Political Hypocrisy

One of Sunday Times's Best Books in Politics for 2008 "A very intelligent, subtle, and learned guide to the classics and to the pre-eminent historical examples of hypocrisy from Mandeville and Hobbes, to Jefferson and the Victorians, with some concluding examples to illustrate the special problems of hypocrisy and sincerity in democracies."--David Martin, Times Literary Supplement "[Political Hypocrisy] contains a plethora of shrewd and quotable remarks... What struck a chord with me was his gentle demolition of the idea that a politician's profession of his own sincerity, or passionate belief, proves anything at all."--Samuel Brittan, Financial Times "University of Cambridge political theorist David Runciman takes a far more textured, sophisticated approach to the phenomenon in Political Hypocrisy, a timely, long overdue study of one of public life's in-your-face puzzles."--Carlin Romano, The Philadelphia Inquirer "Political Hypocrisy is not just another denunciation of politicians as liars. Instead, it offers us a tour, from Hobbes and Mandeville to Bentham and Orwell. Runciman is best on the American revolutionaries and our eminent Victorians, perhaps because both the US war of independence and the British empire required self-aware democratic politicians to gloss over the gaps between their proclaimed beliefs and their actual behaviour."--David Willetts, Prospect Magazine "Political Hypocrisy is a deep and thought-provoking work."--Tim Dunne, THE "In the excellent Political Hypocrisy, British journalist David Runciman uses the 2008 campaign to test his thesis that hypocrisy and anti-hypocrisy are joined in a 'discrete system' and that our obsession with this antagonistic tango is making modern politics impossible."--Richard King, The Australian Literary Review "In a masterly survey of political philosophers, practitioners and writers, he has brought out how they have dealt with hypocrisy in politics and addressed the question of when it is worth worrying over and when it is not worth worrying."--D. N. Ghosh, Economic & Political Weekly "Runciman's book should be appreciated for its attempt to present an alternate--and historical--approach to the issue of political hypocrisy. He successfully delves into the many fine distinctions that make up each theorist's approach and response to hypocrisy, which is particularly useful for a topic that so utterly lacks a clear division between black and white, and what is right and wrong."--Kiku Huckle, Peace and Justice Studies

David Runciman is reader in political theory at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Trinity Hall. He is the author of "The Politics of Good Intentions" (Princeton), and writes regularly about politics for the "London Review of Books".

Preface ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Hobbes and the Mask of Power 16 Chapter 2: Mandeville and the Virtues of Vice 45 Chapter 3: The American Revolution and the Art of Sincerity 74 Chapter 4: Bentham and the Utility of Fiction 116 Chapter 5: Victorian Democracy and Victorian Hypocrisy 142 Chapter 6: Orwell and the Hypocrisy of Ideology 168 Conclusion: Sincerity and Hypocrisy in Democratic Politics 194 Notes 227 Bibliography 245 Index 259