Kane John. The Politics of Moral Capital

Cambridge University Press, 2004. — 289 p.It is often said that politics is an amoral realm of power and interest in which moral judgment is irrelevant. In this book, by contrast, John Kane argues that people’s positive moral judgments of political actors and institutions provide leaders with an important resource, which he christens ‘‘moral capital.’’ Negative judgments cause a loss of moral capital which jeopardizes legitimacy and political survival. Studies of several historical and contemporary leaders – Lincoln, de Gaulle, Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi – illustrate the signiWcance of moral capital for political legitimation, mobilizing support, and the creation of strategic opportunities. In the book’s Wnal section, Kane applies his arguments to the American presidency from Kennedy to Clinton. He argues that a moral crisis has aZicted the nation at its mythical heart and has been refracted through and enacted within its central institutions, eroding the moral capital of government and people and undermining the nation’s morale.
John Kane is the Head of the School of Politics and Public Policy at GriYth University, Queensland. He has published articles in such journals as Political Theory, NOMOS and Telos, and is also co-editor of Rethinking Australian Citizenship (2000).