Politicians From Particular Backgrounds and Political Scandals - Essay Example

? Are Politicians from Particular Backgrounds or with Certain Personality Types More Susceptible to Being Caught Up in a Political Scandal than Others? Student’s Name: Date of Submission: Total Number of Words: 4,505 Introduction An event can be scandalous given that the piece of news report transgresses some form of moral codes, norms, and values (Thompson, 2000, p. 4). In most cases, a political scandal can cause serious damage on the personal, political, and socio-economic reputation of another person (Moran, 2012). A good example of political scandal includes the act of political corruption. It may also include some form of illegal or unethical practices were exposed to the general public. In general, a good public servant should closely observe and maintain good family values. Therefore, it is the moral duty of each politician to avoid engaging themselves in any form of infidelity scandals (Doherty and Dowling, 2011, p. 753). Aside from illegal use of public funds, other issues that can be exposed to the public include alcohol or substance abuse, administrative corruption, bribery, conflict of interests, eating disorders, financial or family problems, infidelity, psychological, mental, or physical illnesses, sexual misbehaviour, and vote buying (Moran, 2012; Fleming, 2006, p. 77; Haldane, 2004, p. 202). With the CPI score of 17, UK ranked the 17th least corrupt country worldwide (Rogers, 2012). Unfortunately, UK’s CPI score of 17 in 2012 has decreased from its 16th ranking position back in 2011 (Rogers, 2012). Back in 1970s, John Stonehouse who was a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) received 21 charges for conspiracy, fraud, forgery, and theft and was imprisoned for seven (7) years (Bloxham, 2010). A good example of moral conduct violation is sex scandal. Back in 1970s, Jeremy Thorpe who was a leader of the Liberal Party was not only involved in a homosexual scandal with his male lover but was also accused of consipracy (Bloxham, 2010; White, 2010). Recently, John Profumo – the Secretary of State for War in 1963 was engaged in a sexual scandal for having an affair with Christine Keeler (Evans, 2013; Haldane, 2004, pp. 202 – 203). Considering the long-list of political scandals which occurs both in the local government authorities and the British royal families, it makes a lot of sense to ask questions such as whether or not politicians coming from a particular political, family, or social background or those with certain types of personality are more susceptible to being caught up in a political scandal as compared to others. Is there any close relationship between certain political, family, or social background and the risks where in the politicians could get themselves involved in a political scandal? Is there any truth behind the idea that political leadership is hereditary? Are certain types of personality increases the risks wherein a politician would be tempted to engage themselves in illegal and immoral acts? What are the common factors that make politicians engaged themselves in a world-wide political controversy? Political Background in UK In the world of politics, Stokes (2005, p. 2) explained that political jobs are meant only for some people who belong to a particular background. For example, as a common knowledge, politics in UK is based on a unitary democracy which follows the structure of a “constitutional monarchy” (Mannin, 2010, p. 64). Specifically the nature of UK’s political background clearly explains why the English Parliament is composed of the Monarchy, the Lords, and the Commons (Mannin, 2010, p. 63). Based on UK’s current political structure and practices, the Monarch is considered as the leader of the state whereas the Prime Minister of UK is referring to the person-in-charge of the government. In general, the monarchy plays a role in the UK politics. Even though the executive or political role was already removed from the British Sovereign (The British Monarchy, 2014b), the King or Queen are still expected to perform their national duties such as charitable services and the need to help in the development of its national unity (The British Monarchy, 2014a). Unlike the prime minister, people who could assist in the national duties of the Queen are limited to the members of her family and close relatives. This includes the Queen’s spouses and children as well as the Queen’s cousins and their spouses (The British Monarchy, 2014a). The UK government officials which includes the prime minister, members of the parliament, members of the House of Commons, and the local authorities such as the County, District, and the Parish Councils among others are all equally at risks of becoming a subject of political scandal. In fact, the members of the Royal family are not exempted from becoming exposed to political scandals. For instance, back in 1997, Princess Diana was accused of having an affair with other men before she died in a car accident (Alderson, 2007; Mail Online, n.d.). Furthermore, Paul Burrell – the former butler of Princess Diana published a book in 2012 which aims to disclose the secrets of the Royal family which includes the past affair between Prince Charles and his nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke (Bagot, 2012) and the alleged rape which occurred within the household of the Royal family (BBC News, 2002). Gender in Politics Specifically the term “unitary democracy” means that leading process in politics is based not only on majority but also on territory (Gonzalez and King, 