It looks certain that over the next three months before the federal election fear will dominate Australian public conversation. This time includes Lent, a time traditionally dedicated to prayer and penance. So we can hardly complain if politicians add to the penitential mood of the season. Even if we deplore the appeal to fear, though, it is worth reflecting on why politicians indulge in it, under what conditions it is successful, and how it is best responded to.
We need only read children's stories to recognise that fear can be quite effective in controlling behaviour. If children are too adventurous for their own good, fearsome stories of ogres, bushrangers or the dreaded winged Jabbapokeakillasnakes infesting the woods and distant streets might make them tread more carefully.
If they believe that a gruff and reclusive neighbour living in a dilapidated house, who growls at children and refuses to let them search for balls that have gone over his fence, is in league with the monsters, that will cement the effects of fear. When resentment is added to fear, trust in the myth grows and control is greater. If fear is not to paralyse children, however, they also need the assurance of a trusted Daddy strong enough to overcome all foul fiends.
It is notorious political wisdom that in journalism and in political campaigns you should treat the punters as seven year olds. If that is so, it is no wonder that so many election campaigns appeal to fear. The surprise is that they do not always work. The children's stories suggest why this may be so.
For the myth to be effective children must believe it, be terrified by it and know their Daddy can defend them. That means it needs to fit into a wider network of myth that shapes their world. Election campaigns based on campaigns against Communist led unions could once be effective because the local demons were set against the known brutality of Stalinist regimes and so could plausibly evoke the cosmic struggle of good against evil and of tyranny against freedom. Fear was seen as a reasonable response to local events and their larger significance.
When conjuring up demons you need also to offer assurance of a plausibly strong Daddy capable of exorcising them. If Daddy is a manifest wimp, children's fear will turn to apathy and withdrawal, not trust in his strong right arm. In the elections that focused on