选举的问题在于，任何非常想要一个职位来竞选的人可能都不应该拥有它。任何不想竞选办公室的人可能也不应该拥有它。政府办公室应该像孩子收到的圣诞礼物一样，充满惊喜和喜悦。相反，它通常像文凭一样被接受，一种虎头蛇尾的感觉，似乎永远不值得为获得它而奋斗。
(The problem with elections is that anybody who wants an office badly enough to run for it probably shouldn't have it. And anybody who does not want an office badly enough to run for it probably shouldn't have it, either. Government office should be received like a child's Christmas present, with surprise and delight. Instead it is usually received like a diploma, an anticlimax that never seems worth the struggle to earn it.)
奥森·斯科特·卡德的《帝国》一书对选举的性质和追求公职的个人提出了发人深省的观点。他认为，那些拼命寻求权力的人可能不适合掌握权力，因为他们的渴望可能源于对权威的渴望，而不是真正的公共服务。相反，缺乏担任此类职位雄心的个人也可能不合格，这表明愿望、能力和治理责任之间存在复杂的关系。
卡德强调，人们应该怀着喜悦和惊喜的心情接近政府办公室，就像收到一份珍贵的礼物一样。然而，现实情况是，它往往感觉更像是一项艰苦的成就，让接受者感到虎头蛇尾。这种观点批评了当前的政治野心和竞选公职背后的动机，敦促我们重新评估我们如何看待和准备我们的领导人。