2003, p. 33). The fact that government in UK has been decentralized means that the local people within certain geographical jurisdiction such as Britain, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland were given the right and power to vote for their preferred local government officials (Figarska and Guerra, 2012, p. 95; Morrison, 2011, p. 28). When it comes to gender issues in politics, most of the top political positions are usually being dominated by men. As explained by Stokes (2005, p. 2), most women’s commitments in life deprived them from being able to fit in a political career. This explains why most female are less interested and less successful when it comes to politics as compared to their male counterparts. Furthermore, the media has a role to play when it comes to stereotyping the standards set on male and female candidates (Gidengil and Everitt, 2003) or creating scandals on the part of the politicians (Funk, 1996). After examining how male and female voters would vote for their preferred political candidates, Chiao, Bowman and Gill (2008) found out that the voters tend to choose political candidates who show more competencies and those who are physically attractive and approachable. In another study, Aalberg and Jenssen (2007) found out that the male political candidates are more capable of showing the public that they can be trustworthy, more knowledgeable, more convincing and inspiring as compared to most female political candidates. Issue on Political Dynasty Coming from a particular family or social background can increase the chances wherein a person can become a politician. In line with this, the term “political dynasty” or a “dynastic democracy” is referring to a political situation where in a small number of families would dominate the political ground (Querubin, 2011). In most cases, the presence of a political dynasty could also mean that some of the past and current government authorities were able to inherit their political power straight from their parents or ancestors (Helms, 2012, p. 212). In fact, the cycle of political inheritance can last from one generation to another by passing on the political power between and among the members of a family (McCoy, 2009, p. 41). Specifically the presence of political dynasty is commonly found in countries that practices democracy in politics. Since UK strictly observes a unitary democracy, issues related to political dynasties become one of the great concerns of most people. As explained by Helms (2012, p. 212), political dynasty is common within the British monarchy such that the prince is most likely to inherit the highest monarchical position as the King whereas the princess can also be reign as the Queen. Regardless of geographical boundaries, national origin, or ethnic group, the King of England will always be in the position to rule over the entire United Kingdom (Tansey and Jackson, Oxon, p. 34). In the absence of the King, the Queen of England will always be the next in line. Is There any Close Relationship between Certain Political, Family, or Social Background and the Risks where in the Politicians could Get Themselves Involved in a Political Scandal? Up to the present time, there is no single study that can directly prove the relationship between family or social background and political scandals. For this reason, the link between family or social background and political scandals is still subject to further studies. What is certain now is that the presence of family-engagement or familial support can work best in terms of motivating men in pursuing a career in politics but not among women (Adams, 2011). Furthermore, the research study that was conducted by Bo, Bo and Snyder (2007) purposely examined the geographical patterns and historical evolution of political dynasties in the United States. Based on the research findings, Bo, Bo and Snyder (2007) found out that legislators who were able to stay in their political position for a longer period of time has a higher chance of being able to create a political dynasty whereas the ability of the legislators to form a “dynastic political power” increases their overall power within the political spheres. Even though there is no current study that can directly prove the relationship between family or social background and political scandals, there seem to be a possible or indirect link between certain political, family or social background and the risks where in the politicians can be involved in a political scandal. In general, there are quite a lot of similarities with regards to the background of each politician in UK. For instance, most of the political candidates were able to complete a very high educational attainment from a highly reputation educational institution. Furthermore, some of the existing politicians today belong to a political clan. It means that some of the politicians were able to inherit their name and political position from their father, grandfather, or great grandfather. On the other hand, political scandals are strongly related to negative publicity. It means that political scandals such as corruption, adultery, election fraud, tax evasion, and bribery are strongly related to the development of public disaffection or cynicism (Fieschi and Heywood, 2004; Funk, 1996). For this reason, one can easily argue that the presence of a political rivalry is one of the main factors that can make some less powerful politicians become more susceptible to a political scandal. This further explains why most of the political scandals are being publicly exposed during the time when the