After intensive research, scientists have concluded that politicians lie. 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, 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.
(Agencies) | 在進行了深入的調查之后，科學家日前得出了這樣一個結論：政客們原來盡是滿嘴謊言。 在這項刊登在英國《觀察家》報上的研究中，英國斯特拉恩克萊德大學的政治研究科學家格倫·內韋得出結論說：在現代民主中，說謊是政治的一個重要組成部分。 他說："政客們需要正視政治謊言這個事實。" 根據內韋的研究，被調查者是希望，甚至要求在某種情況下被騙的。 內韋說："我們應該將政治更多看作是一種紙牌游戲，而不是一種做出真實聲明的活動。我們在玩紙牌的時候互相欺騙，而這本身就是紙牌游戲的一部分。" 內韋還說，政客們的謊言在有些情況下也可以是正當的。比如，當國家安全處于危險之中的時候（比如戰爭期間），公眾在這種不希望知道全部真相的情況下，就有這種"被騙的權利。" 但是造成政治謊言的主要原因是，公眾越來越認識到政府是不會將政事公布于眾的。如果投票者提出的問題越少，政客們的謊言反而會越少。 美國前總統比爾·克林頓在同莫尼卡·萊溫斯基的緋聞謊言曾經臭名昭著，但是早他之前的那些沾花惹草的美國總統們為什么就從來沒有在這種問題上撒謊呢？就是因為從來沒有人就此有過質問。 內韋說："當記者或者議會成員開始意識政府想要對什么事情保密的時候，人們也就越來越被推向被欺騙的邊緣。
（中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2003-05-26 01:00
