Agents of influence

Abstract

The democratic ideal has had a chequered existence. Centuries of discourse on the nature of democracy, and on the bulwarks necessary to sustain it, have done little in Western countries to prevent the emergence of a situation in which the voices of the most determined of special interest groups prove to be the most audible in the corridors of power. As long as such interest groups are united by a commitment to a broadly liberal system of government, the freedom of speech, action and political mobilisation of a citizenry may not be seriously imperilled, although the dynamism of a society may be undermined. An anguishing moral problem emerges, however, when the state is exposed to influences, seemingly from some of its own citizens, which have the effect of putting at risk the liberties of their fellows. Can the state take steps to minimise the impact of such influences? This dilemma becomes even more acute if it appears possible that these influences are exercised at the behest of a foreign power. In order properly to address this last problem, it is necessary to pay attention to the position of the 'agent of influence'. However, given the complexity of the notion of 'agent', and the fundamental issues of political philosophy which it touches, my own aims are modest ones: to clarify usage, and to sketch the distinctions one needs to draw, and the questions one needs to pose, in order to put the idea of 'agent of influence' to use.