An election promise or campaign promise is a promise or guarantee made to the public by a candidate or political party that are trying to win an election. Election promises may be instrumental in getting an official elected to office. Election promises are often abandoned once in office.
Popular cynicism and 24-hour media has increased the public's perception of 'lies' and broken promises since 1945, although the fraction of broken promises remained roughly level at less than 20% over that time.
Strong pressures drive politicians to make unrealistic promises. A party that does not make exaggerated promises might lose gullible voters. For instance George W. Bush in the 2000 American presidential election promised lower taxes, more social programs and a balanced budget and in the end abandoned the latter. In the 2003 provincial election in Ontario, Canada, the Liberal Party also made all three promises before opting to raise taxes after the election.
Election promises differ in different government systems. In the Westminster System, where almost all power resides in the office of the Prime Minister, voters know where to ascribe blame for broken promises. In presidential systems such as the separation of powers approach used in the United States, electorates are less prepared to punish politicians for broken promises.
The executive producer of the ABC evening news, Av Westin, wrote a memo in March 1969 that stated:
"I have asked our Vietnam staff to alter the focus of their coverage from combat pieces to interpretive ones, pegged to the eventual pull-out of the American forces. This point should be stressed for all hands."
The British Liberal Party's pledge to cut military spending, before embarking on the Dreadnought arms race with Germany.
The British Labour Party's 1945 pledge to set up a new ministry of housing.
Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke, in 1987, said that "by 1990 no Australian child will be living in poverty"
George H. W. Bush promised not to raise taxes while president during his 1988 campaign. This was best remembered in a speech at the Republican National Convention when he said "Congress will push and push...and I'll say Read my lips: no new taxes". After a recession began during his term and the deficit widened, Bush agreed to proposals to increase taxes. Although not the only broken promise concerning taxes, it was by far the most famous.
In 1994, upon entering Italian politics, media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi promised that he would sell his assets in Fininvest (later Mediaset), because of the conflict of interest it would have generated, a promise he repeated a number of times in later years, but after 12 years and having served three terms as prime minister, he still retains ownership of his company that controls virtually all the Italian private TV stations and a large number of magazines and publishing houses, which have extensively been used in favour of his political party
Australian Prime Minister John Howard in 1995 that the GST would "never ever" be part of Liberal policy (the tax package was not implemented that term but was put to the Australian people at the next election in 1998 that re-elected Howard)
During the 2000 U.S. Presidential election campaign, George W. Bush said, "If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road. And I'm going to prevent that."
In Ireland, Fianna Fáil's 2002 election promise to "permanently end all hospital waiting lists" by 2004 and to "create a world class health service" through reform and expanding healthcare coverage with "200,000 extra medical cards".
When asked about the issue of carbon taxation, Prime Minister Julia Gillard responded by saying "There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead, but let's be absolutely clear. I am determined to price carbon". In February 2011, Gillard then announced a carbon pricing mechanism in order to secure a minority government. This has been construed by some as being a broken promise, with debate centering on whether or not a fixed price leading into a trading scheme can be called a 'tax'.
Before the 2011 Irish general election, the then Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore infamously said "Frankfurt's Way or Labour's Way" in reference to the EU/IMF deal. After being elected to power the party went on to accept the deal.
President Barack Obama vowed repeatedly during the 2008 election to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, but the prison remained open the entirety of his Presidency and remains so as of 2017.
In the 2010 election to the U.K. House of Commons, the Liberal Democrat Party candidates took a pledge to oppose any increase in university tuition fees and campaign for their abolition. After forming a coalition government with the Tories, 21 of 57 Liberal Democrat MPs voted to increase the fees.[2]