political candidates are getting ready for a political campaign (Basinger, 2013; Fogarty, 2013; Funk, 1996). In the process of publicly exposing any forms of illegal or unethical practices made by a politician, certain group of political parties can benefit from destroying the credibility and future career path of their political competitors. In the end, other politicians who possess the same qualities and credibility could win the sentiment of the majority. Earlier, it was mentioned that political dynasty is common within the British monarchy (Helms, 2012, p. 212). Other than the Royal family, other politicians in Britain can also take advantage of using the “generation game” (Johnston, 2003). For instance, the Benns is considered as one of the most powerful and most influential families within the political history of Britain (Watts, 2007; Johnston, 2003; Mail Online, n.d.). In line with this, the Benns’ political dynasty started when Sir John Williams Benn established the Cabinet Maker which is a trade journal that serves as the Benn’s publishing empire (Mail Online, n.d.). Eventually, William Wedgwood Benn – the son of Sir John Williams Benn, became the Secretary of State for India back in 1929 (Johnston, 2003) and eventually a member of the Liberal Party (Watts, 2007). Few decades later, William Wedgwood Benn’s son named Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn a.k.a. Tony Benn became one of the most popular public figure in the Cabinets of James Callghan and Harold Wilson (BBC News, 2014; Johnston, 2003). The Benn’s political dynasty continued when Hilary James Wedgwood Benn – the son of the former Labour Cabinet Minister Tony Benn and the grandson of William Wedgwood Benn became one of the British Labour Party politician and MP for Leeds Central in 1999, the Secretary of State for International Development between 2003 to 2007, and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 2007 to 2010 (Leeds Central Labour, 2014; Watts, 2007; Johnston, 2003). During the last quarter of 2011, Hilary James Wedgwood Benn was chosen to be the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Leeds Central Labour, 2014). Belonging to the 5th generation of the Benn’s dynasty, Emily Benn who is the granddaughter of Tony Benn has won the election as one of the Labour Party politician (Mail Online, n.d.). Another newly reported political dynasty in Britain includes the Miliband brothers (Birnbaum, 2010). In line with this, Birnbaum (2010) reported that Edward Miliband was able to beat his brother David Miliband in the position as the new leader of the Labour Party. Specifically the case of the Benn dynasty started when Sir John Williams Benn created his own publishing empire (Mail Online, n.d.). The fact that Sir John Williams Benn owns a publishing firm strongly suggest the idea that he, at some point in time, had made use of some of his best journalists to support the political career of his son William Wedgwood Benn. In reality, members of parliament and other government officials who were able to stay in their political position for a longer period of time increases their chances of being able to create a political dynasty (Bo, Bo and Snyder, 2007). Eventually, the process of creating a “dynastic political power” could somehow increase their overall political power within the said country. Becoming involved in a political scandal is more than enough to reduce the public trust and attitude about certain politicians or government officials (Bowler and Karp, 2004). To maintain their good reputation and personal or political image in public, it is common for each politician to have a strong need to hide something from the media (Thompson, 2000, p. 23). As a common knowledge, the presence of a political dynasty can significantly increase the political power of certain politicians or government officials. Because of power hunger, politicians and government officials whose political position is being threatened by another public figure is more likely to become tempted in exposing some form of political misconduct or scandalous behaviour and attitude they know about their close political competitors. In most cases, affected politicians are more than willing to spend a lot of money to win the long-term support of certain journalists who help them persuade the general public to go against their political opponents. However, one should take note that the cultural background and societal norms of each politician would vary from one geographic region to another and that the cultural background of each region strongly influence the severity of a political scandal (Rosen, 2009, p. 11). This explains why the sensitivity level of political scandal may vary depending on the cultural background and norms of the general public (Moran, 2012). Because of continuous improvements in communications technology, most of the scandalous allegations made on certain political personalities are easily spread out in online blogs or online news reports (Moran, 2012). This makes some of the politicians or other government officials who serve as a threat in the personal, economic and political interests of individuals with political dynasty at risks of becoming a victim of political scandals. With this theory in mind, it is possible that the same political strategy was used in the political campaigns of Hilary James Wedgwood Benn and Emily Benn among others. Are Certain Types of Personality Increases the Risks wherein a Politician would be Tempted to Engage Themselves in Illegal and Immoral Acts? The personality type of a person is significant in terms of