PL EN RU
POLITICS AS THE ART OF GETTING ONESELF ELECTED
 
 
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Instytut Nauk Politycznych Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
 
 
Publication date: 2020-01-28
 
 
Studia Politologiczne 2002;6
 
ABSTRACT
In democratic societies great attention is paid in politics to the legitimacy of the political leaders and elites. In the process of legitimisation, equally important is the “art of electing”, which should be the virtue of those who choose to cast their votes, as is the “art of being elected”, which should characterise the ruling elites and the candidates hoping to join those elites. Politics “lacking ideology”, according to the author, is the metaphorical description of that type of democratic politics in which ideology is just a fight for power and holding on to it, while formally adhering to democratic procedures. This type of politics has, in recent years, become extremely popular. The height of popularity of “ideology free” politics falls on the period of election campaigns. During this time the skilful use of their marketing infrastructure very often determine the results of the elections. The essence of “ideology free” politics narrows down to capturing the political market and, most of all, the support of the electorate. The act of being elected is the aim in itself, not the means of achieving the traditional objective – the wise pursuit of the common good. Such politics is dominated by an ethical relativism, in which the line separating private and public interests becomes fuzzy and is no longer clear. Thus, ideology that proves to be most efficient in winning over the electorate is considered the right ideology to be pursued. In other words, “ideology free” politics is yet another attractive and, at the same time, extremely intricate and dangerous Machiavellian mutation dressed in democratic garb. It prefers the market model of democracy, where politics is just another sphere of business – in a world devoid of authorities and traditional values to look up to.
ISSN:1640-8888
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