Why U.S. Leaders Deceive Their Own People | Ted Galen Carpenter | Cato Institute: Commentary

Why U.S. Leaders Deceive Their Own People | Ted Galen Carpenter | Cato Institute: Commentary: "officials in democratic political systems are more likely to deceive their own people — even engaging in outright lies — than officials in autocratic systems. His reasoning on that point is solid, and he provides compelling evidence to support his case. Mearsheimer's thesis is that democratic leaders are much more dependent than autocrats on public support for foreign policy initiatives, especially when an initiative includes going to war. If the available evidence is weak that a major security threat exists, but political leaders believe that taking military action is in the national interest, a powerful incentive exists to inflate the threat to gain badly needed public support."

"political leaders are much more inclined to lie involving wars of choice rather than wars of necessity"