Political Conduct

146 Pages·2007·13.049 MB·English

by  Mark Philp

Mark Philp
Political Conduct
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England
2007
Acknowledgments
Thisworkgrewoutofaset ofinterests inpoliticalcorruption
that Ideveloped duringtwo termsasaVisitingResearchFellow,firstinthe
Faculty ofArts and later in the Humanities Research Centre, at the Aus-
tralian National University. My thanks to those institutions, to lain Mc-
CaImanforarranging these opportunities, and to Heather McCalrnan,Jon
Mee,and Martin Fitzpatrickfortheirrespective contributions tothe condi-
tions required to realizethem. Theproject in its present form took shape
thanks toaBritishAcademy/Leverhulme SeniorResearchFellowshipinthe
academicyear 1999-2000. Iamgratefulto them forthe opportunity, tomy
Universityand Collegefortheir willingness tosupport my application,and
totheDepartment ofPoliticsandInternational Relationsforthe laterperiod
ofleave that has allowed me to complete the project. Mythanks to those
who discussedissueswith me orcommented on earlier components ofthe
project: LizBarrett, Rob Behrens, Chuck Beitz, Erica Benner, Dan Butt,
David Charles,Selina Chen, RogerCrisp, Bruno Currie, MichaelFreeden,
DiegoGambetta,HazelGenn, PhilipGerrans, BobGoodin,PeterHall,Gary
Hart,Barry Hindess,DavidHine,Duncan Iveson, RichardJarvis,DesKing,
Chris Kraus, Gordon MacPherson, David Miller, TeresaMorgan, Joseph
Nye,AlanPatten. PhilipPettit, Quentin Reed, Elvira-MariaRestrepo,Alan
Ryan, Andrew Sabl, Vicki Spencer, Mark Stears, Helen Sutch, Dennis
Copyright ©2007 by the President and Fellows ofHarvard College Thompson, Ernesto Garzon Valdez,Stuart White, Laurence Whitehead,
Allrights reserved Gavin Williams,and Ruth Zimmerling,and to various audiences in New
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Germany, and the
United States.Specialthanks areowedto MichaelAronson ofthe Pressfor
ISBN-13: 978-0-674-02488·5
ISBN·lO: 0·674-02488-5 his patience and interest; to Margaret Canovan, Matthew Clayton, Liz
Frazer,and anonymous reviewersforthe Press,each ofwhom commented
The Cataloging·in·Publication Data are available from the Library ofCongress. on afullprevious draftand especiallyto Adam Swift,who didsofortwo
vi Acknowledgments
versions; and to Jerry Cohen, who responded to material from the project
throughout its long gestation and who taught me (however imperfectly I
practice the lesson) that while clarity isno guarantee ofrightness, itisapre- Contents
condition for it.
An earlier version of the middle section ofChapter 9 appeared in "Moti-
vating Liberal Citizenship" in C. McKinnon and 1.Hampsher-Monk, eds.,
The Demands of Citizenship (London: Continuum, 2000). The author is
grateful to the publishers for permission to reprint and revise material from
that essay.
This book took me longer to finish than I thought it would, largely be-
cause various university responsibilities preoccupied me. In that period Iac-
cumulated debts of aless intellectual, but nonetheless crucial kind to Elena Introduction
Jurado and Dan Butt in Oriel and to Des King, NeilMacFarlane, and Bridget
Taylor in the department. I dedicate this book to my family-Sarah, Joe, I Rulers
Ruth, and Hannah-with thanks for keeping me sane through these years,
1 Rendering unto Caesar 19
and for reminding me that the good life isexhausted by neither politics nor
the life ofthe mind. 2 Machiavelli and Political Virtue 37
3 The Character ofPolitical Rule 55
4 Resolved to Rule 76
5 Must Power Corrupt? 97
II Servants, Followers, and Officials
6 Loyalty in Politics 117
7 Officials and Public Servants 141
ill Subjects, Citizens, and Institutions
8 Resistance and Protest 169
9 Democratic Citizenship 193
10 Institutions and Integrity 214
Notes 243
Index 277
Introduction
How should we understand and evaluate political conduct?
