Trust in Politicians and Political Institutions (Essay Sample)

The Loss of Faith/ Trust in Politicians and Political Institutions
Name
Institution Affiliation
The Loss of Faith/ Trust in Politicians and Political Institutions
In his political publication, Wayne Flynt stated ‘Keeping the Faith’ states that, “to many, politics is a mess, an embarrassment to ethical men and women who run for office, a disgrace to states people and a hog-trough of corruption. It seems that holding public office is an apprenticeship for the state penitentiary” (12). For instance, in the United States, citizens ridicule the politically influenced peddling in Chicago, Illinois, Mexico among other states, while, in fact, those politicians are ‘pickers’ compared to the ‘ruthless hoodlums’ in other undisclosed states. Worldwide, citizens who agree on nothing else overwhelmingly affirm that they are disgusted with the political leadership in their states. Amid all the hokum about “ethical values’, corruptions and impunity seem to be the widest shared political values. Perhaps someone, somewhere once read Plato dictum that philosopher –kings must combine public power with “virtuous knowledge”, but if so, the wisdom has long been forgotten. There are two sets of people each holding a varied opinion on the subject in the analysis of faith in politicians and related institutions,
The first group, (the proponents) regret the decline in faith and trust to politicians, arguing that community social life is giving way to family isolation and community stagnation. They believe that the economic success of some countries and the failure of others can be explained by the degree to which communities in these countries bind people into networks of trust (Monsivais, 2004). The decline in trust, then, has serious ramifications for the economic wellbeing of the respective states, because adequate stocks of social capital boost economic development, and without it economic development suffers. Therefore, they argue that trust or faith can only be rebuilt at the individual level, and governments have little or no role to play in the process of regaining public trust.
The opponents on the other hand, take a different approach to the issue. They reject the neo-conservative assertion that politicians have no role to play in making and reconstituting the trust in the society, arguing that good governments and good laws make good citizens. Trust can be increased if governments, and politicians provide examples of ‘truth telling, promise-keeping, fairness and solidarity’ to their citizens (Brock & Brighouse, 2005). Moreover, they purport that social capital of trusting and cooperative civic relations are not simply inherited, but can also be achieved through encouragement and the setting of good reputation by political leaders. They further reject the neo-conservative assumption about social capital trust, arguing that assessments of a decline depend entirely on the conceptualization of social setups. However, not everyone perceives lack of political trust as a bad thing. Some think it is sensible to mistrust, as we rarely find ourselves in a position to make a rational choice of trusting political institutions. Others believe that a decline in social or public trust that politicians need to mobilize citizens and party members will be rejuvenated once their term is over. However, thei...