Maistre would agree that Kiwis are better placed to enact his political adage than voters in France, the UK, and certainly Russia. The comparatively bridgeable distance between those in power and the rest of us is a source of national pride.
We like that we might see our Prime Minister at the Warehouse, or our Deputy Prime Minister at the cricket, or end up sitting beside the Opposition Leader on a flight to Hawaii.
That proximity to power is a great leveller. It's part of what protects us from the kind of suffocating political elitism we'd prefer to read about in the World News section.
But this social fluidity also removes all our excuses. We will get the local community, town and city we deserve. We will get the footpaths, libraries, and playgrounds we deserve. The waste collection and public transport we deserve. And whoever wears the local mayoral robes, we will deserve them too.
Aucklanders will get the mayor we deserve if we choose Wayne Brown or Efeso Collins.
Their styles could not be any more different. Mayor Brown would surely be the abrasive, grumpy uncle the 76-year-old seems. After all, he turned a female Far North District Councillor into a "sobbing mess" last time he wore mayoral chains. His people skills, including referring to Mayor Goff as "that idiot" will have many voters asking if Brown is really just Leo Molloy, but taller.
If she'd stayed in the race, Mayor Beck would presumably have brought the centre-right values of freedom, personal responsibility and enterprise to the role. It therefore remains a mystery why her National Party and 'Communities & Residents' backers left her campaign flapping in the breeze and without adequate support.
If Efeso Collins' campaign is anything to go by, Mayor Collins would in office be as polite and unflappable as he seems in person. Although he can also come across as a bit low-key. His decision to run a calm, respectful, low-risk campaign paid off when contrasted against the chaotic Molloy. His challenge now is to reassure voters that his humble style is not to be confused with a lack of hunger to win.
Outside of Auckland, voters will get the City, District and Regional Councils they deserve if voting papers remain on top of the fridge.
This year we have a smorgasbord of conspiracy theorists, climate change deniers, anti-vaxxers and overt racists running for leadership positions.
There's a candidate in Dunedin who openly questions the official account of 9/11. A Bay of Islands candidate believes the Three Waters reforms are part of an evil United Nations masterplan. An Invercargill candidate suggests spicy food — rather than the vaccine — keeps one free from Covid-19. And in my home district of Ruapehu — where my old man is running for mayor — a councillor reportedly walked out of a meeting to protest the use of a karakia. Wait until they find out Jesus didn't pray in English either.
Come 8 October, Maistre's political maxim will be proved true once more. One way or the other, we will get the local government we deserve. Let that be a warning to us all.
Andrew Kirton was Labour's General Secretary from 2016-2018. He now works in government relations for transtasman firm Anacta Consulting. He is married to a Labour MP.
