Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York on 4 November, where he triumphed over seasoned politician Andrew Cuomo, resonates deeply with me on a subject of deep interest. It speaks to politics as a true vocation rather than a careerist pursuit.
Mamdani’s remarkable victory marks a powerful shift. It reflects a growing movement that pushes back against the far-right ideologies that helped propel figures like Donald Trump into America’s highest office.
Listen to Mamdani’s victory speech:
Let me use Mamdani’s inspiring triumph to explore how we might breathe life into politics as a vocation.
Failure of the political class
Across the globe, we are witnessing the dismal failure of the political class. Admittedly, the search for honest, competent and devoted politicians seems endless.
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However, in this modern era, humanity has found a remedy in the practice of democracy – albeit one that is clearly not infallible – as a mechanism for identifying such leaders.
One could be forgiven for saying that democracy in practice has fallen short in our times. Even the most advanced democracies grapple with leadership, inadvertently elevating individuals who thrive on populist, self-serving and power-hungry demagoguery.
The lamentable state of the political class is even more pronounced in the Global South.
In Southeast Asia, attention inevitably turns to Myanmar, where a protracted civil war has persisted since 2021. This has compounded an even longer struggle to establish a democratic system since the late 1980s. The enduring dominance of the military regime in the present political landscape has severely obstructed any real progress towards democratic change.
The fundamental truth regarding Myanmar, or any military regime for that matter, is that generals cannot legitimately assume the role of politicians. Such responsibilities belong solely to civilians.
Is the inadequacy of the political class also evident in contemporary Malaysia? Some might say it is perhaps less stark but still visible.
We have journeyed from the aspirations of ‘Reformasi’ (the reform movement) from 1998 to the entrenchment of ‘Reformati’ (an impasse on reforms) today.
Do the many fissures in leadership within ruling and opposition political parties not show the failure of Malaysia’s political class?
The relentless jockeying for political dominance – rather than a concerted effort towards good and responsible governance – now defines politics in Malaysia today.
Even more troubling is the transformation of politics into a sanctuary for the incompetent where ignorance and duplicity thrive unchallenged.
How might we restore the essence of politics as a vocation – to its rightful status as a noble pursuit?
Insights from Weber
For this, I turn to the brilliant German sociologist and philosopher Max Weber, who gave a lecture on Politics as a Vocation, later published in 1919 (and translated to English in 1946).
Weber drew upon both Western and Eastern paradigms to explore the subject matter. Referring to the ancient Indian text of the Bhagavad Gita, he argued that the Indian warrior caste was founded upon a conception of politics grounded in laws and ethics. This ancient scripture, among other insights, explored the moral dimensions of warfare.
Allow me the liberty of interpreting Weber’s take on this. In a profound dialogue between Arjuna, the warrior, and his charioteer Krishna – believed to be the divine incarnation of Vishnu – both turn to the idea of spiritual wisdom to illuminate Arjuna’s understanding of his duty (dharma). Krishna stresses that fulfilling one’s responsibilities for the good of society transcends personal gain.
Similarly, one can infer that modern politicians must navigate the delicate equilibrium between an ethic of moral conviction and an ethic of responsibility.
Weber suggests that the ethic of moral conviction refers to the key beliefs a politician must uphold – what he calls the “ethic of ultimate ends”.
In contrast, the ethic of responsibility covers the daily need to employ the instruments of politics to sustain peace for the collective good.
Sometimes politicians, Weber suggests, must navigate the delicate balance between these two ethical frameworks.
The ethic of conviction provides the key principles and fervour. And the ethic of responsibility ensures the pragmatic application and accountability essential for effective governance.
Exemplary political leaders possess not only the moral integrity of their convictions. They also have the wisdom required to bear the weight of the consequences that arise from their actions.
Vanity and politics
Another fascinating dimension of politics is vanity.
Weber posits that vanity poses a constant challenge for politicians, who may make decisions driven by emotional attachments to their followers and sycophants, rather than the rational deliberation essential for governing justly and effectively.
He writes:
Therefore, daily and hourly, the politician inwardly has to overcome a quite trivial and all-too-human enemy: a quite vulgar vanity, the deadly enemy of all matter-of-fact devotion to a cause, and of all distance, in this case, of distance towards one’s self.
Weber also warns that the danger of politics is rooted in the relationship between the politician and the means of violence, which are intrinsic to the state and can be easily misused by any vain politician.
In the most powerful nation on earth today, political narcissism and vanity have seemingly taken a perilous and grotesque grip over mainstream politics.
This is why I hope Mamdani’s election heralds a radical and inspiring transformation in America.
Weber’s insights remain strikingly relevant today. He reminds us that history reveals a fundamental truth: humanity would never have attained its potential without persistently pursuing what once seemed unattainable.
This demands both leadership and heroism. True leaders must have the courage to envision a future beyond the limits of the present. They must challenge convention and inspire others to pursue goals that appear impossible.
It is through this relentless pursuit of the improbable that societies progress, innovations flourish, and the boundaries of human achievement expand.
Johan Saravanamuttu
Co-editor, Aliran newsletter
10 November 2025
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