winning a political election. In most cases, voters tend to choose their preferred political candidate based on their personal traits rather than their social characteristics (Caprara et al., 2006). In line with this, the media plays a significant role in terms of reflecting the personality traits of each political candidate to the general public and how the general public would perceive the personality and qualification traits of each political candidate (Kiousis, Bantimaroudis and Ban, 1999). It is given that the personality traits of each political candidate significantly affect the general public’s trust. To determine whether or not certain types of personality increases the risks wherein a politician would be tempted to engage themselves in illegal and immoral acts, it is best to look closer into the basic theories of psychology. In the study of psychology, personality traits are referring to the patterns of human thoughts, behaviour, and emotions (Kassin, 2003). In line with, personality traits can be classified as either cardinal, central or common traits. Basically, central traits are referring to the personality of each person whereas the common traits are strongly influenced by cultural factors (Coon and Mitterer, 2010, p. 394). On the other hand, cardinal traits are types of personality traits that are commonly known to people (Coon and Mitterer, 2010, p. 395). For instance, the practice of a political and administrative corruption, bribery, illegal use of public funds, or vote buying can be further explained by the theory behind common traits. It simply means that each time political and administrative corruption, bribery, illegal use of public funds, or vote buying becomes a part of the political culture, one can say that politician are most likely to engage themselves in these types of illegal acts. Other types of political scandal such as alcohol or substance abuse can be related to psychological or mental disorders such as the anti-social personality, bipolar disorders, or schizophrenia (Regier et al., 1990). Based on the five (5) factors of personality traits (i.e. agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness), political scandals related to alcohol or substance abuse is often linked to high levels of neuroticism (Schwandt et al., 2013; Kotov et al., 2010). Commonly reflected by a strong dependency over the use of alcohol and substances, Schwandt et al. (2013) explained that childhood trauma caused by emotional, physical, or sexual abuse can lead to a long-list of psychological problems or personality disorders. In line with this, the research study made by Trull et al. (2010) strongly suggests that there is a close relationship between personality disorder and dependency on the use of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. In another study, Breckenridge, Salter and Shaw (2012) pointed out the link between child abuse, the use of alcohol and drugs, and mental illnesses. Sex-related problem is one of the most common issues present in political scandals. Has anyone ever wondered why there are so many politicians and well-known elites who are currently engaged or were engaged in adultery, sexual infidelity or homosexual misconduct? In general, sexual misbehaviour is a form of psychological or mental problem. For instance, sexism or the act of showing a strong sign of being prejudice against certain gender is normally triggered by one’s own sex role orientation (Ogunleye, 2012). Furthermore, Bernabeo (2010, pp. 388 – 389) pointed out that gender identity problem such as those who are cross-dressers, homosexuality, paraphilias (i.e. exhibitionism, fetishism, paedophilia, sexual masochism, sexual sadism, and voyeurism), as well as the uncontrollable sexual desire are classified as DSM-IV under the handbook of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Discussion With regards to the question on whether or not politicians from a particular background are more susceptible to being caught up in a political scandal than others, the answer is no. As part of the professional ethics, political journalists have the option to expose political corruption or any form of illegal or immoral acts provided that there are clear and concrete evidences which they can use to back up their claims. Due to legal and ethical reasons, it is unlikely on the part of the political journalist to write and publish controversial issues against certain public figures without having a solid ground. Doing so would definitely create more legal problems on the part of the political journalist. With this in mind, it is true that certain personality types could somehow increase the risks wherein some politicians can be caught up in a political scandal as compared to others. It means that whatever negative values or norms that each politician would reflect in public are more likely the basis of such political scandal. Earlier, it was clearly explained that political war will always be present within the political world. Regardless of gender, nationality, race, and social status in life, any person who has decided to actively take part in the world of politics are definitely prone to becoming a victim of political scandals. For this reason, regardless of whether or not certain political allegations are true or not, politicians and government officials tend to focus on finding ways on how they can effectively counteract such morally damaging accusations without causing too much harm of their public image (Benoit, 1997, p. 178). To increase one’s own allies within the political world, some well known politicians are more directed