Redemption and Politics
The underlying premise of this essay is that there are degrees of risk beyond which few persons will go. This is, in fact, the basis of all theories of deterrence. But whereas the idea of deterrence is ordinarily applied to problems such as war or crime, I want to apply it to the acceptance of political responsibility. Essentially I shall argue that the inability to exorcize guilt-the lack of the possibility of redemption-acts as a deterrent to the acceptance of all responsibility, but especially political responsibility. I shall argue, moreover, that the modern world as a whole is nonredemptive, and thus the acceptance of political responsibility becomes, for the actor, risky, for society, uncertain, and this at the very time that it is needed most.