| "Remember it is a public service. It demands sacrifices of personal and professional time." That isn't the issue - the issue is one of the practical amount of time and energy required to actually be a politician. Full time or not full time - it's still 'public service'. We don't have many 'part time brain surgeons' or 'part time police chiefs' ... Politics is a profession like most others. How on earth does the 'Minister of Finance' manage a national budget part time? I can see a lot of fluffy ministers who don't do a lot - but most cabinet level positions (Parliamentary) and other senior legislators - there's no reason they can't or should not be full time. "It works and provides less way for corruption and lobbying?" + You haven't said 'how it works' - how does a national minster of finance prepare and manage a national level budget on a 'few meetings a year'. + Less corruption? How? Given that 'everyone in politics also has a day job' - the lines of politics/business are considerably more blurry! - Is the 'Minister of Finance' allowed to work in banking?
- How do politicians create taxation legislation when that could create significant conflicts of interest?
- Canadian Minister of Finance - and others - have to put their assets in 'blind trust' to avoid corruption. Can't do that if everyone has a normal day job. It has to be considerably more difficult to manage issues of conflict of interest, surely.
There might possibly be an advantage to having part-time politicians - in the sense that full time one's often don't earn a lot of income, they have to be re-elected etc. so perhaps they are more vulnerable than those with normal jobs. |