Against the Tide by Steven Friedman

 Widespread sneering at the fact that some municipal councillors cannot read and write shows that the people who tell us what to think do not understand how democracy works and that they harbour deep prejudices against people who don't have an education. These prejudices also show themselves in attitudes which insist that the people we elect should have academic degrees if they are to do their jobs well.

This is the argument of my Against the Tide column this week which has
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Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.