Crossing to the 'dark side' or spreading enlightenment?

As Barrack Obama considers his key political appointments (and the US has up to 7,000 posts in government which are on the basis of appointment) the Times Higher this week comments on the relatively close connection between academe and government in the US in terms of the recruiment of academics to official positions. Madeleine Albright, Robert Reich, Larry Summers, Condoleeza Rice and others were all senior academics prior to their appointment. Whilst the article is part of a wider reflection on this difference between the US and Britain, we in Ireland might also wonder at the apparently greater level of distrust of academics by politicians and vice-versa, something which has also been raised by Ferdinand in one of his earlier blog postings.