THE TRANSCRIPTS AFFORDED AN UNEXPECTED AND UNPRECEDENTED GLIMPSE OF STATE POWER AND ITS EFFECT ON THE PEOPLE WHO WIELD IT. THERE ARE TWO POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS FOR THE MATERIAL CONTAINED IN THE TRANSCRIPTS: THE IDIOSYNCRATIC AND THE STRUCTURAL. THE IDIOSYNCRATIC EXPLANATION IS THAT THE PROBLEM LIES WITH NIXON THE MAN. THE STRUCTURAL EXPLANATION VIEWS THE PROBLEM AS ONE OF STATE POWER AND HOW IT IS EXERCISED. INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE PENTAGON PAPERS AND IN REPORTS BY INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS INDICATES THAT THE PROBLEMS OF WATERGATE WERE NOT MERELY THE RESULT OF NIXON'S IDIOSYNCRACIES. THE MENTALITY REVEALED IN THE NIXON TRANSCRIPTS DEVELOPED DURING THE 14 YEARS PRIOR TO HIS RESIGNATION AND REFLECTS THE CREATION OF A DUAL (COVERT AND OVERT) STATE WITHIN THE UNITED STATES, THE BREAKDOWN OF DELINEATIONS BETWEEN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC VIOLENCE, AND A CLIMATE OF VIGILANTISM IN SOCIETY AND IN THE PRESIDENCY. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT AMERICAN SOCIETY HAS COME TO BE CHARACTERIZED BY A FETISHISM OF ABSTRACT VIOLENCE. (LKM)