Morality concerns questions of right and wrong, justice, duties, virtues, and how individuals ought to behave. A common culture often shares similar views on morality, e.g. it is not acceptable to lie in order to gain advantage from this misinformation.
Politics concerns how societies make collective decisions, distribute power, create laws, and resolve conflicts among groups with different interests and values. The role of politics differs according to certain ideologies. Whilst a communist/socialist ideology gives almost all powers, decision making and economical governance to the state, Libertarianism proclaims that government should be to an absolute minimum and the responsibility of appropriate, functional and prosperous behaviour lies with the individual alone.
However, what most cultures have in common is that they admire clarity, openness and integrity from their leaders. As more as political leaders stray off this virtue, as more they are considered corrupt, dictatorial and simply opposed to the interest of the people. We find this in all social groups and relationships; only honesty allows for a maximum on good decision making.
Democracy, transparency and honesty:
Democracy, is understood as a system where the electorate represents the sovereign of a country and politicians are simply a representing, extended, functional arm for the people. It is therefore a fundamental necessity to ask for honesty, transparency and virtue in our political representation. Since democratically elected politicians are basically only the representatives of a country’s citizen, the demand on honesty is naturally high. It is the basis of all trust. Yet, what we experience in democratically elected governments all over the world are frequent incidences of dishonesty, corruption and misleading actions of politicians. There are frequently broken promises, actions and laws which are counterproductive for the wellbeing of the electorate and all citizens. In many cases those actions benefit preferred interest groups and very often those politicians themselves, either during or after their time in office. So, why is this so?
Is dishonesty and corruption build into elected systems and if so, why?
Is dishonesty and a lack of integrity the consequence of unrestricted power and a lack of supervision and control? With other words, do those corrupt, dishonest representatives fall for temptations which are offered to them once in office? Or is it, that a certain dishonest nature benefits those wishing to become politicians and therefore this personality trait only comes to the fore, when in the public eye? So, what drives those with a lack of integrity to act as they do? Could this be a systemic issue?
Democracy knows about the potential for dishonesty, self-interest and corruption. For this reason, the House of Representatives (lower house) has a somewhat controlling body in form of the Senate (upper house). The question is, is this enough to keep our politicians honest and trustworthy?
The responsibility of the electorate?
As per definition, the electorate are in charge of expressing their needs, desires and wishes to their representatives, who in return take these to the Parliament to discuss, debate and act on. However, there may not be enough common understanding in the broader community about this process and many see the election of political leaders as a form of giving unquestioned power to certain individuals and groups. To some degree this resembles voting for a temporary autocratic government, like a king or queen, which has to be endured for a certain number of years. But should this be so? Should politicians be held more accountable, by default?
A reoccurring and quite cynical argument against a system which involves the electorate into such a supervisory system, is that many believe that intellectual power in the community is simply missing. If this is so, what can be done about it?
The reality of politics
Politics in reality plays out often in a very different form than it appears to be. Behind every politician, who may or may not be an expert in any relevant field, act a large entourage of public servants, administrators, advisors and interest group representatives. None of these administrators are elected. They are there often for the long haul, sitting through many government changes and wield a large amount of power and influence. They are not only expensive to employ; they are also increasing in numbers throughout the years. In 2025, there were approximately 2.6 million public sector employee jobs in Australia across all levels of government, which accounted for roughly 18% of all employed Australians. In the year 2000 there were 1.6 million public sector workers (ABS data), which shows and increase of close to 63%. The Australians public sector, related to per capita citizens, is one of the largest Public Sectors worldwide. Whist these numbers entails professions like Teachers and Police Officers, it shows clearly that our Public Service has increased itself dramatically. Almost every 5th person works in some sort of government position. Needless to say, that the monetary costs for such an extravagance are astronomically high. More importantly, many of these administrators are indirectly or directly making politics, laws and regulations. Again, none of them are democratically elected.
We may want to discuss:
Is it hard for elected politicians to be morally sound?
Why are so many lying or pretending?
Does the level of understanding of our political system contribute to this form of abuse?
Can politicians who lie be trusted with governing?
A central question in political philosophy is: Should politics be guided by moral principles, or should it primarily focus on practical outcomes and maintaining order?
Some philosophers on the topic:
· Plato argued that political leaders should govern according to wisdom and justice.
· Aristotle viewed politics as a means of promoting human flourishing and virtue.
· Niccolò Machiavelli emphasized political effectiveness and sometimes separated political necessity from conventional morality.
· Immanuel Kant argued that political actions should respect universal moral principles and human dignity.
· John Stuart Mill focused on maximising well-being and protecting individual liberty.
Quotes:
“Politics is the art of making your selfish desires seem like a national interest” – Thomas Sowell (Economist)
“What we need and what we want is to moralise politics, not to politicise morals’ – Karl Popper (1902 1994, Austrian Philosopher)
“The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws” – Tacitus (AD 56 – 120) Roman Historian and Politician.
“If justice truly exist, prisons would be filled with politicians, not the poor” – Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) Italian Renaissance author, philosopher, historian
“In politics, stupidity is not a handicap” – Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821)
“If we stop questioning the morality of our laws, we risk living in a society where the greatest crimes are the ones that are perfectly legal” – Frederic Bastiat (1801 – 1850) French Economist, Author and Member of the French National Assembly.
