More Political Cliches
The Meaning of "Politics As Usual" and "Spin"
A discussion of two more phrases which appear frequently in British political discourse, used both by journalists and politcians: "politics as usual" and "spin."
Politics as usual
This phrase sums up the image of politics which bores or irritates many potential voters. It implies a political world in which the parties are only really interested in scoring points off each other and furthering their own careers, locked away in obscure rooms in Westminster, rather than trying to solve problems in the country at large. It suggests politicians are “our for what they can get”, and too involved in their party machines to come up with original ideas or disagree with the “party line”.
Perhaps surprisingly, the phrase “politics as usual” is used quite frequently by politicians themselves, usually whilst suggesting that “we want to get away from politics as usual” or “the people of this country are bored by the opposition playing politics as usual”. After all, it is a pretty effective way of scoring points off an opponent, and makes the speaker sound too high-minded to descend into petty squabbles, whilst capitalising on the public’s poor image of politicians.
Spin
“Spin”, usually compounded into phrases like “spin merchants”, “the politics of spin”, “spin over substance”, is a term used to mean a concern with managing the media rather than implementing reasonable policies. It presumably derives from the expression “putting a spin” on something, and had been particularly associated in British politics with Alastair Campbell, Director of Communications and Strategy for Tony Blair’s government between 1997 and 2003. The influence Campbell had over the Labour government, which included consulting on policy and briefing civil servants alongside managing the media, led many to feel that the government’s media image had become disproportionately important to them. The term “spin” has since been applied to politicians of all parties.
“Spin” is a nebulous term, of course, because the media will be the main source of information for most people not actively involved in politics. It is perfectly possible that when we feel comfortable that “spin” is not going on, we are simply being convinced by excellent media management. After all, we are continually trying to judge the trustworthiness of the medium by the message which is transmits to us, whilst also evaluating the quality of the message by using our knowledge of the medium. In the long term, economic indicators and social statistics can show the success or failure of policies, but their patterns take a long time to emerge, and will themselves be the subject of debate over their proper interpretation.
Ironically, for most people, it is only when “spin” breaks down that we realise it is going on at all. All parties must use the media to convince the voting public of their sagacity, honesty, loyalty and vision – otherwise no-one would vote for them. It is perhaps best to think of “spin” as the unwarranted or overzealous attempt to affect public opinion without any real substance. And even with this principle in mind, what constitutes an individual example of spin will still be a matter for disagreement, and, perhaps, “spin.”
