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About this quote

What does it mean?
Stevenson describes a chaotic political system where leaders contradict each other, held together by weak bonds.
In plain terms
Politics is messy with leaders disagreeing constantly and held together weakly.
What can you take from it?
Expect disunity and conflicting voices in political systems.

Where it applies

  • government operations
  • legislative processes
  • political parties

Putting it to work

  • anticipate disagreement
  • seek consensus
  • analyze power dynamics

Questions to consider

  • Why do political systems contradict themselves?
  • Is chaos inherent to governance?

Another view

The metaphor is cynical and may not apply to stable democracies.

More from Adlai Stevenson

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  3. The early years of the United Nations have been difficult ones, but what did we expect? That peace would drift down from the skies like soft snow? That there w…

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