Table of Contents

Page Number

INTRODUCTION

CREDIBITY OF POLITICIANS

2-3

LACK OF CREDIBILITY OF POLITICIANS

3-4

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

INTRODUCTION
Leaders political capital is conceptualized by Bennister, Hart, and Worthy (2013) as the sum
of political leaders skills, relations, and reputation. This conceptualization of leaders
political capital shows a resemblance to the traits competency, trustworthiness, and caring
that political leaders need to have to be considered credible. Politicians are the people who
hold public offices to deliver services to the people who elect them. Due to this role they have
to earn trust of their followers mainly by turning their words into action. Politicians earn
credibility while at the same time others lack it as explored in the essay.
CREDIBILITY
For political leaders to be able to function and to deliver, having a healthy stock of political
capital is essential. Political capital has been described in various ways, but in one way or
another it relates to something that leaders need to have in order to get things done.
Schugurensky (2000), for example, refers to political capital as the capacity to influence
political decisions, and Bennister, Hart and Worthy (2013) consider political capital a means
to assess the political authority of leaders. In this respect it is worthwhile to be able to
determine the size of leaders stock of political capital. Thus it is clear that credibity is more
like a political currency.

To begin, President Geingob came up with the Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP) which is a
blueprint that encompasses social, economic and political aspects to drive the Namibian
economy forward. Of great significance is the drought relief aspect contained therein in the
Harambee Prosperity Plan the issue of food banks which are being created by the Geingob
Administration. From the above assessment it is worth noting that President Hage Geingob is
a credible politician who meets the desires of his nation.

Adding on, for a politician or leader to be considered credible he lends himself the power to
spend this capital. This is through delegation, in other words: the Leader need to have the
necessary skills and knowledge, they need to be honest, and they should not be in politics for
personal gain. As such, Blondel concludes that leadership is a complex concept which
attempts to cover a complex reality: that of citizens prepared, to an extent at least, to follow a
ruler in the direction s/he chooses (1987, p. 34). To persuade someone to follow a leader in
the direction he chooses is not that simple. Political leaders face complex problems and
need.to take tough decisions with sometimes unpleasant consequences for citizens (Heifetz,
2

1994, p. 26). This has been noted through David Cameroon the former Prime Minister of
England who had to resign because the citizens did not follow his path that they should not
exit in the European Union. Hence the credibility of politicians as they lead the people in
good ways only the people let them down as exhibited above.

Equally important to the point above, Politics is (partially) personalized, meaning that in their
reporting media focus on persons like political leaders (Campus, 2010; Langer, 2007, 2010;
McAllister, 2007; van Santen & van Zoonen, 2010). On the one hand this can refer to a focus
on the performance related traits of leaders. It is evaluated whether leaders have the necessary
qualities like competency, integrity, and reliability to adequately deal with the problems
at hand (Bjerling, 2011; Miller, Wattenberg, & Malanchuk, 1986). This has been noted
through United States Of America President Barrack Obama through his initiatives like the
Obama Medical Care and highly publicised reduction of unemployment rate in the United
States of America to a record 6 % (www.tweeter.com/barracobama.online/) this depicts
integrity and reliability thus the credibility of politicians.

LACK OF CREDIBILITY

Nevertheless, not all Politicians are credible some lack credibility as noted below. To start
with the case of Nepal politicians who faced world wide discretion due to their incompetence
and self-serving stances. When the country was hit by an earthquake the government asked
for donations from well-wishers and neighbouring countries like China to assist in funding
reconstruction of the broken infrastructure. And China refused not because they did not want
to help but because they did not want the politicians to gobble down the resources in the
name of earthquake. As a result, some credited Nepali personalities/professionals have
announced that they are not donating anything to the government fund, rather are going to
needy people by themselves personally Gajurel (2015). Thus it is clear that politicians lack
credibility as they hide their malicious acts behind natural disasters to enrich themselves.

Consolidating the above idea, the issue of Politicians lacking credibility has been noted in
Zimbabwe, the stealing of 15 billion USD which came from diamonds. One newspaper report
stated that If $15 billion of diamond money really has gone missing from the diamond
sector, thats eight times what the government just appealed for in humanitarian aid in
response to the current food crisis which has left 2,4 million people without enough daily
3

food crisis Chidza (2016). From this analysis this shows that there has been some corruption
in the Zimbabwean Government and it depicts the lack of credibility of politicians as they are
full of dishonesty. In conclusion Politicians lack credibility as they only think of themselves
at the expense of the majority.
Cementing the point above, Politicians tend to lie for example In Malaysia when the lie is
exposed, the usual excuse for politicians is to say he/she was misquoted by the media despite
solid evidence to the contrary. And they seem to get away with it every time! . Just before an
election, politicians are at their best lying through their teeth. They promise the world to their
constituency knowing fully well that they will not be able to fulfil it. Thousand and one
excuses will be given when the promises cannot be materialised. For instance in the 1988 US
presidential election, George Bush lied to Americans: "Read my lips, no new taxes". And he
won despite knowing it would be impossible to deliver on it. Pola (2015). Since honesty is
what makes a politician credible thus its absence makes a politician to lack credibility.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, Politicians need political capital and this political capital being able to gain
popular support, trust and being honesty. This has been depicted in the case of President
Hage Geingob, President Barrack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameroon. However it
will be unfair not to mention Politicians lack of credibility through dishonesty, stealing and
self-serving as noted on the issue of Nepali politicians, President George W. Bush and
Zimbabwean Politicians. To this end Politicians lack credibility in most cases as they practice
lip service more.

References

1. Bennister, M.,t Hart, P., & Worthy, B. (2013). Leadership capital: Measuring the
dynamics of leadership.
2. Bjerling, J. (2011). Three dimensions of personalization: Why they are necessary and
how they could be used. In ECPR conference 2011 (pp. 112). Reykjavik.
3. Blondel, J. (1987). Political leadership: Towards a general analysis. London: Sage
Publications.
4. Campus, D. (2010). Mediatisation and Personalization of Politics in Italy and France:
The Cases of Berlusconi and Sarkozy. The International Journal of Press/Politics,
15(2), 219235.
5. Chidza, R (2016 May,16) Chiadzwa $15 billion plunder. Newsday.
6. Gajurel, D (2015, May, 26) Lost Credibility of Nepali Politicians. Retrieved from :
http://nepalpolity.com/?p=5679#sthash.BnWi64ww.dpuf
7. handbook of political behaviour (Vol. 61, pp. 571588). Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
8. Heifetz, R. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press.
9. McAllister, I. (2007). The personalization of politics. In R. Dalton & H.-D.
Klingemann (Eds.), The oxford
10. Pola, S (2015, June,21) Letters - Credibility of politicians time to take stock. The
Gaurdian Retrieved from http://www.thegaurdian.letters.com/
11. Schugurensky, D. (2000). Citizenship Learning and Democratic Engagement :
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417422). Vancouver.
12. Van Santen, R., & van Zoonen, L. (2010). The Personal in Political Television
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