Essays on Government |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 89
Page 1
... politics , for the real mechanism of a government can be understood only by examining it in action . It has , indeed , been far too common to study the constitutions of various countries statically , if I may use the term ; and this has ...
... politics , for the real mechanism of a government can be understood only by examining it in action . It has , indeed , been far too common to study the constitutions of various countries statically , if I may use the term ; and this has ...
Page 2
... political system is essential , therefore , in order that its real mechanism may be understood . This is the first step in the study of a govern- ment ; but it is only the first step , because a political system is not a mere machine ...
... political system is essential , therefore , in order that its real mechanism may be understood . This is the first step in the study of a govern- ment ; but it is only the first step , because a political system is not a mere machine ...
Page 4
... political bodies than it is of the march of the stars , be- cause a government is an organism whose vari- ous parts act and react upon one another ; and it follows that a change in any one of them will cause changes more or less great ...
... political bodies than it is of the march of the stars , be- cause a government is an organism whose vari- ous parts act and react upon one another ; and it follows that a change in any one of them will cause changes more or less great ...
Page 6
... political responsibility in the hands of a few men , or rather of one group of men , whose motions the nation can easily follow , and upon whom it can pass judgment at a stroke , none of these results could be obtained unless the ...
... political responsibility in the hands of a few men , or rather of one group of men , whose motions the nation can easily follow , and upon whom it can pass judgment at a stroke , none of these results could be obtained unless the ...
Page 7
... political system . In the last two essays the limitation of polit- ical power is considered from a philosophical standpoint . The first of these deals only with the theory of the social compact ; but this is almost equivalent to a ...
... political system . In the last two essays the limitation of polit- ical power is considered from a philosophical standpoint . The first of these deals only with the theory of the social compact ; but this is almost equivalent to a ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
absolute absolute monarchy administration American attempt Austin's authority Bill of Rights cabinet cabinet officers chamber Chamber of Deputies citizen civil commands common common law Congress consent consider constitutional law contract courts declares democracy doctrine duty effect elected enacted England English ernment ERSITY essay executive exist extent fact federal force form of government France German habit Hobbes House House of Lords ical independent independent political individual institutions judges judiciary king labor land Land Law Ireland lative legislative power legislature liberty limited matter means ment monarch moral nation natural rights obey officers opinion Parliament parliamentary government party person political power political superior political system possess present President principles private rights provisions question responsible ministry restraint Rousseau Senate sion social compact society sover sovereign sovereign power sovereignty statute supposed supreme theory things tion tive true United UNIVE universal unlimited vote
Popular passages
Page 166 - is a social compact by which the whole people covenants with each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people, that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common good.
Page 167 - We, therefore, the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe, in affording us, in the course of His providence, an opportunity, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud, violence or surprise, of entering into an original, explicit, and solemn compact with each other ; and of forming a new Constitution of Civil Government, for ourselves and posterity ; and devoutly imploring His direction in so interesting a design, DO agree...
Page 189 - No man in this country is so high that he is above the law. No officer of the law may set that law at defiance with impunity. All the officers of the government, from the highest to the lowest, are creatures of the law, and are bound to obey it.
Page 141 - Virginnia, doe by these presents solemnly & mutualy in ye presence of God, and one of another, covenant & combine our selves togeather into a civill body politick, for our better ordering & preservation & furtherance of ye ends aforesaid ; and by vertue hearof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just & equall lawes, ordinances, acts, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete & convenient for ye generall good of ye colonie, unto which we promise all due submission...
Page 145 - This is more than consent, or concord; it is a real unity of them all, in one and the same person, made by covenant of every man with every man, in such manner as if every man should say to every man...
Page 155 - Whenever the legislators endeavour to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience, and are left to the common refuge which God hath provided for all men against force and violence.
Page 207 - If a determinate human superior, not in a habit of obedience to a like superior, receive habitual obedience from the bulk of a given society, that determinate superior is sovereign in that society, and the society (including the superior) is a society political and independent.
Page 84 - It is evident, therefore, that, according to their primitive signification, they have no application to constitutions professedly founded upon the power of the people and executed by their immediate representatives and servants. Here, in strictness, the people surrender nothing, and as they retain everything, they have no need of particular reservations. "We, the people of the United States, to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution...
Page 138 - And to be commanded we do consent, when that society whereof we are part hath at any time before consented, without revoking the same after by the like universal agreement.
Page 32 - Since the Reform Act the House of Lords has become a revising and suspending House. It can alter Bills ; it can reject Bills on which the House of Commons is not yet thoroughly in earnest — upon which the nation is not yet determined. Their veto is a sort of hypothetical veto. They say, We reject your Bill for this once or these twice, or even these thrice: but if you keep on sending it up, at last we won't reject it.