Weber defined mass politics as slow drilling through hard boards requiring passion and judgement

Evidence

What was mass politics? At its height, in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, Max Weber offered a canonical definition: politics, for the German sociologist, was a “slow, strong drilling through hard boards,” requiring “both passion and a sense of judgement.” The person fit to take part in it had to be “a leader”—indeed, “must, in a very simple sense of the word, be a hero.” “And even those who are neither of these things must,” Weber intoned, “put on the armor of that steadfastness of heart which can withstand even the defeat of all hopes.” — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics, 54

Categorization

• XREF: The Weberian high-commitment ideal of politics is Jäger’s foil for ‘low’ hyperpolitics; could connect to Arendt and other mass-politics critics.
• CANDY: Weber’s ‘slow, strong drilling through hard boards’ is a quotable definition for elevator conversation about what politics used to demand.