Why is Politics Considered a Dirty Game?

Regardless of where you’ve grown up, you must be familiar with words like “politics is a game of numbers” or even “politics is a dirty game.”

People throw these words around so much that it is possible for you not even to consider what they mean. Or for you to see them as just normal sentences you have to live with. However, it’s always great to make sense of these sentences, and we will do that shortly.

In case you missed it, politics are all those activities, including elections, that relate to having the power to control a state or a nation. So, many people call politics a dirty game because of the amount of money and power play that goes into it.

As in every game, there has to be a winner. Surprisingly, with politics, the contestants don’t just want to win; they want to win at all costs. So, they go through many wrong ways to achieve their aims. Some may involve themselves in vote-buying, ballot box snatching and stuffing, rigging, voter intimidation, and electoral violence. In other cases, there may be killing, blackmailing, and witch-hunting of political opponents. Meanwhile, some of these vices seem to be fair in the game and are quite standard in some climes.

The hostility and lies surrounding these political activities are why politics is so commonly seen as a dirty game. But should that be so? We don’t think so. Instead of unethical rivalry, politics should be a symbol of hope in democracy and an avenue for constructive criticism and quality sportsmanship.