Focusing on the ineffectual contribution of modern academic study of political theory to show human beings how they have good reason to act in the historical situation in which they find themselves, this work offers a reappraisal of the nature of political theory and its role in contemporary life.

The task of political theory is to show human beings how they have good reason to act in the historical situation in which they find themselves. The central theme of interpreting political responsibility is the increasingly inefffectual contribtuion of modern academic study of political theory to carrying out this task.