Political PR Should Not Be Blamed-It Is Party Politics That Makes Sleazy Politicians

After attending the debate on political PR where the issue was whether it is “Political PR that has undermined public trust in politicians and is the single biggest threat to our democratic health” I could not but help recall my first voting experience which occurred two years ago in 2008. I stood to wonder why I had chosen the party I had chosen. Sadly, the answer lay in the fact that I had chosen so because my uncle was one of the representatives of that party…
Could I Be Blamed? ...

Coming from a country like Bangladesh, a representative democracy, where the political scenario is majorly dominated by the two major political parties the BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) and the Awami League who constantly vilify and ridicule each other, I believe it is not Political PR that undermines the public trust in politicians effecting the publics democratic health rather it is the notion of party politics (and the associated acts of negative advertisement) that actually harms democracy the most.
I’m saying this because I, like many of my fellow young-generation Bangladeshi’s, are apathetic towards our country’s political system and we choose to alienate ourselves from this aspect because whatever information we get about the political systems comes from cynical and sarcastic dinner table arguments or cartoon animations on national newspapers of the political conditions of the country. Mostly all TV channels and newspapers are owned\backed-up and controlled by the two major political parties and each and every bit of news has two different angles (depending on the ownership of the source.)
Aside from that, before the election the parties did not think of how it could interest or influence the new young generation voters. They were less concerned to communicate the values and policies of their party and more concerned in creating negative advertisement to exploit the fear factor regarding the national prosperity and future of the nation if the public were to pick the opposition party.
Under circumstances as such could we blame the presence of Political PR? More importantly is political PR actually practiced in Bangladesh? I believe not. The only presence of PR is in the negative sense of spinning news and agenda. People are growing more apathetic towards the government because despite their votes everyone is actually affected by the practice of negative advertising. It is this practice that actually effects peoples faith on the politicians, the government and the democracy because no matter what “ the pervasive negative message is that politicians are ‘all the same ‘- incompetent , untrustworthy and sleazy.” ( Tench and Yeomans, 87)
There have been many debates regarding the existence of real democracy but despite the debates most nations around the world today claim to be democratic. And since they are democracies, I believe despite all arguments from pluralists , elitists, neoliberals and Qunagos, having Political PR is actually beneficial for the existence of each countries democratic systems. This is because “ Good public relations may help the lest bad form of government to conform more closely to democratic ideals, particularly my improving the quantity and quality of two-way communications between the people and their elected government.” ( Tench and Yeomans, 82)