The emphasis on political derivesfrom the view that politics is a distinct
sphere and type ofactivitythat isnot reducibletomorality, while the em-
phasis on conduct indicates a contrast with the abstract politicalprinciples
that are the subjectmatter ofmostcontemporary politicaltheory, such as
justice, liberty, orequality. Inthisbook Iargue that the evaluation ofpolit-
ical conduct is not simply an assessment ofthe extent to which it brings
about certain antecedently specifiedgoals,values,orprinciples,but mustbe
grounded inan understanding ofthe character ofpoliticsand ofthe partic-
ular circumstances and range ofpossibilitieswithin which politicalagents
operate. Politics hasmany diversemeanings, and Imake no claimto beex-
1
\
haustive inmy coverage;rather, Ifocus onpoliticsasthe struggleto secure \
and exercise politicalrule-the attempt to determine authoritatively who
getswhat, when, and how, toborrow Lasswell'sphrase.' Politicalstruggles
occur over who isto exercise politicalpower, itsappropriate jurisdiction,
how itistobe exercised,and overwhich valuesaretobepursued and the
waysinwhich theyaretobeallocated.
One reason forstarting with political conduct rather than with, for ex-
ample, abstractprinciplesofjusticeisthat certainformsofpoliticalconduct,
such as leadership, play a central role in determining the relevance and
forceofparticular valuesand insecuringtheir realization.Through political
activity values are articulated and embraced, and they become powerful
motivating forcesin society atlarge. In that processthese values are inter-
preted and givenconcrete and practical forminparticular policiesand ob-
jectives. The result is that political action and commitment and the dy-
namics of political struggle powerfully influence people's understanding
and interpretation ofwhat theyvalue and must strive for, and what they
:)
2 Political Conduct Introduction 3
can accept as reasonable, fair, or just. Rather than politics acting as the in- Rather than assessing political conduct directly in consequentialist terms,
strument for realizing certain specified values, it plays a crucial role in the or against some external moral standard, I focus on the character, virtues,
interpretation and projection ofvalues and ideals. In that process people de- agency, and integrity ofthe actor asaplayer in the domain ofpolitics." Such
velop asense ofwhat certain values and ideals really mean for them and for judgments are not easily made: they must be acutely sensitive to the polit-
~he way they live. These values infuse their aspirations, becoming norma- ical and historical contexts in which people act. Those contexts have com-
tive for them by informing their understanding oftheir most basic commit- plex dynamics-what ispolitically possible can change rapidly-so that men
ments and conditioning their interpretation of their responsibilities, ambi- and women find themselves having to make choices that they did not ini-
tions, and interests. This process is not a frictionless transfer from value to tially conceive and that they could not initially have imagined. Sometimes
action or outcome; itisamuch more imperfect and human experience, and politics isa theater for tragedy; sometimes it isa setting for farce. As Marx
to portray politicians as simply endorsing values or goals and identifying the recognized, those who struggle in politics can be driven by forces that they
means to achieve them is to caricature the complex, costly, and often do not fully grasp: the traditions ofdead generations weigh like anightmare
painful process by which people's hopes and ambitions are developed and on the minds ofthe living, sothat they both parody and live out their sense
come to influence others. Politics, as discussed in this volume, should be ofthe past, often blind to the significance oftheir actions." Weber's concep-
understood asadistinct process that plays acentral role in the identification tion ofpolitics as the slow boring of hard boards may describe the work of
of such goals that simultaneously makes them concrete and normative for the master craftsman when the structure issound and the apparatus ofrule
others.? iswell established, but such conditions are not universal, and the rich sense
Similarly, in the evaluation ofpeople's political conduct, the standards are ofpersonal and professional integrity afforded the politician within such an
not simply those we would apply to any ordinary moral agent. In his classic order is not available to those desperately attempting to shore up belea-
work on democratic theory, Giovanni Sartori draws asharp (and somewhat guered states or level the crumbling ruins of a tyranny.? For such tasks
caricatured) distinction between two views ofthe political process: one that other skills are required and individual integrity may be shallower, more
sees political conduct asnothing more than the conduct we would expect of difficult to sustain, and often more difficult to recognize or admire because
all moral agents, with no acknowledgment that there may be something it may depart from a sense ofwell-considered and responsible action that a
distinctive about the demands ofpolitics that distances itfrom morality, and more secure political world can sustain. The standards of political conduct
another that sees politics as the untrammeled and amoral struggle ofinter- appropriate to a settled, consensually validated order simply cannot be nor-
ests and egos, unconstrained by ethical principle. In rejecting both positions, mative for every political order irrespective ofthe conditions; to deny this is
Sartori insists both that political ideals and values have to be understood as to take one's responsibilities as apolitical theorist less than seriously.
