> In any case, the point I am trying to make is that in every state, in every business or organization there's a certain horizontal line separating political ap

> In any case, the point I am trying to make is that in every state, in every business or organization there's a certain horizontal line separating political appointees on the top from the technocrats on the bottom. > ... > One way or another, the line seems to objectively exist. It's hard, for example, to think of an organization where the political appointees are at the bottom of the hierarchy and the technocrats on the top. This is an almost tautological realization. When people talk about "politics" in this context, they mean in the sense of (pulling from OED) "actions concerned with the acquisition or exercise of power, status, or authority." Who are the people at an institution who have the power, status, and authority? Well, it tends to be the ones interested in actions concerning it. There's nothing that says such people can't be subject-matter experts. But if you lock yourself in the proverbial basement and ignore the power structure, then you're less likely to take an active role in it.