Trump phenomenon signifies shift to personality-based politics

WHAT we are seeing in the continuing march of Donald Trump toward the Republican presidential nomination is the power and significance of political entrepreneurship. If you want to become president (or senator or House member), you don't need the permission of either party. You just announce, comply with the legal requirements for filing and launch your campaign.

You are the political entrepreneur. To help you, there's a thriving industry of campaign consultants, pollsters, media buyers, digital experts, fund-raising and direct-mailing companies. In 2012, there were 1,765 of these firms that oversaw US$3.6 billion of campaign spending, reports political scientist Adam Sheingate of Johns Hopkins University in his new book, Building A Business Of Politics.

Political writer Alan Ehrenhalt, in his 1991 book, The United States Of Ambition, said: "Who sent us the political leaders we have? There is a simple answer. ... They sent themselves."