being distinctively political, not simply moral, in nature and that politics It is not my intention to dismiss the prevailing orthodoxies and ap-
cannot be understood in wholly non-normative, amoral terms: "conse- proaches ofpolitical and moral philosophy, In large part because such work
quently both political moralism and political cynicism are mistaken posi- isappropriately concerned with questions oftruth and value and has an im-
tions, the former because it stems from apremature merging ofthe political portant role to play in sharpening and articulating our sense of the values
with the moral realm, and the latter because itisthe result ofan unjustified we might want to see realized and in acting as a critic of the claims that
schism between them. Politics and ethics are neither identical nor separated those in politics make. But this book differs from such work both in recog-
from each other in watertight compartments."> Sartori's claim is one I en- nizing the impact that politics itself has on the development and realization
dorse, but itisnot one whose implications are easily spelled out. It requires ofvalues and outcomes, and in focusing on how appropriate standards can
an understanding of political rule that identifies the standards that are in- be derived and applied to the conduct of those who act in politics. Ac-
trinsic and internal to it, together with some sense of the conditions under cording to this account, the dynamics ofpolitical activity shape and compli-
which those standards may come to have, or may lack, ethical weight+ cate people's ambitions and the political principles they endorse. The virtues
4 Political Conduct Introduction 5
and character ofpoliticalleaders, the impact ofpersonal andpoliticalloyal- what itcanachieve. Thisargument iscentral tothe discussionin chapters 1,
ties,the legaciesofhistorical memories and resentments, andthe way that 4,5,6,7,and 8and informs the essentially skepticalconclusions about the
certain forms ofpower distort political agency allhave amajor impact on possibilitiesforregulating politicalactivity in Chapter 10.
the goodsand values sought and realized in politics. The impact of these The third line ofargument isthat there are, nonetheless, standards for
considerations can be profound-they go beyond a concern with which political conduct, albeit their specificdemands are heavily contextual in
meansbest serve agivenset ofvalues and endsbecause theyinfluence the character. The appropriate coinagefor the evaluation ofpoliticalconduct is
way that such values and objectives are identified and pursued in politics, that ofcharacter, virtues, and abilitiesrather than deontologicalconstraints
andtheylimitwhat wecanreasonably expect ofthose actinginpoliticsand orconsequentialist considerations. Integrity is,to varying degrees,possible
thereby help determine whether and under what circumstances aposited within politicsand we candistinguish between politicianswho actwelland
principle or value becomes afeasible and desirable objectiveto pursue. If those who donot usinganassessment that drawsonthe norms andinstitu-
the politicalprocess and its struggleshave asignificant impact on the ends tional setting in which they act and on issues of character and judgment.
andvaluespursued inpolitics,wemay cometoseeahigher than usual pro- Such evaluations must also acknowledge the distinctive demands that
portion ofpolitical philosophy as utopian-as something that, while per- differentpositionsin apoliticalsystemwillmake ontheir occupants. Specif-
hapsinstructive asathought experiment, cannot reasonably bepursued. ically,Iaddressthe expectations itisreasonable to havewith respectto the
Inthe course ofthisbook Idevelopfour mainlines ofargument. Thefirst conduct ofpoliticalleaders,to those who servethem, andto citizenswithin
presents politicsasitselfpowerfully influencing the norms andvaluesthat it democratic orders. Recent literature has extolled the virtues ofcitizenship
ispossibleand appropriate to realize. The upshot ofthis argument isthat and the kinds ofdemands we must make ofcitizensto achieve stable,self-
the relationship between moral philosophy and politics isnot deductive, governing, liberal democratic orders, Thisbook is concerned with politics
and that many ofthe abstract values found in moral philosophy and much more widely, with liberal democratic orders being exclusively addressed
liberalpoliticaltheory are profoundly inflected by their interpretation, im- mainly inthe finalthree chapters (aswellasparts ofchapters 4, 5,and 7).
