Negative campaigning reduces the diversity and representativeness of government.  Many able, idealistic and talented individuals are discouraged or excluded from participating in the political process by aggressive negative campaigning [i] . Bright potential candidates may be concerned about intrusion by political opponents into their private lives or backgrounds [ii] . They may be opposed in principle to participating in a political culture that obliges aspirant office holders to engage in smear- and fear-lead campaigning.  Under the status quo, only those able to stomach the confrontational and bullying tactics that have grown up around contemporary electioneering will dare enter the political arena. Moreover, such trends in political culture favour candidates with close links to the media. Individuals able to command the ear of newspaper owners, or who possess a professional background in journalism or publicity will be better able to manipulate or evade attacks launched via television and mass communications.  A democratic system is best served when it encourages the participation of candidates from a range of backgrounds and professional fields. The ability of a government to arrive at novel solutions to problems confronting a state, to understand that state’s economy and to effectively represent different sectors of the population will be compromised without a diverse skillset within the state’s legislative and executive branches.  By transforming politics into a game based on the production of political “brands” and unassailable, manufactured “personalities,” the jousting and muckraking of negative campaigning gives a disproportionate advantage to former editors and PR men [iii] . This dilutes the pool of professionals from which future leaders are drawn, leading to poor policy making (due to a lack of professional skills) and a conservative, sclerotic, defensive approach to political problem solving. Western liberal politics is increasingly discussed only in terms of communication, image, rhetoric and appearance [iv] , rather than the technical language of law, economics and diplomacy. Negative campaigning artificially limits the types of people and professions who can engage in political discourse, infantilising and disabling politics itself.  [i] “Meg’s mistake”, The Economist, 28 September 2009,   [ii] “Tory woman attacks ‘misogyny’ of grassroots members”, The Guardian, 01 November 2009.   [iii] “Analysis: PR people fall prey to the lure of parliament.”, PR Week, 04 April 1996.   [iv] “I’m fake, vote for me”, The Guardian, 22 September 2006.