College Essays

The essay I submitted responds to the prompt for the University of Oregon Honors College.

During the fall 2008 election, Clark Honors College graduate Steve Novick lost a primary election for the U.S. Senate to Jeff Merkley. Why should anyone run for public office?

            One of the main components of the Democratic Republic the U.S. chooses as our form of government includes the election of public officials to make decisions for voters. However, the reasons why most prospective public officials run for office are usually not reasons why people should run for public office. The enticing perks of positions of public office, such as the power an individual in public office holds as well as monetary incentives, often attract people with less than honorable motivations into public office.

            People in positions of public office have many responsibilities, for example as civil servants they perform a service for the voters. People with innovative ideas of government should run for office because their ideas may be well liked by the public as well as more effective. Many people are dissatisfied with the welfare system as it is because they feel there is no incentive for people on welfare to support their own households. If a new mind were to come up with a new system to assist people on welfare that still encouraged them to find the means of supporting themselves, that person should have every opportunity to put this idea to practice. In more unfortunate areas there are problems that most people who are elected to political positions would have trouble identifying and thinking of a solution for the issue. Poorer areas may have trouble with convincing their youth to finish their schooling. Most people elected to office are educated and may not sympathize with young people who have difficulties with getting to school safely or do not have parents with college degrees. This should serve as an incentive for someone who has experienced some of theses same difficulties to run for public office.

            While there are many reasons why a person should run for office, unfortunately many of these reasons are often not the real motivations of those who run for office. Considering the immense power brought on by an election to public office, it is not surprising that corruption might eventually occur. At times the party supporting a candidate will have specific goals that the candidate is expected to help the party accomplish. Such a situation blurs the candidate’s vision and focus on assisting the community he is supposed to be representing. Greed also distracts some candidates from their real purpose in office. In my own hometown a councilman has recently been convicted of grand theft. This is an especially gregarious situation because politicians such as the one in my town are not overly concerned with using the assets of the government to assist the people in it.

            In truth, public office is somewhat of a paradox, in that some individuals who run for office do so for the wrong reasons. The question of public office hinges on the motivation of the person running, however, the people with the right motivations will clearly beneficial to the community they are serving.

-Jasmine M.