If trust is lost, all the promise of politics is in the air. At the point we have reached today, politics moves forward with the search for momentary balance rather than producing principles. Ethics is often used as a rhetorical flourish, and decisions are shaped by conjunctural reflexes rather than consistency. This erodes the credibility of not only political actors but also institutions.
The loss of ethics exhausts the public's trust before its patience. As the distance between what political actors say and what they do widens, politics ceases to be a field of representation in the eyes of voters, producing uncertainty and distrust. When concepts such as normalization, reconciliation or change are not based on a principled framework, they quickly lose their social resonance.
Political ethics is not only a moral call; it is also an institutional imperative. Ethics is a strategic capital that ensures the continuity of politics. When this capital is eroded, although short-term gains are possible, what emerges in the long run is directionlessness and structural decay. Each inconsistent step creates a new rupture in the bond with society.
Without consistency, ethics cannot be built. Without ethics, trust cannot be reproduced. The responsibility of political actors is not only to govern today, but also to preserve trust for tomorrow. The role of the media, academia and civil society in this process is to keep the critical mind alive and make ethical violations visible.
It is enough to look back to the past to understand where we are today. Inconsistency and ethical erosion, when ignored for too long, deeply undermine public trust. Only with a principled stance, accountability and political courage can this trust be rebuilt. Political ethics is not a preference; it is a condition of existence for democratic politics.
Dr. Sevgi Düzgün