How can we hold politicans accountable?

[Narz]

I watched some video the other day which claimed to feature Obama lying seven times in under two minutes. I didn't verify whether he actually did lie all seven times (one of his statements was a bit vague so hard to label as a lie exactly) but it did make me wonder the question posed in the title.

Is there any way to actually hold politicians accountable? They've been lying probably since the dawn of hierarchy and show no sign of slowing down. They seem to count on the fact that we know they lie & have come to accept it.

Beyond lying there is the common motif of acknowledging something is important (the environment, standing up to lobbyists, unconstitutional laws, etc.) while making vague promises to do something about it & then not doing much of anything about it.

Any way out?

 

[JollyRoger]

Elect those that tell the truth.

 

[bombshoo]

Hook them to a lie-detector during all speeches!

Make them drink veritaserum!

 

[Disgustipated]

Hook them to a lie-detector during all speeches!

Make them drink veritaserum!

I like this lie-detector option. It could shorten these overly long speeches.

 

[Verarde]

Elect those that tell the truth.

But nobody tells the truth all the time...

 

[Defiant47]

If you do not lie, you will fall prey to the deceitful political rhetoric of your opponents, and never have a chance to get any votes.

The voter that seeks to counteract this effect and elect honest politicians while shunning dishonest ones will:
A) Find himself incapable of finding an honest one, due to the "natural selection" of the process, and
B) Be unable to distinguish who is honest and who is not (unless the voter has some sort of magic device)

 

[LucyDuke]

(unless the voter has some sort of magic device)

Internet.

 

[innonimatu]

If you do not lie, you will fall prey to the deceitful political rhetoric of your opponents, and never have a chance to get any votes.

The voter that seeks to counteract this effect and elect honest politicians while shunning dishonest ones will:
A) Find himself incapable of finding an honest one, due to the "natural selection" of the process, and
B) Be unable to distinguish who is honest and who is not (unless the voter has some sort of magic device)

I disagree. It is possible to find honest politicians. They just usually don't make it into high office, or even the final rounds of elections for such.

The harsh truth is that most voters want to hear lies and pretend they're true.
Why? Well, there are a lot of possible answers, I don't even dare start about that.

We're seeing the same cognitive dissonance now also with the whole economic issue of debt, where people know that bankers and financier traders in general and thieves, but do not want to act on it, because they're afraid (and there I am, starting about it...). And they just pretend to not see their national economies and their livelihoods wrecked by the unbridled greed and - ultimately - stupidity* of that class. Adam Curtis recently posted one of his typical pieces on his blog with one more tale of the rise of those thieves in the UK... you won't know whether to cry or to laugh at the end!

*- if you're smart you don't kill the golden egg goose!

 

[Perfection]

If they do something we don't like we make stupid youtubes about them


Link to video.

 

[Skwink]

Just don't let them talk at all.

 

[amadeus]

Give them no power.

 

[asbestos]

Robot politicians...

 

[ZeletDude]

Vote them out.

 

[Antilogic]

Having watched the video and what they claim are lies, I'm not convinced their count is right. The first couple sites on the Google seem to agree that Chief Justice Brandeis did express the idea that sunlight was the best disinfectant.

I couldn't even tell what the video maker thought all the lies were.

 

[nutranurse]

Go the route of Classical Athens and allow the voting body to expel a random politician from the country if enough of us do not like them.

 

[madviking]

Abolish political parties. Stronger ethics enforcement.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Simple. Most votes are public. Match the records to their statements on the campaign trail. If they lie, toss them out.

Incumbents just have the bonus of easier victories, so due to partisanship, people naturally feel inclined to support the current lying, cheating, stealing, corrupt incumbent of their own party, rather than the lying, cheating, stealing, corrupt hopeful of the other party.

Really, just throwing out politicians who regularly lie would be the easiest way to do it. Unfortunately, there's political concerns, the above in particular. Plus, many politicians that have served for decades can bring home the bacon to their constituents, reinforcing their power.

 

[Murky]

If we select candidates based on their honesty then we would get more honest officials. The problem is as Mark Twain so elegantly said, "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."

The media plays sound bites and supposed TV journalist state opinions rather than facts. Is it really any surprise that the most deceitful, dishonest of politicians win elections?

 

[lovett]

Abolish political parties.

This is a pretty dubious idea. Parties serve as excellent ex ante institutions for screening politicians. The American primary system distorts this a little, in that it makes candidates more extreme, but even so primary campaigns test the suitability of politicians.

Incumbents just have the bonus of easier victories...

Actually, there is no electoral advantages to incumbency in congressional elections. The correlation between incumbency and re-election can be explained by the strategic withdrawal/entrance of relevant actors.

 

[Traitorfish]

Give them no power.

Straight to the heart of the problem!

Robot politicians...

An Asimov fan, I take it?