plementation, and realization inpoliticalaction.Thisviewaccordsthe polit- Thisispartly because suchpolitiesare onlyasmallportion ofthe statesthat
icalprocessasubstantial degree ofautonomy and an identity and character have existed in the last three thousand years but itisalsobecause, rather
ofitsown. Politics,and political conduct in this view, needs to be under- than defining the central elements of politicsbyreference to liberal demo-
stoodlargely, although not entirely, onitsownterms, and thoseterms con- craticorders, Iseethese asofferingonly one setofinstantiations ofthese el-
cernthe politicalvirtues and qualities ofthe actorsinvolved.Accordingly,I ements, Tothat extent, although it isimportant to acknowledge the valu-
beginwith adiscussion ofthe nature ofpolitics,itsdistinctivenessasasetof ableand oftenpathbreaking work ofanumber ofrecent scholarswho have
practices and as a domain ofactivity, that continues throughout the book similarlyfocusedon issuesofpolitical conduct, thisbookworksbeyond the
(most directly in chapters 2, 3,and 4, and, in relation to politicalservice, traditional boundaries (but not to the exclusion) of liberal democratic
contentious politics,and citizenship in chapters 7,8, and 9,respectively). thought."
Thesecond, related setofclaimsisthat politicsisamuch more internally Finally,the arguments advanced here recognize that certain types ofin-
complex, human, and grubby domain ofactivitythan most recent political stitutional systems candovetailwith their societyand culture to realizetoa
theory recognizes. Itisadomain inwhich human passions,ambitions, loy- high degree the values that liberal(or other) politicaltheories soprize (see
alties,and treacheries have amajor impact onwho getstoexercisepolitical chapters 9and 10).Nonetheless, the institutionalization ofpoliticalrule and
power and on how it isexercised. Moreover, attempts to cleanup politics its regulation with procedures, rules, and norms to produce a stable and
are often based on the illusion that these elements can somehow be elimi- moderate regime isafragileachievement-one that is,historically,the ex-
nated from the process. Inmaking this argument, mygoalistoencourage a ception rather than the rule-and even where it existsthere remain ten-
suitably subtle appreciation of the character and demands ofpolitics that sionsamong the dynamic,innovative, andopen-ended character ofpolitical
recognizes that reform (itself a political process) is inherently limited in rule,the attempt toregulate suchforcesinawell-ordered state, andthe po-
6 Political Conduct Introduction 7
tential forpoliticalagencyand decisionmakingto generate new constituen- that there is an inherent degreeofvariability both in the standards and in
ciesofopposition and contention. the degree and depth ofintegrity that politics can achieve or permit. Fur-
Twofurther points should be made concerning sourcesand method. The thermore there is the final issue of how those standards relate to other,
first isthat, asa contribution to political theory, this work isinformed by more general normative principles,standards, or claims.Yetthere areother
the reflection onpoliticsand itsdemands that runs throughout the history activitieswhere asimilar interaction existsbetween the character ofan ac-
ofpoliticalthought. Many in this tradition have things ofimportance tosay tivity, agent motivation, and intent, and some deeper standpoint that can
about the character and the problems ofpolitical action. Their role in this contribute to the validation ofthose standards and the conduct they de-
text is as fellow commentators on politics in general and as examples of mand, orcan question it,asinmany games.The analogyisworth pursuing,
worlds ofmeaning that, while they areoftenvery differentfromthose faced even ifthe disparities finallyprovide a sharp lesson in the complexities of
by contemporary political theorists, provide us with insights into political politicalconduct.
conduct that help us to recognize that features of older political conflicts
and attempts torule cancontribute substantially to understanding ourown Beinginpoliticsislikebeingafootballcoach.
institutions and activity. Youhavetobesmartenoughto understand thegame,
The methodological point is that, in identifying politics as a distinctive anddumbenoughtothinkit'simportant.
