If you followed the recent presidential campaign you are aware of the fact that the candidates have engaged in routine and sometimes outrageous forms of lying. Moreover, political leaders from both political parties engage in this practice. One might think that what a democratic society would want from their political leaders is virtue, and virtue includes telling the truth, something that most of us learn about when we are small children. But apparently not, as our lying politicians attract considerable public support. See the following article:

Your mission in this assignment is to provide a sociological analysis of two things:
Why our political leaders lie to us.

Why as a society we don’t define political lies as deviance.

Your analysis must be based upon plenty of information from the course written and video material. What we are looking for here is your ability to apply the material we have covered over the course of the term to this recent political campaign. I’m going to make this assignment simple for you. I do not want you to do any additional research for this assignment, confine yourself to the course material in supporting your essay.
The essay should be 800 words in length, very well supported with evidence from the course material, and reflect solid critical thinking. And of course, cite all the information you present throughout your analysis, and include a reference section the end.

HERE ARE THE ONLY SOURCES REQUIRED:
Required Textbooks
The relativity of deviance – (4th edition) John Curra

Applying Theories of Deviance to Academic Cheating
James W. MICHAELS, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Terance D. MIETHE, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Low Self-Control and Police Deviance: Applying Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory to Officer Misconduct
Christopher M. Donner , and Wesley G. Jennings

VIDEOS: