I arrived as a Senate staffer in 2006 with a Masters in policy, but academic training did not prepare me for the job.

I spent my 1st morning marveling at how interested my colleagues seemed to be in “R&D,” assuming it reflected a shared appreciation of research & development (a term that broadly encompasses science policy issues). Science touches everything after all.

An hour later, I sheepishly discovered they were simply referring to Republicans & Democrats. sheril.substack.com/p/the-fict… #politics

The Fiction of American Democracy

Hidden congressional staffers shape policy without electoral accountability.

^{Sheril Kirshenbaum (Unelected Representative)}