A lot of things happened recently. I am contemplating a project that I am not sure if I can accomplish, or if it matters at all if I did.
I am thinking about writing a book quality publication, first on the net for Chinese readers, on Cheney’s role in the Bush administration. I want to use this as a case study to answer the question: What kind of people make a good institution?
The inspirations come from many sources:
1. David Halberstam and his two books (Powers That Be, The Best and the Brightest)–two books that opened my eyes to American politics (or politics of any kind) when I was too young to date girls.
2. 林汉达 showed me how to make complicated stories addictively fun to read (《东周列国故事新编》《前后汉故事新编》)
3. The story of Woodward and Bernstein during Watergate, and Woodward’s books since the Clinton era
4. My deep resentment of Dick Cheney and his cronies (John Yoo and David Addington)
5. The book about Cheney and his cronies (The Angler)
6. The lack of understanding of American politics by the (serious) Chinese netizens. They are passionate, well read, able to articulate but lack of understanding of American politics. They can use some inspiration is what I am saying
7. Jackson School studies, recent conversation with DS and ZX, etc. Not that they are high on this idea but it was about the first time I really try to present it in public.
Theme/Thesis:
What kind of people make a good institution?
Some say it is the high mindedness, the love of the country or even noblesse oblige. Others say it is the discipline, the rule of law, the institutional loyalty.
Yet, either of the two had enough precedences to prove that it alone is not enough. My argument is that a good civil servant (politicians included) needs a healthy balance of both–the devotion to a higher cause and the fidelity to laws and institutions.
The difficulty of this type of argument is always where/how to draw the line. Of course, I can always say it is a “art vs. science” thing–which I do believe underlies the endless quest of a “good government”.
Yet that is clearly not the right answer if my work has any operational consequence. That is where my doubt sets in and the reason that I have been debating this project for the last several month.
But now, I think I am going to do it. However difficult it may be, I think I will enjoy the process.