The narrative around crises is that they are something we don't want, but I think many politicians actually welcome them....
When things are just going smoothly, politics can be a grind, boring, but come a crisis - a pandemic, Immigration spike, credit crunch, war, whatever, it's an opportunity for sure.
Everyday politics is just mostly technical and sometimes boring, and everything a leader does gets picked apart. In that kind of environment, politicians look boxed in—hemmed by institutions, public opinion, even the markets.
But in a crisis, this may shift!
From Helpless to Hero
A crisis can suddenly transforms the way people see political leaders. S
A lot of this comes down to media dynamics. When there's a crisis: the spotlight shrinks. Instead of thousands of debates and statistics, there’s just a handful of key players and split-second decisions. The mess of policy melts away and it's all about big moves: big speeches, emergency meetings, and drama, drama!
How Leaders Use a Crisis
It’s not usually that politicians create crises on purpose, but some of them know how to turn one to their advantage. I'm looking at you, Thatcher, with that handy Falklands war!
Political scientists call this “agenda-setting” - the power to decide what everyone’s talking about.
And when a crisis hits it can be useful in erasing old narratives and bringing a fresh new one to the fore.
And of course crises also give leaders cover for making tough (or unpopular) choices... they can shove through emergency laws, ramp up spending, even change positions entirely, and chalk it up to necessity, not politics.
Obviously sometimes politicians deliberately create a crisis to distract - Trump may well be doing this!
When There’s No Crisis
Sometimes the real problem for a leader is the lack of a crisis.
When this happens it's just the grind, and every minor policy decision comes under scrutiny....