There was a time when the central question in public life was simple: What do they know? That question has not disappeared—but it has been replaced.
The Qualification Gap examines a governing model in which preparation is no longer the standard, and where performance, loyalty, and narrative fluency have taken its place. Using recent events surrounding JD Vance as a case study, the essay argues that what appears to be individual failure is, in fact, systemic design.
This is not a sudden break. It is the culmination of a long drift—one that has quietly redefined what counts as competence in public life.
The result is a widening gap between the demands of governance and the qualifications required to meet them.
And once that gap opens, it does not remain contained.
It becomes the system itself.
— Dunneagin
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