Such dynastic politics seems odd to many Americans. But when you look around the world at other large democracies, it is commonplace. Members of the Nehru-Gandhi family have been prime ministers of India (population 1.2 billion) in 37 of its 67 years as an independent republic. Daughters of presidents have been elected president of Indonesia (252 million), the Philippines (101 million) and South Korea (50 million). The current Philippine president’s mother was also president.
Aecio Neves, narrowly defeated this year for president of Brazil (204 million), is the grandson of Tancredo Neves, who was elected president in 1985. On the Internet you can see a photo of the 5-year-old Shinzo Abe, re-elected last weekend as prime minister of Japan (127 million), with his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, who was prime minister at the time.
What advantage do dynastic candidates have in very large democracies? It’s rooted, I think, in the fact that voters make their choices not only on the basis of policies but on character. They are aware that character can make a crucial difference in performance. Winston Churchill and Neville Chamberlain were members of the same party, but they performed differently in office.
And if you want to understand the character of a candidate, it helps if you know the family. In large democracies, citizens come to know a lot about the families of heads of government. They understand that all members of a family are not the same. But they know that they tend to share certain characteristics and values. You see the same thing at holiday gatherings of your own extended families.
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