The politics of moral capital

John Kane0521663369, 9780521663366, 9780511016929, 0521663571

It is often said that politics is an amoral realm of power and interest inwhich moral judgment is irrelevant. In this book, by contrast, John Kaneargues that people’s positive moral judgments of political actors andinstitutions provide leaders with an important resource, which hechristens ‘‘moral capital.’’ Negative judgments cause a loss of moralcapital which jeopardizes legitimacy and political survival. Studies ofseveral historical and contemporary leaders – Lincoln, de Gaulle, Mandela,Aung San Suu Kyi – illustrate the signiWcance of moral capital forpolitical legitimation, mobilizing support, and the creation of strategicopportunities. In the book’s Wnal section, Kane applies his arguments tothe American presidency from Kennedy to Clinton. He argues that amoral crisis has aZicted the nation at its mythical heart and has beenrefracted through and enacted within its central institutions, eroding themoral capital of government and people and undermining the nation’smorale.

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Table of contents :
Cover……Page 1
Half-title……Page 3
Series-title……Page 4
Title……Page 5
Copyright……Page 6
Dedication……Page 7
Contents……Page 9
Acknowledgments……Page 10
Introduction……Page 13
PART I Moral capital……Page 17
1 Moral capital and politics……Page 22
Politics and legitimacy……Page 24
Ideology and moral choice……Page 29
Moral capital and moral ends……Page 32
2 Moral capital and leadership……Page 39
Leadership: the moral dimension……Page 40
Moral capital and constituencies……Page 44
Personal and institutional moral capital……Page 47
Studying moral capital……Page 49
Action……Page 50
Rhetoric/symbolism……Page 51
PART II Moral capital in times of crisis……Page 57
3 Abraham Lincoln: the long-purposed man……Page 62
Lincoln and moral capital……Page 65
Cause: Lincoln’s ground of right……Page 67
Action: Lincoln’s policies……Page 73
Example: the democratic imperative……Page 80
Rhetoric/symbolism: Lincoln’s lasting capital……Page 84
Conclusion……Page 91
4 Charles de Gaulle: the man of storms……Page 95
De Gaulle’s dependency on moral capital……Page 97
De Gaulle’s cause: ‘‘France’’……Page 100
Action: De Gaulle establishes his moral capital……Page 103
Moral capital by example: De Gaulle stumbles……Page 109
Gaullist rhetoric, de Gaulle as symbol……Page 115
Conclusion……Page 120
PART III Moral capital and dissident politics……Page 125
5 Nelson Mandela: the moral phenomenon……Page 130
The political cause……Page 132
Political action: first period……Page 137
Example: the representative prisoner……Page 138
Rhetoric/symbolism: the living symbol……Page 144
Political action: second period……Page 148
Conclusion……Page 155
6 Aung San Suu Kyi: her father’s daughter……Page 159
Symbolic sources: the inheritance of moral capital……Page 162
Cause: Burmese democracy……Page 165
Political action: triumph and repression……Page 169
Moral capital by example……Page 172
Rhetoric/symbolism……Page 178
Conclusion……Page 182
PART IV Moral capital and the American presidency……Page 185
7 Kennedy and American virtue……Page 192
The presidency and the national moral capital……Page 195
Kennedy and American virtue……Page 202
The symbolic legacy……Page 212
The assassination legacy……Page 213
The legacy of reform at home: anti-communism abroad……Page 215
Vietnam……Page 219
The Nixon–Kissinger ‘‘solution’’……Page 224
Conclusion……Page 229
9 Aftermath……Page 230
The problem of trust……Page 231
The problem of power and virtue……Page 234
The Carter solution……Page 236
The Reagan solution……Page 242
Conclusion……Page 245
10 Denouement……Page 247
Bush and American leadership……Page 248
Catharsis: the Gulf War……Page 249
Clinton in a changing world……Page 255
Clinton and moral capital……Page 259
Conclusion……Page 262
Post scriptum……Page 265
Epilogue……Page 267
Bibliography……Page 273
Index……Page 282