BADIMISETTI RAMANA

Modern politics seems very ego-centric. It’s common and rational to focus attention on particular individuals, or individual leaders, and puzzle over their actions. For several decades, the social scientific approach to politics also focused on individuals as the unit of interest to explain outcomes and behaviors. However, our ability to offer explanations about puzzling phenomena in politics is limited when our eye remains trained on the individual. Expanding our understanding of contemporary puzzles requires a change in our perspective. On the other hand, if we’re not talking about politics with respect to a particular personality, we tend to talk about politics in terms of relationships and networks. It’s a part of everyday parlance to say that something happened in politics because of who you know, who one’s connections are, or who is connection to whom. Whether it’s late night talk show hosts, news anchors, pundits, or commentators, there is a natural inclination to talk about re...