sphere ofactivity,itisnecessary to understand both what makes itintelli- '-Eugene McCarthy,19689
gibleand meaningful to those who participate in it, and what makes itin-
telligible more generally as a sphere of activity within societies. In some McCarthy's quip suggests that politics is a rule-governed activity with
casesthisinvolvesinterpreting historical eventsand actionsin anattempt to meaning and purpose, and with players, strategies, and moves through
capture the meanings that informed people'schoicesand actions and toun- which this purpose isrealized.But his analogy alsoalerts usto somevery
derstand better what they valued, what they regarded as normative for basicquestions about the activity:Is goodpolitics, orfootball, solelyabout
them and for others, and how far they acted consistently and coherently winning particular exchanges or games? Isplaying well to be understood
within that set of meanings. In other cases,tackling more abstract ques- entirely consequentially, intermsofthe outcome ofaparticular game,ordo
tions, my concern istotry to understand, forexample, the character ofloy- wehave amore profound senseofthe point ofthe activitythat recognizes
altyasacategoryofmeaning that involvesbothacertain type ofpsycholog- the value ofthe game itselfandthe greatness ofa performance independ-
ical state and a certain impulse for action, and to consider the conditions ently ofthe result-as when wedistinguish between playingwellandwin-
under which itmay develop, flourish, ortake oneformrather than another. ning? Moreover, in politics there is a basic distinction between activities
The interaction between particular examples on the one hand, and the concerned with gainingorretainingpoliticalpower andoffice,andactivities
more general categories of authority, leadership, loyalty, service, citizen- undertaken in the exercise ofpolitical office.Some institutional arrange-
ship, and soforth, on the other, allows us to recognize that particular in- ments ensure the two are veryclosely linked (asin the U.S.HouseofRep-
stances ofaction also involve more general and abstract features ofmean- resentatives), some keep them apart (asin stable, hereditary monarchies),
ingfulbehavior that permit adegree ofcomparative study and assessment. and in many there isachanginginterplay-a revolutionary autocracymay
Ihave statedthese arguments baldly,but thefull character andweight of increasingly concern itselfwithensuring the conditions forits continuance
these claims must be developed in detail and through an appreciation of rather than with pursuing theideals forwhich itseizedpower. Butgaining
particular contexts. Toidentify both definitional and ethical criteria forpo- officeisnotin itselfthe" end"ortelosofpolitics-office demands rule.When
liticalconduct involves establishing certain general features ofpoliticalrule we have played the game sufficientlywell to gain office,what constitutes
and agencyand teasing out standards ofconduct from those features. Itre- rulingwell?
quiresanother step tocontextualize thesestandards toshow that they could Theanalogy between politicsand games alsoholds up onthe issueofthe
be recognizedbythose acting inpolitics,andafurther stepto acknowledge underdetermination ofthe activityby formalrules. Just asthere isadistinc-
8 Political Conduct Introduction 9
tion between merely stickingtothe rules and playing wellin sports,sotoo politicalgamewithin which men andwomen actand that distinguishpolit-
inpoliticsdorules often fallfarshort ofproviding acomprehensive account icalactivity from other activitieswithin that society. However, we need a
ofwhat we canexpect orhope fromthose inpower. Managers and specta- broad understanding ofthese rules,going beyond those formally enshrined
torsmayjudge playerstobeunfit, unfocused, orincompetent, but the rule- inconstitutions, legalcodes,codesofpractice, and conditions ofofficetoin-
books rarely provide the basisfor such assessments. There are rules that cludemore tentativejudgments aboutcompetence, integrity,and soon,and
govern accessto public officeand set out officialresponsibilities,but often to question whether the formally defined boundaries ofapractice capture
the rules primarily focus on the types of misconduct that the political the fullrange ofappropriate activity.(Isthe interaction ofplayers and spec-
system is most concerned with preventing or feels most confident about tators acomponent ofthe game?Aredimensions ofthepersonal alsosignif-
identifying, or that members of the current political elite believe most icantly political?) The second question presses these shared characteristics t
