51. Integrity means demanding responsibility
Taking responsibility for failure is a sign of power and integrity in SPs, especially when they are not really responsible.This shows that they stand for a cause and are prepared to take the repercussions.The more power SPs have, the more others will also expect this of them.
In the office of US president Harry Truman there was a sign which read, “The buck stops here.” In other words, this is where responsibility ends. The sign was intended to make it clear that the final responsibility for governing the country went to the president and could not be shifted to anyone else. As President Obama also said, “as president you’re held responsible for everything, but you don’t always have control of everything.”279
According to sociologist Max Weber, failure to take responsibility is one of two deadly sins in politics.280 By contrast taking responsibility is a sign of integrity, showing that you are accountable, stand for your cause, and do not shrink from it or run away. It is not difficult to take responsibility for successes, because that benefits your own success. The crux is dealing with failure, criticism, setbacks, and mistakes. Do you take responsibility then too, or do you pass the buck? These situations reveal what SPs stand for, what they really believe in, and the magnitude of their sense of responsibility.
Passing the buck is often seen as weak and cowardly (because it is easy to see through it), whereas taking responsibility is interpreted as strength (because it shows willingness to accept repercussions). Nevertheless, SPs can become blameworthy here, for instance by attempting to clean up their own records and shift the blame to subordinates, predecessors, and circumstances, in meetings and interviews. Sacrificing someone else in favor of oneself is even more objectionable. Cao Cao, the first minister of the Han dynasty, had the head of the food stores beheaded during a siege in order to blame him for the food shortage and stop an army mutiny, when really the food shortage had occurred due to a tactical misjudgment of his own.281
Shirking responsibilities shows a lack of integrity. Imagine that this was not the case, and that passing the buck was acceptable. No one would take responsibility for mistakes and failures, creating an image of SPs as untouchable, uncontrollable, and irresponsible. On the other hand it is a sign of integrity when one takes responsibility for something one is not responsible for, or only to a limited degree; if there is no need to take full responsibility but you do so all the same; if you had no influence or opportunity for influence on particular outcomes, but still take responsibility. Such moments show integrity. A party leader showed integrity by stepping forward and taking responsibility for his party losing the election, despite the fact that this was due to external factors; an alderman took responsibility for the failure of a large-scale collaboration, despite the fact that many others were liable; and a president took responsibility for a policy failure, despite the fact that he could not have done any better.
Responsibility, however, is not easy for SPs to shirk or neglect. The more power you have, the more others expect you to take responsibility for matters for which you are not responsible, or only partially so. Taking responsibility shows power. Shirking responsibility shows a lack of power. Passing the buck therefore infringes power as well as integrity. Pier Luigi Bersani achieved a good combination of personal responsibility and confrontation of others when he became stuck in the process of negotiating the formation of a new government in Italy: “I want things to be clear: I am ready to assume a huge amount of responsibility, but I ask everyone else to all take on a little bit themselves.”282