No.....You're kidding right?

[Dragonlady8]

and to think that someone actually paid for this study.



Politicians lie, new study shows

Report asserts that lying is key part of democracy

LONDON, May 17 — It’s official. After intensive research, scientists have concluded that politicians lie.
   
'Politics should be regarded as less like an exercise in producing truthful statements and more like a poker game.’
— GLEN NEWEY

Political scientist, University of Strathclyde      
 IN A STUDY described in Britain’s Observer newspaper, Glen Newey, a political scientist at Britain’s University of Strathclyde, concluded that lying is an important part of politics in the modern democracy.
“Politicians need to be more honest about lying,” he told the newspaper.
According to Newey, whose findings were published by the government-funded Economic and Social Research Council, voters expect to be lied to in certain circumstances, and sometimes even require it.
“Politics should be regarded as less like an exercise in producing truthful statements and more like a poker game,” he said. “And there is an expectation by a poker player that you try to deceive them as part of the game.”
Newey said lying by politicians can occasionally be entirely justified, such as when national security is at risk, and the public even has a “right to be lied to” in cases where they do not expect to be told the whole truth, such as during a war.

But the main cause of lying is increased probing by the public into areas that the government would rather not discuss candidly. If voters only asked fewer questions, politicians would tell them fewer lies.
Bill Clinton famously lied about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, while earlier philandering U.S. presidents never had to lie about their affairs, because nobody ever asked.
“When journalists or parliamentary colleagues start to probe at that area which the government wants to keep secret, you are more likely to be pushed further and further toward the territory of lying,” Newey said.

[vance]

i would have never believed that........

[Chales]

I thought every American child learns the truth about how politics work by age 4. But then again this was done in London.

Pretty funny.

[Jim M]

If Americans knew everything that our government does, our heads would probably explode. Thats why we have the CIA in every nook and cranny of the world, and 7-figure spin doctors with no official idenitity. Americans for the most part can't handle the truth, it is too real.

[Nor*Cal]

Wow... I'm graduating soon with a degree in Poli Sci. I guess you guys will hate me when I start working in politics.

[Dragonlady8]

“Politicians need to be more honest about lying,” he told the newspaper.


Norcal ~ you just gotta be smarter than what's been out there.
You had the huevos to post that pic of yourself with a mullet...not much more dirt than that we could get on ya

[Mister C]

What a pointless study. Of course politicians lie, thats how it has always been.

[DaveBrowning]

So just how much many was wasted on this study?

[Jim M]

Its just a way to emphasize your story, you know to give it credibility. For me "Studies show that.." carries about as much weight as "They say that..."

It really helps if you throw in a University name, like "Scientists at MIT recently learned that.."

[Chales]

Nice observation Jim. I'm sure you're the only one here that would've noticed that.

[nick e[V]ans]

haha true, i'll admit i wasn't one of the people who picked up on that, but it undoubtedly occurs often
nick

[Mister C]

I didnt read the whole aricle anyways. Once i got to the part that said, "lying is key part of democracy," i just skipped the rest of the article and wrote my response.

[jbelson]

I'm waiting for the study about "study's that lie about liying polititians"