Politicians suffer in television age

Wilting in the opinion polls with the lowest rating of any British prime minister since polling began, John Major is in good company among the leaders of most of the world's major industrial democracies.

Virtually all are faring dismally, from President Bill Clinton in the US whose approval rating at 36 per cent is the lowest for a president after four months in office, to Japan's Kiichi Miyazawa with less than 20 per cent and Chancellor Helmut Kohl of Germany with 27 per cent.

The leaders are aware of the implications of such low ratings on public order and national security.

Mr Miyazawa recently reminded the Japanese of the assassination in 1932 of the then Prime Minister, Tsuyoshi Inukai, saying he was worried about the social consequences of his own deep unpopularity.

The reasons for the lack of confidence by the electorate are many, ranging from deep pessimism and fears of unemployment caused by the prolonged recession in much of the industrialised world to disgust at the corruption of some politicians.

An even more important factor in the plummeting popularity of leaders seems to be the increasingly powerful role of the media, in particular television, and the relentless scrutiny to which it subjects politicians.

The only apparent exception is the continuing huge popularity of Carlos Salinas of Mexico who has a consistent 80 per cent approval rating.

His unique success may be explained by the fact that the government controls all the television channels in Mexico and little that is unfavourable is broadcast about him.

In Canada, the outgoing Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney, shares Mr Major's distinction of being the most unpopular leader in polling history of his country, although he has crept up from 11 per cent approval rating in February this year to 15 per cent today.

Even still, Canadians think by a margin of two to one that Pierre Trudeau was a better leader.

The dismal showing of the current crop of leaders in the group of Seven industrialised countries is in sharp contrast to the politicians of earlier generations and raises a question of the calibre of those in charge today.

In the United States, President Harry Truman had a 92 per cent approval rating four months after taking office. President Eisenhower was acclaimed by 74 per cent of the population at the same point of his presidency and President John Kennedy by 74 per cent.

Even President Carter could claim a 64 per cent approval rating in the first six months in the Oval Office and President Bush basked in the approval of of nearly 80 per cent of the public after the Gulf war.