threatens their power. Rulebooks may listwhat can and cannot be done, further to ask what this activity demands ofits participants in accordance
but they are harder pressed to state the point ofthe activity, and it isthis with itsinternal criteriaofsuccess.Thisquestion generateshypothetical im-
implicit standard that the interpretation and understanding of the rules perativesforthose actinginpoliticsthat derive fromanunderstanding ofthe
must take as their reference point, Toattempt to specifythis point as the point ofthe activity;that is, "ifyou are going to getinvolved in politics,to
achievement ofexcellence or asplaying orruling well would be tautolog- succeed (interms ofthe activity)onemust x,y, orz:"
ical:What counts asexcellence depends onwhat the point is,asdoeswhat The third element addresses the point orpurpose ofthe activity and re-
counts asruling well. flects on its value, potentially comparing it to other activities. In many
Rules,even inthe form ofconstitutions, statutes, regulations, codes,prin- games,what makes the gameworth playing isthe senseofmastery andthe
ciples,norms, and practices, must be interpreted tobe appliedtoparticular associated pleasure. But in politics,"worth playing" involves more than a
cases and, when interpreting and applying them, politicians, judges, and judgment about thepleasures itaccordsto those whoparticipate.Itinvolves
commentators need a deeper sense ofhow they hang together toprovide judgments about the necessityforpolitical activityinsociety,about thesub-
structure and coherence tothe activity.Moreover, most politicalrulebooks stantive ends that the activitypursues, and about the proper scopeofthat
(inthe broadest sense)are made,interpreted, and amended bypoliticians;if activitywith respecttoother activities.What givespoliticsitsvalue asanac-
these processes are subordinate topartisan influences, wemay endup with tivityisin part the tensions, conflicts,and aspirations towhich itresponds,
asystematically distorted politicalorder. Howcanweknow ifthe gamewe and in part the goodsit realizes-where these are not limited to an indi-
are observing isbeing played wellifitisplayed in conformity to rules that vidual agent's purposes but include those intrinsic to the activity within
are themselves the result ofcorrupt forces?How dowe understand an ac- which those purposes areintelligible.The ambitions ofthose inpoliticscan
tivitythat wehave seen undertaken onlybycheats and incompetents? Un- begrandiose, mundane, orfranklysordid, but we shouldnot confusethese
lesswe have some sense ofthe point ofpolitics,and ofwhat practices,mo- personal goalswith what createsthe need forthis kind ofactivitywithin a
tives, and ambitions on the part of its various participants are compatible society:in broad terms, the need toimpose order and disciplineand to co-
with that point orwould allowthat point tobe more fullyrealized,we will ordinate and conciliatepeople's conflicting interests and activities.Political
lack criteria for identifying good or poor performances or for recognizing rule becomes urgent when conflict,disorder, and violenceimpose substan-
when those participating inthe gamebegin toturn ittoendsthat gofunda- tialharms onasociety,and where other nonpolitical coordination and con-
mentally against that point, thereby corrupting it. ciliationmechanisms (familial,associative,contractual) areonsomedimen-
Thesources forunderstanding the point and character ofpoliticsinvolve sionorother lesseffectivethan politics.Once established,politicalauthority
three basic elements. We can ask ofa game: (1)What isitsbasicstructure mayextend toother tasks,albeitnotalways appropriately. Invading familial
and character-What makesitthisgamerather than another? (2)What isit or domestic domains, enforcing contentious religious observance, or im-
to playitwell? and (3)What makes itworth playing, and what other ends posingacontroversial conception ofthe good on apeoplemayextend polit-
doesit serve? The first two questions invite reference to the "rules" ofthe icalrule into domains best leftalone (because some areasofpersonal rela-
10 Political Conduct Introduction 11
tions are soimportant and so fragile that any attempt to intervene in them transforming its self-understanding and its related understanding of polit-
authoritatively through the political system will cause unacceptable or rad- icallegitimacy and of what ispolitically possible-transforming the criteria
ical harm; or, more conditionally, because the benefits ofintervening are in of assessment from above, rather than simply meeting standards imposed
aparticular case outweighed by the costs of doing so). Politics is one system from below.
