Front cover image for The politics of moral capital

The politics of moral capital

John Kane
"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 significance of moral capital for political legitimation, mobilizing support, and the creation of strategic opportunities. In the book's final section, Kane applies his arguments to the American presidency from Kennedy to Clinton
Print Book, English, 2001
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001
ix, 277 pages ; 24 cm.
9780521663366, 9780521663571, 0521663369, 0521663571
45393643
Moral capital and politics
Moral capital and leadership
Abraham Lincoln: the long-purposed man
Charles De Gaulle: the man of storms
Nelson Mandela: the moral phenomenon
Aung San Suu Kyi: her father's daughter
Kennedy and American virtue
Crisis
Aftermath
Denouement