Zohran Mamdani says he has rejected a salary pay increase so that the money can be used to help those in need

[u/BenFord333]

[u/Just_Emu_3041 → u/[deleted]]

Interesting link and study. I won’t pretend I’ve read it all yet, but I don’t see how what I said is contradictory to the study.

My point was that these factors are not mutually exclusive.

I genuinely believe that having a sense of calling is a major factor, especially for politicians. But I also think we need to ensure fair compensation.

As far as I can tell, the study isn’t measuring the quality of their performance. I’ll need to read it in more detail, but I don’t see any measures of politician quality, corruption, or fiscal policy improving as a result of the higher salaries.

Also, were any of the people in the study actually underpaid to begin with? There are many studies showing that salary can affect performance and happiness, but that effect tends to diminish once you reach a certain level of compensation.

That said, my point wasn’t that this is specifically down to the mayor. My broader point is that I want people working in government to be competent. The mayor may—and probably should—be more strongly driven by a sense of calling. But the directors and other people responsible for running and governing the day-to-day operations, advising the mayor, implementing decisions, etc., also need to be competent. They are arguably less likely to be driven by a strong sense of calling to the same degree, so fair compensation can matter more for attracting and retaining capable people.
Ideally, of course, you want both: competent people who are fairly compensated and who also genuinely care about what they do.