After intensive research, scientists have concluded that politicians lie.
In a study described in Britain's Observer newspaper, Glen Newey, a political scientist at Britain's University of Strathclyde, concluded that lying is an important part of politics in the modern democracy.
"Politicians need to be more honest about lying," he told the newspaper.
According to Newey, voters expect to be lied to in certain circumstances, and sometimes even require it.
"Politics should be regarded as less like an exercise in producing truthful statements and more like a poker game," he said. "And there is an expectation by a poker player that you try to deceive them as part of the game."
Newey said lying by politicians can occasionally be entirely justified, such as when national security is at risk, and the public even has a "right to be lied to" in cases where they do not expect to be told the whole truth, such as during a war.
But the main cause of lying is increased probing by the public into areas that the government would rather not discuss candidly. If voters only asked fewer questions, politicians would tell them fewer lies.
Bill Clinton famously lied about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, while earlier philandering U.S. presidents never had to lie about their affairs, because nobody ever asked.
"When journalists or parliamentary colleagues start to probe at that area which the government wants to keep secret, you are more likely to be pushed further and further toward the territory of lying," Newey said."
在进行了深入的调查之后，科学家日前得出了这样一个结论：政客们原来尽是满嘴谎言。
在这项刊登在英国《观察家》报上的研究中，英国斯特拉恩克莱德大学的政治研究科学家格伦·内韦得出结论说：在现代民主中，说谎是政治的一个重要组成部分。
他说："政客们需要正视政治谎言这个事实。"
根据内韦的研究，被调查者是希望，甚至要求在某种情况下被骗的。
内韦说："我们应该将政治更多看作是一种纸牌游戏，而不是一种做出真实声明的活动。我们在玩纸牌的时候互相欺骗，而这本身就是纸牌游戏的一部分。"
内韦还说，政客们的谎言在有些情况下也可以是正当的。比如，当国家安全处于危险之中的时候（比如战争期间），公众在这种不希望知道全部真相的情况下，就有这种"被骗的权利。"
但是造成政治谎言的主要原因是，公众越来越认识到政府是不会将政事公布于众的。如果投票者提出的问题越少，政客们的谎言反而会越少。
美国前总统比尔·克林顿在同莫尼卡·莱温斯基的绯闻谎言曾经臭名昭著，但是早他之前的那些沾花惹草的美国总统们为什么就从来没有在这种问题上撒谎呢？就是因为从来没有人就此有过质问。
内韦说："当记者或者议会成员开始意识政府想要对什么事情保密的时候，人们也就越来越被推向被欺骗的边缘。