PROMPT: "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." ==> Write a response in which you discuss which view more closely aligns with your own position and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should address both of the views presented.

As Machiavelli once observed, men are fickle. Though these words were not uttered explicitly by Machiavelli himself, rather by an interpreter of Machiavelli, the premise holds true as a problem in politics. Particularly during election time, the validity of a candidate's stance on an issue, is often the time with which they have held their position. However, demanding an unchanging will from a person is naive. The problems presented in modern society have real repercussions for real populations of people, new evidence is portrayed continuously to give more perspective on problems, and diversity increases with time as modernity offers a more open global citizenship.

Though politicians are often regarded as wavering and pandering when they change their political stances, there are more subtle nuances to many issues that are often left unaddressed at the dias. Politicians are often pressured to swing one way in the dichotomy between the left and right, but part of being a leader is taking the time to understand which principles and policies affect which populations. An issue that was highlighted in the previous presidential election was that of vaccination. Though on the surface, vaccination is a seemingly partisan issue, the populations affected by this problem are ubiquitous across this nation. The presence of vaccination, has historically culminated in an average increase in life span and a decrease in child mortality.

In addition, politicians should find flexibility in their policy-making imperative because of new information that is available from studies. Correlations are often assigned to variables by mistake not for the nefarious deed of pressing an idea forward, but rather because we lacked proper knowledge of the paradigms and factors that were truly affecting an outcome. One example of a false correlation is the archaic premise that polio was caused by ice cream. Prior to the discovery of the polio virus and its vaccine, many thought that polio was caused by ice cream consumption because polio incidences often rose during the summer time. However, after more knowledge about viruses came about, and eventually vaccines for polio came about, it was clear with new evidence that ice cream consumption increase was completely independent from the incident of polio incidence rise in children.

Finally, politicians- left, right, or moderate- are people with their own lives and experiences above all else. Though there are politicians who are known as staunch Republicans or Democrats represented throughout history, people change. In this increasingly global biosphere, each individual will face an increasing range of diversity each decade thanks to: air travel, the internet, increasing heterogeneity of populations. With each experience and exposure to different ideas will come changes in opinion. Without the influx of new ideas forming changes, we would not have the society in which we live today. Tea came from China and traversed the globe into every single continent. The Germanic grammar structure met many a Latin root to form the complex and nuanced language that Vladimir Nabakov himself learned because of its deference to the complexity of the human condition.

In conclusion, expecting politicians to hold steadfast to ideals that they have made at the inception of their careers is myopic. The issues that face Americans today are complex and effect real people with real lives. New evidence is mounted daily in the progressing time line of historical life. And each new finding and experience lived will undoubtledly affect individuals as our society itself relies on the tides of change for progress and innovation.