What I am calling ‘the split personality of the state’ is part of a grander story about the structures fundamental to political thought. I call it ‘the split personality of the state’ because this is the best way of drawing attention to Oakeshott’s particular contribution to it. But ‘the split personality of the state’ is in fact one aspect of a broader problem which is best described in double form, referring to a double fracture, called ‘the doubleness of politics’ and ‘the brokenness of political reality.’ In this essay, I shall explain all three of these phrases, as well as another, ‘the caesura in the history of political thought.’