Hidden redemption and the duty to play the villain : A political exploration

Because of increasing political polarization in many democracies, politicians who try to make amends for past harms will often find that their reputation in the eyes of the other side is irredeemable. In such cases, publicly playing up rather than toning down those attributes that have made one an “archvillain” will often be a more effective way of making amends—whether by mobilizing an opposing camp with which one now secretly sympathizes, by increasing the chances of moderate candidates to win crucial elections, or by increasing the chance that the dangerous camp to which one pretends to belong will self-destruct. I explore several possible explanations for why repentant political wrongdoers might have a moral duty to “play the villain” to such ends. Drawing on the philosophy of punishment, and on the hypocrisy literature, I argue that the best explanation revolves around the inevitability of hypocrisy in democratic politics.