Kite-flying (politics)
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Kite-flying, or to fly a kite, is a term used in politics in certain English-speaking countries to describe a tactic, whereby a politician, usually through the media and often by way of an intentional leak, raises an idea to gauge the general and public reaction to it. Depending on the reaction, the idea that is positively received may be implemented, or disowned and denied if unfavourable, unsympathetic or hostile. The benefits of flying a kite is that it allows a controversial issue to be raised in a way that gives a government, usually in a country with a democratic system, "plausible deniability" if the reaction is unfavourable, unsympathetic or hostile, in that it allows the government to claim that "the Minister was speaking in his private and personal capacity, not for the Government in his official capacity as a Minister", thereby distancing itself from a controversial issue to the hostile and unsympathetic general public.
A British example was in 1885 when Herbert Gladstone, son of Liberal Party leader William Ewart Gladstone, wrote a letter to The Times stating support for Irish Home Rule. This has been dubbed the Hawarden Kite after Hawarden Castle, the Gladstone family home. Historians are uncertain whether this was co-ordinated between the Gladstones, but the reaction was sufficiently sympathetic for Gladstone to publicly commit himself and his party to a policy of Irish Home Rule.
Another example was the suggestion in Ireland in the 1960s by Brian Lenihan, Minister for Justice, that Ireland should join the Commonwealth of Nations. He did so on the instructions of the Taoiseach, Seán Lemass. However the Irish public and general reaction was hostile, and Lemass and Lenihan both agreed to abandon the idea, with Lemass, in concert with Lenihan, claiming that Lenihan had been speaking theoretically in a personal capacity and not for his government.
An American equivalent might be the term raising the flag and see who salutes (i.e., to raise an issue and see the reaction).
