«I am never done!» Homeland: Is Carrie Mathison a Convincing Example of Political Sustainability and Political Efficiency?

Abstract

In this paper, I focus on CIA agent Carrie Mathison of the US TV series Homeland. The blond, young and very intelligent CIA analyst is a splendid example of sustainability and efficiency in politics. Scrutinizing series 1 and series 8, hence the first and last series, I demonstrate how Mathison’s activities and decisions are sustainable and effective for her employer, the CIA. Naturally, Homeland is fiction, but fiction can inspire political theorists to think about politics. Were not all contract theories fiction? Were not the utopiae of Morus, Campanella and Cavendish fiction that taught the readers how to think about the political possibilities with regard to governmental rule, constitutional issues and women’s rights in society? Carrie Mathison is mentally handicapped with bipolar syndrome, but that makes her a great agent; hyper-sensible and sensitive, she sees what everybody else overlooks, and her mild paranoia is effective in detecting traitors and agents turned by foreign secret services. Carrie Mathison is one of the most interesting persona in recent US TV fiction. Is she a Machiavellian character?