High School Never Ends—Especially in Washington

No matter what people may say, often what they care about most when it comes to policy is exactly what they cared about in the high school cafeteria: Who is rising or falling in status.

As great apes, we obsess over the social hierarchy. Who is being praised and who is being excoriated? Who is hot and who is not?

That may sound like gossip, but it is also a big part of our politics. If politics is fundamentally about the way we human beings organize ourselves—or, put another way, how we build and wield power—then status is the ultimate coin of the realm.

By status I mean a person’s reputation. How much are you held in high regard? And as a consequence, how much can you influence events and other people? Who will take your phone calls?