Is honesty always the best policy in politics? Discuss with reference to the views of Cicero and Machiavelli. PDF

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Essay of "Is honesty always the best policy in politics? Discuss with reference to the views of Cicero and Machiavelli."...

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Is honesty always the best policy in politics? Discuss with reference to the views of Cicero and Machiavelli. Abstract Honesty in politics is a divisive subject, politicians all over the world are known for their lack of honesty. In this essay I will discuss the subject of whether honesty is always necessary in politics or whether sometimes obscuring the truth can be beneficial. Firstly I will look at the benefits of honesty and why it’s important for politicians to arm the public with all available facts, I will look at this point of view from the perspective of Cicero, and then Machiavelli. Then I will study the benefits to politicians keeping some things to themselves, also with reference to the views of Cicero and Machiavelli.

Honesty is an integral part of being a good politician, those who lied and manipulated the public are never remembered kindly by history and this can sometimes bring their career to an abrupt end. After recent Parliamentary scandals, there have been calls to make honesty from politicians legally binding, although how this would be enforced seems impossible. However, being too honest does come with risks, in our 21st century society it is not always possible for politicians to be entirely honest due to threats to security and the dangers linked to terrorism and the need for some things to remain only in the knowledge of those best equipped to deal with them. As in the UK we elect politicians to represent us, the question has to be asked if it’s really necessary for them to be entirely honest with us, as discussed by Collins (2010), if we have elected them then we should trust that they are doing what is going to benefit those who elected them the most. However the levels of trust in politicians are extremely low and this kind of culture, where there is trust in politics would take many decades to build. I believe that in an ideal society honesty would be best, however we don’t live in that ideal society and so sometimes honesty needs to be used at varying levels in order for calm to be maintained and for politicians to effectively get on with their job. Some politicians use their power and authority to deprive the people they govern of their rights and needs, whilst others use the same power to provide for the needs of their citizens. This leads to the question of whether honesty is the best policy in politics, when determining the best answer to this question, it is interesting to consider the views of Cicero

and Machiavelli who have contradicting opinions on the subject of honesty. Cicero is very much in favour of always being honest, he says “where is there dignity unless there is honesty?” Cicero believes honesty is one of the most important virtues in a person and that it provides a level of satisfaction that someone who is dishonest will never feel. He argues that the greater good in a person lies on what he actually is, instead of what other people think he is, as according to Maloy (2011). However, Machiavelli holds a very different view of honesty and integrity, he says that a wise ruler has to be “a great pretender and dissembler." Machiavelli, in contrast, believes in order to be a good leader, you must sometimes be deceptive and hide the truth from those who your rule over. The majority of people would agree with Cicero, as most people value honesty in a person, however perhaps Machiavelli offers a more realistic view, one that is more relevant to society as it is now. According to McCormick (2015), the intention of Machiavelli was to prove that even if a politician or powerful person is torn and struggling from the inside, he should not give the public the satisfaction of knowing this. Politicians will be more successful if they put up at front in order to appear strong to the public, weak leaders never have successful careers in politics. This can be seen very well in the examples of Ed Miliband, who suffered an embarrassing defeat at the 2015 election and Gordon Brown, who was viewed as indecisive and illegitimate when he failed to call an early election after succeeding Blair. This proves that not only do you not need to be honest to succeed, but sometimes honesty can be a politician’s downfall. Strength of character is vital to succeed and if this means deceiving the public then this has to be the case in order to create the leaders we need. Machiavelli believed that rulers should lie and act unjustly in order to survive, Benner (2013) said that successful rulers must “master the art of deception” in that they would appear to be one thing while in reality, they are another. A modern day example of politicians doing this is often they attempt to make themselves relatable to the working class, this has been a large area of critique in recent years, as most of those who dominate the top of politics come from wealthy backgrounds. This persona that politicians know the plight of the ordinary person, is in itself very dishonest as most of those at the very top of politics do not understand the reality many working class people. However, if they can pull off the act and do manage to relate to then this is most likely going to make them very successful, this is something which Tony Blair managed to do very well. Machiavelli suggested that leaders

should do whatever they need to do to survive, and this is a modern day example of leaders trying to survive in the political arena, they are, as Benner suggested making themselves appear to be something they are not. As Cicero says, “the nearest path to glory, a short cut so to speak, is to behave in such a way that one is what one wishes to be thought.” Cicero believes that if you live a life of honesty and integrity, you will be rewarded and thought highly of by others. This can be seen to some extent in our modern day politicians, those who lie often end their own careers and will not be remembered favourably by the public. Blair’s lies over the Iraq war has left many people accusing him of being a war criminal and have overshadowed any good work he did during his time in office, the Iraq war is the main thing he is remembered for. While, after the publishing of the Chilcot report it is clear Blair’s lies were malicious and intentional, many politicians do not mean to lie. However often with politics it is impossible to know the effect an action might have until it is too late. Often it is a case of trial and error, the outcome of a policy is not known until it is implemented, this can often lead to politicians looking like they have been dishonest but this is not necessarily the case. Many politicians have been accused of being dishonest during and after the EU referendum, however the fact is, is that no one knows what is going to happen and some questions just can’t be answered. Cicero’s views of honesty are idealistic, it is just not always room for honesty in politics. People often forget that politicians are doing their job, the same as anyone else must, just as when soldiers go to war they may injure or kill civilians. But it is their job and in the moment they do not have time to differentiate the innocent from the guilty, Hornqvist (2004). Since their intention is to win, there is not room to feel guilt, just as politicians aim to win and therefore should not feel guilty for sometimes not being entirely honest. Cicero’s views are just not practical in the world as it is now, politics has become much more complicated and his views could be seen as somewhat outdated. To conclude, I believe honesty is not always the best policy in politics, however there will always be time when honesty is absolutely necessary and also unnecessary. In the age we now live in honesty from politicians is not always possible. Whilst Cicero and Machiavelli’s arguments are still relevant today, they can not take into account the changes that society has seen and are therefore only relevant to an extent. Cicero’s view is very idealistic, whereas Machiavelli’s view is closer to the way our politicians do act. In an ideal world, all

politicians would act as Cicero wished them to, but unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal word, although Machiavelli’s view is more extreme than the behaviour of most politicians in the UK. Since other MP’s, the public and the press hold politicians to account they generally can’t get away with being dishonest for too long, as in the case of the expenses scandal, therefore perhaps it would be better for the politicians themselves if they were more honest. However, overall I do not think complete honesty is always essential and there are other qualities in a political leader which are more important, such as compassion and strength. Furthermore, politicians often do not know the effects of their actions therefore sometimes making honesty impossible.

Word count – 1487

Bibliography Collins, James. “Is honesty the best policy?” Credit Union Magazine, 2010, Vol.76, p70. Cicero, Marcus Tullius. “The Prince.” Book 2, section 6-8. Maloy, J.S. “The First Machiavellian Moment in America.” American Journal of Political Science, 2011, Vol.55, p450-462. Machiavelli, Niccolo. “The Prince.” Chapter 18. McCormick, J.P. “Machiavelli’s Inglorious Tyrants.” History of Political Thought, 2015, vol.36, 29-52. Benner, Erica. “Machiavelli’s Ethics.” 2009, chapter 1, p25-30. Cicero, Marcus Tullius. “De Officiis.” Book 2, section 12-13. Hornqvist, Mikael. “Machiavelli and Empire.” 2004, p72-78....