Do you think being an EA/believing EA things...represents any disadvantage (or advantage) in running for office?
One advantage I can think of is that you have a source of information other than the political party, and that source of information is filtering based on evidence. Therefore, you’re more likely to hear about things like relative efficacy of canvassing vs. lawn signs, and spend your resources wisely, rather than the ‘kitchen sink’ approach of just doing what everyone else does during a campaign.
As for disadvantages, well. I think some EAs handle this better than others, but I associate being an EA with needing to cope with lots of uncertainty. Maybe this is just because I also lost the comfort of my dogma at the same time I learned about EA. To the extent that motivation and energy is tied to self-assuredness that you’re doing the right thing, I think having EA thoughts can sap you of some energy compared to a counterfactual self that feels content and comfortable within a political party. This is more of an issue when you’re in office than when you’re doing the campaigning part, though.
Do you think...being identified as one, represents any disadvantage (or advantage) in running for office?
This is harder for me to say. The NH House of Representatives has the lowest barrier to entry of any state legislative body, and I was subjected to proportionately less scrutiny as a politician. (Though my history with the FSP raised that scrutiny quite substantially.) I don’t think EA as a field has particularly problematic associations for political purposes; the worst is probably its association with Peter Singer. (Insert side rant about how of course professional ethicists are going to have at least a couple unconventional views because what even is the point of turning ethical thought into your profession unless you come to conclusions that are outside the mainstream...)
However, opposition research is a big deal in higher-visibility races—something I’ve seen up-close and personal in State Senate races—and any weirdness can be weaponized. Unfortunately, the conclusion here is that a public EA identity is most likely to not affect a candidate, but if it does affect a candidate, it’s likely to hurt them.
In my case, joining the EA movement hurt me in a way that is pretty non-generalizable: to a large degree, it cut me off from the community that had supported my run for office in the first place. I gained a new community, but that community was non local and had much bigger fish to fry(*) than the issues I was working on.
Do you think being an EA, believing EA things, or being identified as one, represents any disadvantage (or advantage) in running for office?
One advantage I can think of is that you have a source of information other than the political party, and that source of information is filtering based on evidence. Therefore, you’re more likely to hear about things like relative efficacy of canvassing vs. lawn signs, and spend your resources wisely, rather than the ‘kitchen sink’ approach of just doing what everyone else does during a campaign.
As for disadvantages, well. I think some EAs handle this better than others, but I associate being an EA with needing to cope with lots of uncertainty. Maybe this is just because I also lost the comfort of my dogma at the same time I learned about EA. To the extent that motivation and energy is tied to self-assuredness that you’re doing the right thing, I think having EA thoughts can sap you of some energy compared to a counterfactual self that feels content and comfortable within a political party. This is more of an issue when you’re in office than when you’re doing the campaigning part, though.
This is harder for me to say. The NH House of Representatives has the lowest barrier to entry of any state legislative body, and I was subjected to proportionately less scrutiny as a politician. (Though my history with the FSP raised that scrutiny quite substantially.) I don’t think EA as a field has particularly problematic associations for political purposes; the worst is probably its association with Peter Singer. (Insert side rant about how of course professional ethicists are going to have at least a couple unconventional views because what even is the point of turning ethical thought into your profession unless you come to conclusions that are outside the mainstream...)
However, opposition research is a big deal in higher-visibility races—something I’ve seen up-close and personal in State Senate races—and any weirdness can be weaponized. Unfortunately, the conclusion here is that a public EA identity is most likely to not affect a candidate, but if it does affect a candidate, it’s likely to hurt them.
In my case, joining the EA movement hurt me in a way that is pretty non-generalizable: to a large degree, it cut me off from the community that had supported my run for office in the first place. I gained a new community, but that community was non local and had much bigger fish to fry(*) than the issues I was working on.
(*) with my apologies to the vegans