the rise of politics as a profession

China favours engineers as political leaders, Egypt likes people from the academia; South Korea - civil servants; Brazil - doctors — and the United States, of course, lawyers; so reports the Economist.

The report is not very descriptive about India.
But of the chart provided in The Economist, 38% of Indian politicians arise from a professional background termed 'Others'.
This profession termed 'Others' excludes professions such as Academia, Business, Civil Service, Diplomacy, Economics, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Military and Teaching. If it does exclude the common known professions it makes one wonder what would this profession 'Others' include.

I am thinking Tailors, Cobblers, Blacksmiths, or even plain crooks and criminals.
One such minister, that I am aware about is a humble Tailor and perhaps the others I am unaware of are or could be crooks and criminals.

Perhaps a bunch of them just can't be classified under any profession simply because they have none.

But if they have no professional qualifications than that what is termed 'Others' what gets these politicians elected, I mean why would anyone vote for any one such imbecile who can't wager a profession or skill that he has gained or learned.

The study implies it is lineage. Familial relations gets the next of kin in line into politics and so starts politics as a career option.
What begins as a career option gets seriously to be a profession.
The lack of a profession outside that of politics keeps these individuals out of all other activities but that of politics.

A career entry into politics in itself calls for development and training into the vagaries of politics. Its the only profession which involves an on-the-job training.

The flip side is that with no professional qualification or external experience but that accruing from experience as a politician, makes one heck of an infirm politicians with an impediment to cultivating social development or meeting aspirational needs of the constituency.

Besides, political lineage being a requirement to foray into politics creates a barrier to people from the industry to join the political stream. Goodwill as an Economist or Businessman alone would not count. It necessitates a political career that one needs to establish from scratch or inherit by being of a political family.
Very unlike Mayor Bloomberg of NYC who is Businessman.

As the kin of a politician ergo does foray into politics; does a political office earn an income or a political career? Emoluments from a political office are meagre and seldom does such a novice gain a political office in his initial years. One can infer that earnings in a political career are in kind and in terms of favours.

It would be interesting to find out whether this percentage of 'Others' is increasing or decreasing.

If this % is increasing then indeed new entrants will find it difficult to enter politics as it would depend all the more on lineage. Political links and connections are either garnered over a period of time or by the fact of political lineage. As political goodwill cannot be garnered on the basis of what was proven outside politics as an Academician, Economist or Business person.

If the % is decreasing then it could mean that we are heading towards a senate that can represents the people and is open to those who can represent the needs and demands of a constituency, unlike at present where the senate is one that represents its own interests by lineage or cliques.