in being able to create their own political dynasty. As a common knowledge, each and every politician is personally accountable for their political image (Aday and Jamieson, 1998, p. 857). To ensure that each and every politicians and government officials are able to preserve their credibility as a public servant, most of these elite group of people have already formed a close business relationship with the media. By building a close contact with certain journalists, the politicians and government officials are able to immediately respond to the public and defend themselves on certain political or personal accusations (Moran, 2012). It will also give each and every politician the opportunity to send out his message to the public in such a way that it reflects the type of values he or she aims to represent (Dagnes, 2011, p. 7). Whether in prints or online news reports, political journalists are usually the ones who publicly communicate the messages of most politicians. When it comes to defending a political figure, it is the duty and responsibility of each political journalist to master the application of crisis management (Moran, 2012). Through the use of effective crisis communication skills, political journalists are expected to gain power or control over the negative events that are taking place in the lives of certain public servant. Often times, such negative events include the need to face the personal and political consequences of a political scandal. Therefore, each time a political journalist is representing a public figure, it is important that the journalist is able to meet the expectations of its target audiences (Moran, 2012). By doing so, there is a higher chance wherein a political journalist will be able to effectively restore the public image of politicians who are involved in a public scandal (Seeger and Griffin-Padgett, 2010, p. 130). There are ways in which a political journalist can effectively restore the image of politicians who are currently involved in a political scandal. To learn more about these strategies, it is best to consider the five steps towards image restoration as suggested by Benoit. First and foremost, political journalists should keep in mind of the importance of denial. By strongly denying the allegations made on the public servant, there is a higher chance wherein the political journalist will be able to convince some audiences about the innocence of the person involved (Benoit, 1995, p. 75). The next step towards image restoration is to firmly evade responsibility followed by reducing offensiveness (Moran, 2012). In line with this, evading responsibility is possible by firmly suggesting that there is no sufficient information that will support the claims for his misbehaviour. On the other hand, the political journalist can reduce offensiveness by trying to lessen how the general public feels about his client’s public behaviour. As soon as the general public’s sentiment towards the issue has been calmed, the next step that a political journalist should make is to make certain corrective actions by admitting the alleged acts and asking the public for forgiveness. Considering the arguments made in this report, it is clear that political scandal is not longer considered as a moral or unethical judgment made on certain politicians. In fact, some politicians and government officials are using political scandals as one of their political strategies in capturing the interests and attention of the general public (Rosen, 2009, p. 12). Eventually, the series of political attacks, confession or defences, and becoming evicted from their political seats has become a cycle in the world of politics (Achter, 2000, p. 324). Conclusion The arguments made in this report clearly shows that the background of certain politician is not mainly the basis for them to be caught up in a political scandal but more on the type of personality traits they have. Specifically the educational background does not have anything to do with putting certain politicians at risk of political scandal. However, their family and cultural background has something to do with the development of their personality traits. Often times, it is the negative childhood experience or their poor coping mechanism that increases their risks of subjecting themselves to being negatively exposed to the public. Each and every politician should be responsible enough to protect their image as a competitive and highly respected politician. However, it is given that within the world of politics, some politicians are using political scandal as one of their political strategies in winning the sentiment and support of the people. In the process of exposing the wrongful doings of other people, some politicians are able to take advantage of the downfall of their political opponents. For this reason, politicians should exert more effort in learning more about their own personal traits. In the midst of a political career, the presence of a political war is totally unavoidable. Therefore, in order to protect one’s own personal and political interest, most of the successful politicians maintain a good business relationship with the media. Using this particular public communications strategy, politicians who will be attacked or subjected to harmful publications can immediately respond to such false claims. By doing so, politicians can reduce the risks of being exposed to further political scandals. Eventually, voicing out their point-of-views can help them set their names clear in the eyes of the general public. 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