Old and I think, quite relevant.  Thanks Baba.

Soffie

-----Original Message-----
From: Baba Galleh Jallow 
Sent: Friday, November 14, 2003 8:41 AM


Is Honest Politics Possible?

by Kwasniewski Aleksander
President of Poland

"Those who desire to treat politics and morals separately will never
understand anything of either." So wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and I
agree. The practice of politics not only can but must be reconciled with
the imperatives of honesty.

But what is honesty or dishonesty in a politician? Is it possible for a
politician to be honest at all?

The question goes to the heart of democracy. When voters write off
politicians as dishonest, anti-democratic movements thrive. Yet all
politicians know that ambiguity and compromise tend to prevail over
universal truths. Sometimes one must choose the lesser evil. Our
ordinary standards of decency and righteousness cannot always be applied
- but not because cynicism and hypocrisy are all that matter in
politics.

Consider, for example, that prince of ambiguity, the Duc de Talleyrand.
Not only corrupt, but a notorious traitor to consecutive masters,
Talleyrand was said to have failed to sell his own mother only because
there were no takers. Yet, although serially disloyal to French rulers,
Talleyrand probably never betrayed France.

Political dishonesty, it turns out, takes different forms. Let us
identify the various types. One type is someone who is a dishonest man
or woman to begin with. Such a person will be a dishonest leader,
ideologue, or diplomat in any circumstance.

Another type is the well-meaning dilettante. Clumsy and amateurish, the
dilettante's actions harm the interests he aims to advance.

Political "gamblers," on the other hand, put competence to bad use. They
are skilled but ruthless, lack humility and eschew reflection. The
gambler's close kin is the political "troublemaker," who pursues his
soaring ambitions by any means necessary, whatever the risks and
regardless of the cost to others.

The political "fanatic" is also dishonest, for he is blinded by the
conviction that he is absolutely right in all cases. The fanatic is
inflexible and inertial, a steamroller ready to flatten everything in
his way. By contrast, the political "wheeler-dealer" is no less
dishonest, for he lacks what the first President Bush called the "vision
thing." He is spineless, devoid of principle, and retreats in the face
of responsibility.

Beyond these distinct types of dishonest politicians are more general
political postures. Cynical forms of pragmatism take the lead, embodied
in the principle that the end justifies the means whenever moral
imperatives conflict with political interests.

At the other extreme is a naive, utopian, and moralistic stance that is
equally dishonest. Its acolytes deplore the grit and relativism of
politics and issue futile appeals for moral revivals. But things are not
that simple. History is not an idyll and politicians' biographies do not
read like the lives of the saints. Paradoxically, if all people were
honest, politics would become redundant.

This does not mean that we cannot identify honest politicians when we
see them. Immanuel Kant described two types of politicians. The
political moralist wants to "hammer out morality" in keeping with the
requirements of politics construed as a cynical game. It is a label that
easily applies to all the types of dishonest politicians described
above.

Kant's second type is the moral politician, who rejects cynical
pragmatism but does not succumb to naive moralising. An honest
politician is someone who regards politics as a tool for achieving the
common good. He is not naive, and knows that patience, compromise, and a
policy of small steps are often needed. Yet in pursuing partial goals he
will not lose sight of higher objectives.

An honest politician, in short, pursues a pragmatism built on
principles, on the courage to say unpleasant things, but always with a
constructive attitude. Indeed, irresponsible criticism - the eagerness
to expose and publicize a problem, unmatched by the willingness to
propose feasible solutions - is perhaps the most common form of
dishonesty in politics.

This is why actual governance is so often the best test of political
honesty. In democratic countries, if politicians who are critical of
others while in opposition prove to be ineffective when in government,
voters can - and often do - punish their dishonesty at the ballot box.

The toughest test of an honest politician comes when he or she must
defend ideas that are unpopular but right. Not everyone passes such a
test, particularly when elections are approaching. However, only the
dishonest politician equates politics exclusively with popularity.

At the same time, a moral politician never succeeds single-handedly in
ensuring the common good. Only when politicians support one another's
decency can they be confident that in critical moments for the state,
they can rise above their political divisions.

But political honesty is not the sole responsibility of politicians.
Public opinion must play its part as well. After all, political honesty
- and honest politicians - is more likely to take root in a society
marked by a culture of tolerance, solidarity, and the equal enjoyment of
individual rights. Political mischief-makers do poorly in such soil.

I am a political practitioner, first and foremost. So I know that no
theory, no amount of analysis, can free a politician from bouts of soul-
searching, from troubling his or her conscience with questions about
what is and what is not honest when confronting political choices. Above
all else, the honest politician willingly shoulders this burden.

Aleksander Kwasniewski is President of Poland. This text is based upon
his recent speech to Project Syndicate member editors in Vienna.
Copyright: Project Syndicate/Institute for Human Sciences, December 2002






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