn’t advocacy, where we raise awareness or push for change. It’s not mere management, where the focus is on keeping systems running smoothly. Nor is it chaos, where there’s no direction at all.

True politics is about building power around transformative ideas—and using that power to create meaningful change.

We undermine politics and our future by letting our dogmatic and outdated views of parties, rigid ideologies, or individual leaders dominate the conversation and our voting patterns. We weaken politics’ ability to serve its purpose. Worse, we pave the way for movements that are all style, no substance—where charm and theatrics win over competence and depth.

Photo by Alessandro Bianchi on Unsplash

We Need To Focus on the Ideas

Our current political engagement and understanding is fragmented. Instead of interrogating the ideas shaping our societies, we argue over the personalities delivering them.

We confuse ideology with strategy, advocacy with governing, and popularity with leadership.

• Advocacy plays a vital role in raising awareness and holding power accountable. But it’s not politics.

• Management ensures systems run smoothly, but it doesn’t advance society. It’s not politics.

• Ideology provides a lens for interpreting the world but often becomes dogmatic and stagnant. And also, it is not politics.

Politics stands apart because it is the foundation for everything else. If you want to govern with no clear ideas (National in this coalition government), manage with no clear ideas (Wellington City Council), or advocate with no clear idea (the Greens), you can’t advance society forward or develop any strategies that will benefit the most vulnerable.

The Fragility of Systems

For decades, many have assumed the stablity of liberal democracies, overlooking their inherent vulnerabilities. These systems rest upon foundations shaped by colonization, capitalism, and patriarchy—structures that we know must reckon with. This legacy has fostered an environment where trust in institutions and between groups has eroded, leading to the rise of populism, authoritarianism, and illiberal democracies.

These profound shifts transcend individual leaders or election cycles; they are deeply rooted in enduring ideological tensions and historical injustices. To comprehend and address these forces, we must move beyond focusing solely on those in power and critically examine the underlying ideas and systemic issues that resonate with and mobilize diverse populations.

Ideas Over Ideology

When politics is done well, it’s transformative. It doesn’t just advocate change; it delivers it. Transformative politics builds coalitions, earns credibility, and achieves measurable results. But to do politics well, we must regain a clear sense of the ideas that truly matter—beyond personalities and dogmatic ideologies.

We live in a certainty trap: an ideological slumber where inherited worldviews dictate our engagement with politics. This complacency prevents us from recognizing the systems we live in—or challenging them meaningfully. My aim here, and with this newsletter, is to disorient myself and my readers, nudging us out of this unhinged and dangerous political certainty.

Politics isn’t about clinging to leaders we love or rejecting those we despise. Nor is it about the headlines that dominate our feeds. It’s about understanding the ideas that shape our lives—and asking how we can engage with them to drive change.

Thanks for reading up to here. Below is a quick announcement about Less Certains’ summer break.

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As 2024 wraps up, it's time for Less Certain to take a well-deserved summer break. I'll be back on 14 January 2025.

Reflecting on this inaugural year, here are some highlights:

• 54 articles written

• 600 subscribers

• 25 paid subscribers

• Approximately 300 hours of writing

I'm incredibly grateful for the wonderful community we've built around Less Certain. Your engagement—sharing, clicking, commenting—has been the fuel that keeps this engine running.

If you've found any value in these musings over the past year, consider sharing Less Certain with friends or becoming a paid subscriber. It will motivate me to write and you to read.

Wishing you all a fantastic holiday season. See you in 2025!