Published Tuesday, August 28, 2007 by Jeffrey A. Tucker
Lots of people get interested in political ideas through political campaigns. Maybe this is because politics forces you to decide who you are and what you believe.
I can vaguely recall when I was very young, perhaps 7 years old, that I discovered that my best friend's family considered themselves Democratic whereas I was pretty sure that my family was Republican.
I asked someone what that meant and only received hazy answers that concerned seemingly big issues about government. I didn't think much about it but nonetheless, they were my first thoughts on the thing that would consume my life.
So it is for lots of people: politics is the entry way into taking political ideas seriously. If your interest intensifies, you tend to go one of two ways: wonk or geek. These are terms that applies in many categories of life—Wikipedia gives serviceable definitions of both wonk and geek—but the terms take on new meaning in politics.
(Original Text)
A Political Theory of Geeks and Wonks (1.18 MB)