Hugur - 01.01.2018, Page 127

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cunning and power-hungry politician. The only way out of this unfortunate situ-
ation, Skúlason suggested, is a fundamental change in public attitudes to politics.
The present article critically examines Skúlason’s account of the dynamic inter-
action between politics, media, and the public, by viewing it in the context of
more recent research on the relation between morals and politics. The underlying
question is this: Are moral actions, attitudes, and character traits necessarily val-
uable from a political point of view? Does moral improvement necessarily make
politics better as politics?
I argue that it does. In a representative democracy, citizens have good reason
to value politicians who possess the moral virtues of authenticity and integrity.
These virtues make politicians reluctant to deceive and compromise, but do not
damage their ability to perform or achieve results. Politics calls for a role morality.
Although politics is not a profession in the traditional sense, the role morality
of politics is just like professional role morality in that it overlaps with, and is
conditioned by, general moral principles. The role morality of politics may justi-
fy some political hypocrisy, and the public should recognize this. However, the
public should also demand that politicians be true to the fundamental values and
principles they have publicly proclaimed as their own.
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