Essential political theory: Political capital grows when used. It shrinks when not used. [View all]
When we talk about Obama utilizing political capital to enact things like the Affordable Care Act, we are building a scenario where his political capital would increase, not be depleted.
This is similar to the concept of "social capital" put forth by people like Robert Putnam. Social capital is built through solidarity, accomplishing shared goals and meeting the needs of the community. It is depleted in times of public turmoil or even when it is not used at all.
Political capital is a mandate by the electorate for the elected to accomplish his or her stated agenda. By accomplishing his or her stated agenda, satisfying the expectations of the public, the elected gains further political capital.
In other words, to those people saying that Obama used up a lot of political capital getting the ACA passed, that doesn't make any sense. If political capital was lost, it was precisely because Obama failed in some capacity to accomplish his stated agenda. Which in turn is dissatisfying to the electorate's expectations and depletes political capital.
Anyway, I felt like that needed to be brought up.
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