“Who’s Been Fooling Who?” Reflections on Truth and Deception in Politics and Their Implications for Public Administration

This article examines the role of truth and deception in social and political life and its implications for public administration. Because deception is a necessary part of social and political life, the pursuit of absolute truths poses significant dangers to political practices. However, without some commitment to truth in social and political life, the resulting nihilism also endangers political practices. Public administrators, in seeking truth, therefore, should pursue a middle path between moral virtue and moral realism that preserves the practice of politics, a middle path such as is offered in the writings of the Founders of the Constitution.