Public Desire in Democracies

Ideally, in a democracy a politician serves the interests of his constituency, his people. Often, however, the public’s desire conflicts with the objectives of his government or party. Because a government cannot risk opposing its people head-on, politicians resort to the manipulation of public desire. A successful politician is one who is able to align the desire of his people with his objectives. It may be argued that a government should satisfy public desire, but that is increasingly rare, these days; governments and politicians have their own agendas.

Sometimes, public desire intersects with the government’s objectives, in which case the politician stokes desire. This is why the “Moral High-Ground” is an important aspect of conflict, it allows the government to stoke moral outrage in a public which is naturally bound up by its ethics.

Public desire is over-sensitive, clumsy, and easily manipulated. And yet, this may not always be a bad thing. When the public has impractical or counter-productive desires (e.g war against a stronger nation), the politician attempts to shape it to the will of the government or the “intelligent elite”.

In all of this, the Media is a tool for both politicians and the people. The politician utilizes the Media to feed the public with information that may shape their desire, whereas the public uses it to express its desire and thereby influence itself. Things are further complicated by the fact that the Media pollutes what it filters, to varying degrees. Thus, it both compresses and generates desire, albeit imperfectly.

Public Desire in Monarchies/Dictatorships

On the other hand, Dictatorships and monarchies have it easy. The government’s desire is served by the people. The Media becomes a mouthpiece of the government. It is much simpler and permits the government great agility in its actions. A benevolent, intelligent monarch (a rare occurrence) has great chances of success.

However, the danger here is that if the government is unable to control public desire, it is generally overthrown. Hence, public desire is kept in check by distractions, misinformation, or raw power.