Expertise in Governance

As in Republic, Plato's characters in the latter part of Statesman champion leadership as a very particular kind of expertise or technical knowledge, and as in Republic (though in less detail) the conversation explains why such specialized skill is never available to large groups of people, but only to a small minority or individual.

As disturbing as this is to one conception of democracy, it is undeniably true in our own time that a tremendous amount of intelligence, expert knowledge (or the ability and judgment to tap into others' expert knowledge), and character -- what Plato would have called virtue -- is required for effective leadership. The administration just past had intelligence and technical skill in abundance at its command , and (after 9/11) a tremendous amount of public support, not to mention a legislative branch dominated by the administration's party, but it seemed to lack not only virtue, but even an interest in the task of leadership, except in the sense of conducting a permanent, self-perpetuating political campaign.

We might infer from this that genuine leadership, what Young Socrates and the Eleatic Stranger seek to understand in Statesman, demands all of these elements: expert knowledge, the ability to garner popular support, character (accomplished human excellence), and with this the steadfast will to use its power on behalf of the ruled, rather than in some narrower interest. The current officeholder has many of these qualities in evident abundance; it will be interesting to see how it plays out.