of allocation and rule. In most modern states it claims a degree of sover- The third disanalogy issimple~poli!ic~_~E:ot ~_~a~e. What makes itworth
eignty over other systems-communal, market, familial-but it is a matter "playing," in competition with other practices, is that it fundamentally
ofjudgment asto when, over what domain, and to what degree that sover- frames the activities of its community, projects certain ends for that com-
eignty isappropriately exercised. munity, and affects the conditions oflife ofthose within (and often ofthose
The analogy between politics and games is always going to be stretched, outside) its borders. It has an ethical significance that the term game ob-
but there are three respects in which it collapses more or less dramatically. scures. Politics profoundly affects the liberty, security, and quality of life of
First, politics is itself implicated in the ongoing struggle to establish the millions of people. In nation-states and in the domain of international af-
point and the rules of its own activity. We can usually distinguish between fairs, it provides the structures within which most people live their lives,
what itistoplaya game and what itisto disagree about itspurpose or point; and political decision-making rules on some of the most basic normative
in politics that distinction collapses extremely quickly. Political thought and questions in fixing the role the state plays in society and the ends itpursues.
practice are centrally concerned with interpreting the end ofthe activity in Because the choices that politicians face are often of deep ethical signifi-
such a way asto make that interpretation normative for others and sover- cance' the terminology of "games" and "skills" needs to be setaside in favor
eign over the political system more widely, sothat the point ofthe activity is of alanguage ofpolitical virtue.
something that the activity is itself attempting to define. This means that This is not to say that every politician, political commentator, or partici-
what counts asconflict, what isseen asnecessary to order it, what activities pant has aclear grasp ofthe character ofhis or her activity, orthat each rec-
are accepted aslegitimate in the struggle to determine who (and whose in- ognizes its ethical significance. Understanding the character ofone's activity
terpretation) shall rule, and on what goods and values the political system isneither anecessary nor asufficient condition for being agreat player-al-
should ground its claim to legitimacy, are all potentially open to contest. though recognizing that one's conduct does have ethical Significance is
What gives some coherence to this arena isthe attempt by those involved to probably, in the case of politics, a necessary condition. Even so, great
gain and exercise power and authority through at least some appeal to legit- players (by definition) are rare in any game, and they are also rare in poli-
imacy, which involves securing endorsement for one's interpretation ofthe tics. Average players are (again, by definition) the norm, but while games
ends of one's office, but how far down legitimacy can or must go depends can thrive with these and many polities can tolerate them, there are also in-
heavily on context and on the type ofrule exercised. stances in which being average in politics can have disastrous results. Were
A second difference is that a central component ofpolitics isrule setting, politics simply a case of complying with rules and nODDS,a generation of
not just rule following. Some aspects ofpolitics, like electoral competition mediocre technocrats would produce a dull polity but not adamaged one.
for office in modern democratic states, are highly structured and rule But the sovereign, rule-setting, political culture-defining character ofpoli-
bound.!? Once attained, however, political office involves creating and in- tics does call for men and women who have an appreciation ofthe impor-
terpreting rules in the light ofaparticular conception ofthe point ofthe ac- tance oftheir activity and asense ofthe ends that their activity must seek to
tivity and making and implementing decisions and rules that govern the be- promote, with respect both tothe citizens ofthe state and to the state's rela-
havior ofothers and set standards and norms for their conduct. Winners in tionship to other states. In the spirit of Weber, politics demands ofitspartic-
sports are not, for the most part, given the power to amend the rules ofthe ipants a type of integrity and a sense of responsibility. If these are absent,
game they have just played or the opportunity to change fundamentally the political rule threatens to gorogue.
distribution ofeconomic and cultural resources on which other players can Decision making is further complicated because politicians act in a world
draw. In contrast, political will can sometimes radically change a society, that isalways incompletely under their control, and because their own po-
12 Political Conduct Introduction 13
litical vision and how they act can change the horizons of political possi- senseboth ofthe difficultiesofassessingpoliticalconduct and ofthe impor-
bility (not always intentionally) for both themselves and others. Political tance ofsuch anassessment.
