35. Integrity demands insight into the effects of power on integrity
SPs’ power is inherently corrupting. Power (1) is addictive, (2) gives rise to a feeling of supremacy, and (3) is stifling. SPs therefore need to realize the effect of power on personal integrity.
According to American senior official James O’Toole, “People with integrity ‘know who they are’.”164 But in order to know your own integrity you also need to know the effect of the environment, in both a negative and a positive sense. In this respect it is also important to know the effect of power from the job on personal integrity. According to political scientist Patrick Dobel integrity corrodes under the acid of power.165 As British historian Lord Acton stated, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”166 What inherent corrupting effects of power should SPs at least be aware of?
Firstly power is addictive and self-perpetuating. Power can lead people to do things they would not otherwise be capable of. Because power is scarce, it is in demand (and because it is in demand, it is scarce). There is an irresistible charm to power. “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac,” according to US minister Henry Kissinger.167 People with power have attention, are listened to, count for something, and can have their say. Once people have had a taste of power, they often want more. The thirst for power cannot be stilled and grows continually.168
The more power people have and the longer they have it, the more difficult it is to part with. As one minister wrote, “The longer you are in power, the more difficult it is to let go.”169 People become attached to the trappings of power because it gives a sense of purpose and meaning to life; power energizes, becoming part of one’s identity. For this reason self-preservation is the instinct of power. This leads to power politics: politics is practiced out of fear of losing power or the desire to defend and increase power for its own sake.
Secondly, power leads to a sense of supremacy, the feeling of being above others, and therefore able to get away with more than them, leading SPs to think they know best, that they do not owe others an explanation, that people will listen to every demand they make. Power goes to people’s heads, having an intoxicating effect, and as with alcohol, it reduces self-control. There is also the risk that people assume the reverse holds: if the powerful can get away with more than others, then doing so is a sign of power, and the more you can get away with, the more power you must have.
Thirdly, power is stifling. Power creates enemies, as well as followers and friends who want to benefit from, share in, or influence that power. The closer you are to the power of another person, the more power you have and believe you have. Being close to power makes you more important and visible. Power even has an eroticizing effect, a seductive, sensual force of attraction on those who lack it. Power therefore creates yes-men, people who flatter the powerful and follow them blindly. As one deputy prime minister said, “You are made important, there is always interest in you, people run around for you and curry favor with you. When you have risen so high, you have to stand very firm to stay normal.”170 As a result negative feedback from others does not penetrate as deep, SPs think themselves more successful and better than they really are, seeing themselves as untouchable, indomitable, and unbeatable. In other words, power is stifling: it overwhelms a person’s grip on reality. Margaret Thatcher, for instance, became increasingly reckless because, it is claimed, she gained more and more support from backbenchers during her time as prime minister, causing her to lose her sense of reality.171
“If you want to discover just what there is in a man – give him power,” said US president Abraham Lincoln.172 SPs must therefore realize the effect of power on their integrity. The problem is that their view is clouded by power: power distorts self-image and our view of the environment. Writer George Bernard Shaw therefore advises, “Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.”173 For that reason SPs should not be too hasty in claiming not to be in the grip of power.