The Passion for Politics

Abstract

Abstract While politics is an ill-reputed trade, it suffers no shortage of applicants. This last chapter tries to solve this apparent paradox. It first calls into question common-sense explanations, which emphasize either money or prestige as the main drivers of the interest of politicians. It then offers an alternative explanation, based less on interest and more on the long socialization to politics, which makes the hardships of the activity invisible to those who have been in the field as a whole. By so doing, the chapter offers an exploration of the political illusio, this belief in the importance of the stakes at play in this very peculiar space.