decisionmaking remains stuckin the distinctivelyhuman dimension ofin-
terpersonal action: itrequires the coordination ofwills,interests, and polit- LikeMcCarthy's politician, Iam dumb enough to think that politicsisim-
icalaspirations and imaginations. Theabilityto standbackfrompoliticsand portant-the reader must judge from the chapters that follow whether I
to manipulate the elements ofthe politicalsceneimpartiallytoeffectapar- understand the game.Ihave triedto identify the character ofpoliticalrule
ticular decision isinherently limited. Politicalagency works with people- and to consider the motives of those who rule and those who serve or
with their virtues andvices,their contacts, alliances,andloyalties,and their follow.Theresult isnot asetofruleswe should expect politicians tofollow
fears and anxieties-and their own actions are rarely free from the influ- somuch asan account in broad terms of the demands that differentpolit-
ence ofthat complex of attitudes, emotions, and interests. People respond ical roles make of their practitioners and the difficulties they face in
to flattery and bribery, to promises and threats, but they also respond to meeting these demands. Attempting something more detailed would re-
conviction, vision,flair,and charisma, andtothe invoking ofmore abstract quire ustogomuch deeper intoparticular contexts, and the room fordoing
ideasand claimsofduty and obligation. Thesecharacteristicsarenot simply this islimited.
components inanarsenal fromwhich politiciansmust choose;atleastsome Thepotential fordramatic instabilityin politics, which much contempo-
are hardwired into many ofthe men and women who seekpower and au- rary politicaltheory ignores,leadsmein Chapter 1to examine the collapse
thority and who thereby seekto rule others.'! ofthe Roman republicunder Julius Caesar, with Machiavelli's consequent
Even ifpoliticians are able to retain their humanity, it can be a mixed dismissalofCaesaraslackingthenecessary qualities ofcharacter forrule.In
blessing. History isreplete with examples ofthose whose human qualities Chapter 2Igoontoexplore Machiavelli'swider position and argue that we
were exemplified bytheir frailtyrather than bytheir responsiveness to the have to understand Machiavelli assuggesting, rightly, that the assessment
needs and concerns ofothers. How those who rule us conduct themselves ofpoliticalconduct involves something like aversion ofvirtue ethics.Both
has more than ordinary significance because of the power they exercise, Caesar and Machiavelli have been accused of being unprincipled, but in
and yet that experience ofpower-the difficultyingainingitand the need eachcasethere ismuch tobesaidforrecognizing their concern with thepo-
for a streak ofruthlessness both toward those who resistand toward those litical virtues. The "unprincipled" reading has little to recommend it; the
within one's own camp who might otherwise usurp one's position and its two cases demonstrate the interdependence between context and agency
attendant prospects-can make it difficultto retain the self-control and that enablesabetter appreciation ofthe nature and limitsofintegrity where
sense ofproportion required toactresponsibly. Somearetempted to actin politics isdeeply disordered. Machiavelli's account ofthe virtues and what
ways they should not;but themore seriousproblem isthat how one should they demand, however, is not automatically appropriate to different cir-
act is often unclear, and the more fragmented and disordered the world cumstances. Wehave to read hisaccount in relation both tothe particular
within which one acts,the more difficultitisto chartapath. Indeed, asthe circumstances inwhich he wrote and to adeeper sense ofthe character of
"decisionists" ofthe late nineteenth century recognized,itisnot that there political rule, which I address in Chapter 3. We also need a fuller under-
is always a right decision that those in officemust make (even if they standing of the character of political leadership-the way that central
cannot always seeit),but that they have totake decisionsthat they believe players interpret, exemplify, and extend the game (Chapter 4).In the fifth
they can make right by their commitment to seeing them through. Our and finalchapter ofPart 1Iaddresstheissue ofwhether those who exercise
evaluation has to consider what elsethey might have done, why they fol- power inpoliticsarenecessarilycorrupted bythe task. Ishow that there are
lowed the course they did, how far they wereabletobring about their ob- major obstacles to acting well for those who attempt to exercise political
jectives, and what value those had. The complexities of such an inquiry leadership and that modern liberaldemocratic states certainly are not free
should not beunderestimated, but making theattempt cangiveusaclearer from these, but Itake this tobe more a ground for reflection on the place