Souveräne schaffen und beschränken. Vorarbeiten zu einer Genealogie politischer Verantwortung

Abstract

The article traces genesis and changes of the concept of political responsibility in the practices in which it is used. It highlights three episodes: the birth of the concept of political responsibility in the wake of the democratic revolutions in France and North America, using the example of Benjamin Constant’s “responsibility of ministers”; the subjectivation and moralisation of the concept in Max Weber and Karl Jaspers; finally, the change indicated by the advent of the “responsibility to protect”. In each case, the use of the concept of political responsibility deploys a moral relation to self to limit and constitute agency. Thus, the concept of political responsibility reveals itself to be a technique for making and moulding subjects.