Topic: Some people believe that in order to be effective, political leaders must yield to public opinion and abandon principle for the sake of compromise. Others believe that the most essential quality of an effective leader is the ability to remain consistently committed to particular principles and objectives.

Essay:

A nation’s key to success is a healthy democracy which is built by effective and non corrupt political leaders. They are chosen by the public to represent their grievances and are expected to work for them devotedly. The prompt indicates there is a dichotomy prevailing regarding the issue that political leaders must yield to public opinion even if one has to compromise their principles. I agree with the opinion stated above due to the following two reasons.
Firstly, a political leader has been elected to represent people and should work towards that agenda regardless of their own principles and biases. Abraham Lincoln quoted “A democracy is of the people, by the people, for the people”. This quote sums up that the public is of utmost importance in a democracy and their grievances should be redressed. When an individual decides to run in an election he is making the conscious choice to serve people. It is hypocritical behavior if he is not willing to yield to public opinion after being elected. For example, the president of Myanmar, who had been elected by a public election, had eventually overthrown a democrat government and formed a military junta. This is an example of a hypocrite and she has faced a lot of backlash for pretending to care for the welfare of people whereas all the while she had her own personal interest in mind. Hence it is crucial for a political leader to stay committed to the cause of serving the public notwithstanding her own principles.
Secondly, failure to yield to public’s opinion indicates that the leader is stubborn and not willing to rectify his mistakes. An official is rewarded with a lot of power when elected. This power might corrupt their mind which will result in arrogance and their commitment to the public might fade off. When an elected leader starts to disregard public’s interest, the results are going to be catastrophic and will be the reason for his fall. For example, the prime minister of India has been holding office for almost eight years now, he sanctioned a bill with the help of his sycophantic cronies which was against the public’s interest. This bill caused a lot of protests and backlash which was followed by thousands of lost lives. He was adamant not to apologise which worsened the situation and was the cause for his fall. Hence a political leader should be grounded and be willing to take the public’s opinion into account.
Some might say a political leader who is true to his own principles is able to make the right decisions. It might be true that a leader who genuinely believes in his ideology may be successful but the reality is often different from the utopian world. For example, communism might be a school of discipline which in theory sounds very equitable and just for the poor, but in practice it has been noticed the leaders themselves become capitalists: the very section of people they were fighting against on behalf of the poor. Therefore I believe political leaders must yield to public opinion and abandon principle for the sake of compromise.