7 Psychological Tactics Politicians Use to Distract Us From Their Failures, Part 2

How They Make Us Give Up on Asking Questions and Stop Demanding Better

August 19, 2025

Political messaging affects what people believe, how they act and what they expect from their leaders. Some of the most common tactics used by politicians are meant to make people give up on asking questions, stop demanding better and accept poor performance without protest. In the first part of this series, we looked at four of the seven psychological tactics politicians use to shift public focus away from governance failures. This piece explains the remaining three.

While the first four tactics manipulate how people interpret events and filter information, the next three target public behaviour and motivation more deeply. They create a climate where voters withdraw, critical voices are neutralised and misconduct is tolerated.

(5) Learned helplessness is a psychological state in which people give up trying to change their situation after facing repeated adversity they cannot control. The concept was first observed in experiments where individuals stopped attempting escape or improvement because earlier efforts had always failed.

It works because the brain begins to associate effort with futility. When attempts to solve a problem repeatedly bring no result, motivation declines. Over time, people stop believing that change is possible, even when opportunities do appear. This creates passivity and resignation, which are powerful obstacles to action.

Politicians benefit from learned helplessness in places where corruption or poor governance continues regardless of elections. Voters who have tried and failed to improve conditions may eventually disengage, stop demanding accountability, or keep re-electing the same leaders. In such environments, politicians face less resistance, because people feel that participation will not alter outcomes. This psychological state helps failing governments survive without reform.

In parts of Bihar and Jharkhand, for example, voters have continued to support politicians with criminal charges because they believe change is futile. Politicians benefit from this psychological withdrawal. Voter fatigue becomes a form of permission to rule without being held accountable.

(6) Projection is a psychological defence mechanism where a person shifts their own flaws, motives or actions onto someone else. Instead of acknowledging a fault, they accuse another of having it. The behaviour remains the same, but the responsibility is transferred outward.

It works because projection creates confusion and deflects attention. If both sides are accused of the same thing, it becomes harder for people to separate fact from claim. The mind, especially under pressure or in the noise of political debate, struggles to judge which accusation is genuine. This blurring of responsibility weakens scrutiny and buys time for the person projecting.

In politics, projection happens when leaders accuse others of doing exactly what they themselves are doing. A government facing criticism for suppressing media voices may insist that it is the opposition that endangers press freedom. A leader accused of communal politics may claim rivals are the ones dividing society. By turning the charge around, politicians keep their supporters loyal and force critics into defence, instead of answering the original allegation.

Several leaders from the ruling party have labelled critics of the government as anti-democratic or even seditious. At the same time, the government has passed measures, including the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) amendments and restrictions on public demonstrations that have curtailed free speech and protest. Such projection blurs accountability, making it harder for the public to see where the real threat to democratic freedoms originates.

(7) Moral licensing is a psychological process where people feel entitled to act in harmful or questionable ways because they believe they have already done something good. The earlier positive act gives them a sense of moral credit, which they use to excuse later behaviour.

It works because the brain keeps a kind of internal balance sheet. A person who donates to charity may then feel permitted to waste food, or someone who exercises may feel allowed to overeat. The good deed creates a mental licence that softens guilt or self-criticism for the harmful act. This tendency operates unconsciously, which makes it powerful in shaping behaviour.

Politicians use moral licensing by pointing to past successes or achievements to excuse present failures. A government that claims credit for expanding welfare or delivering vaccines may use that record to deflect criticism of corruption or poor handling of the economy. The earlier “good” becomes a shield that reduces public anger about later mistakes. By reminding voters of past achievements, politicians reduce pressure to answer for current lapses.

For example, the government repeatedly invoked its success in delivering COVID-19 vaccines during and after the pandemic. The vaccination drive was one of the largest in the world, and the government framed it as a historic achievement and a demonstration of effective governance.

That success was then used as a shield against criticism on other fronts, particularly the government’s poor handling of the second COVID-19 wave in 2021, when hospitals ran out of oxygen, crematoriums overflowed and families scrambled for medicines. Instead of addressing those failures directly, leaders often reminded the public of the vaccine rollout and India’s image as the “pharmacy of the world.”

These tactics often combine, reinforcing each other to form a closed loop where failure is hidden beneath emotion, loyalty and distraction. The effect is cumulative. Over time, public expectations erode, scrutiny weakens and leaders govern with impunity. However, political messaging depends on public passivity, and weakens, when citizens stay alert and continue asking hard questions, even when doing so feels tiring or unpleasant.

(In an earlier briefing, we also discussed the four mental levers, which are fear, identity, repetition and emotion, that give political messaging its force.)

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