Department of Neurology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Department of Psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Politics Life Sci. 2024;43(2):185-197. doi: 10.1017/pls.2024.7. Epub 2024 Sep 18.
The cognitive deterioration of politicians is a critical emerging issue. As professions including law and medicine develop and implement cognitive assessments, their insights may inform the proper strategy within politics. The aging, lifetime-appointed judiciary raises legal and administrative questions of such assessments, while testing of older physicians experiencing cognitive decline provides real-life examples of implementation. In politics, cognitive assessment must contend with the field's unique challenges, also taking context-dependent interpretations of cognitive-neuropsychological status into account. These perspectives, from legal and medical experts, political scientists, and officeholders, can contribute toward an equitable, functioning, and non-discriminatory system of assessing cognition that educates the public and enables politicians to maintain their public responsibilities. With proper implementation and sufficient public knowledge, we believe cognitive assessments for politicians, particularly political candidates, can be valuable for maintaining properly functioning governance. We offer recommendations on the development, implementation, and execution of such assessments, grappling with their democratic and legal implications.
政客认知能力下降是一个亟待关注的新兴问题。随着法律和医学等专业领域开展并实施认知评估，这些专业领域的洞见可能为政治领域提供恰当的应对策略。司法系统人员老化且终身任职，由此引发了此类评估的法律和行政问题，而对出现认知能力下降的老年医生进行测试则为实施此类评估提供了实际范例。在政治领域，认知评估必须应对该领域的独特挑战，同时考虑到认知神经心理学状况的依赖情境的解释。这些视角来自法律和医学专家、政治科学家以及政府官员，可以为建立一个公平、有效的、非歧视性的认知评估体系做出贡献，从而教育公众，并使政治家能够履行其公共职责。我们相信，只要实施得当且公众有足够的认知，对政客，尤其是政治候选人进行认知评估，可以为维持良好的治理发挥重要作用。我们就此类评估的制定、实施和执行提出了建议，探讨了其民主和法律方面的影响。
