People sometimes complain that all politicians are liars, because in some cases they do not tell the public the truth. Though the society calls for honesty, those who are disloyal should be accused, political leaders, standing on a particular position, should weigh his/her reputation in behalf of the civilians and the countries, that they leads. But the outcomes will be incorrect if someone extends this proposition too far. Therefore, the most important criteria for an effective political leader should be responsible and faithful toward his or her electorate and serve for the benefit of the general public.
First of all, for the politicians, sometimes telling lies is a self-protection and tactic. Politics is so sophisticated that it is impossible for an effective political leader to tell the truth all the time. Complete honesty is certainly not always a virtual beneficent for a politician. If the politician let his/her opponents know every truth, concluding his/her secrets or, say, scandals, it will probably cause dangers to himself/herself. In addition, to succeed in the political competition to gain the power to wield authority, the politicians have to win financial support for their propaganda. Therefore, how to get the support is pretty much a tactic. The politicians have to do something to pander their financial supporters, such as underhand trade-offs.
In the second place, complete honesty may also lead to severe national crisis and revolution rather than peace and coexistence. In some cases, frankness does harm to both the country and the public. If the government officers tell all they know to the public, it may cause bad influence. Once a government is threatened by terrorists, it would prevent the information from leaking out, which would surely leads to a pandemonium. Government should address the crisis secretly, alert people to avoid the danger for some other accuses, and inform the public the whole matter after the country become safer. It would be inappropriate for the leader to tell the public the truth too early which can offer the terrorists chances to break in. Under this circumstance, political leaders do not need frankness and their behaviors can also be called successful. Another example, under economic crisis, no matter what a sad situation a region is suffering, leader there should be calm and give the common people confidence by means of exaggerating the function of government and the power of public to show that there is hope and encourage all people to try their utmost.
On the other hand, to be an effective leader, one must win enough support from the public. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “The government is from people, by the people and for the people”. A politician is elected by the people. If a politician tells the public a developing scheme for the purpose of vote before the election, but applies another scheme after he comes into power, the behavior is somewhat like cheating. With respect to public affairs, the dishonesty of a politician is the root of bribe, corruption, and delinquency, however the goodwill of the politician may be. A fitting example of which is ex-President Richard Nixon, who is unlawful to install the tape-bug to retrieve his political competitor’s intelligence about election, and eventually this scandal is dug out by two reporters, then President Nixon was forced to resigned to avoid the impeachment.
To sum up, when and in which situation a leader tell a story depends upon the situation of the society, the will of populace and the behalf of the country. While honesty is surely a crucial virtue for a leader, in some cases the politicians can use their power to hide some truth in order to guarantee the stability of the society. But once they abuse this power, they will cause demolishment to the whole country.
发表于 2010-6-7 16:48:20
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