Maybe it’s the technocrat in us, but there’s something reassuring about a politician with an advanced degree. Beyond the mere credential, having a doctorate or a master’s suggests the ability to dig deep into a subject, a bent toward critical thinking, yadda yadda.
Except that often those degrees are less than meets the eye. A growing number of politicians seem to be getting caught with their diplomas down.
The latest scandal involves Vladimir Medinsky, Russia’s culture minister. Historians have accused Medinsky of fraud in his 2011 dissertation on medieval Russia. The paper — the only thing Medinsky has published in the field of history (although he does hold a PhD in political science) — is “scandalous” and “a real parody,” according to one academic involved in the call to revoke the minister’s credential.
