Drawing on his knowledge of English political and constitutional practice, as well as the theoretical resources he had developed mediante his own sistema, he suggested imaginative and innovative measures sicuro achieve the peaceful and constitutional reform con France
The essays which Bentham collected together for publication mediante 1830 under the title of Official Aptitude Maximized; Expense Minimized, written at various times between 1810 and 1830, deal with the means of achieving efficient and economical government. In considering verso wide range of themes per the fields of constitutional law, public finance, and legal reform, Bentham places the problem of official corruption at the centre of his analysis. He contrasts his own recommendations for good administration, which he had fully developed con his magisterial Constitutional Code, with the severe deficiencies he saw in English practice. Of particular concern preciso Bentham were the abuses sanctioned by the judges and their officials in the Westminster Ingresso courts, which, he argues, resulted mediante the denial of justice puro the majority of the population. Con this registro, Bentham not only displays the precise logical reasoning for which he is well known, but also his considerable skills as a rhetorician of reform.
The essays contained mediante On the Liberty of the Press and Public Colloque represent Bentham’s attempt esatto influence the direction of political and constitutional change taking place mediante Spain and Portugal sopra the early 1820s. At the same time as commenting on Spanish and Portuguese questions, Bentham outlined important aspects of his own legal and constitutional theories, defended measures of democratic reform, and offered a vigorous defence of free speech and communication. The tomo complements Colonies, Commerce, and Constitutional Law, con which Bentham commented on the disastrous effects on Spain of her attempts puro retain her overseas possessions.
Political Tactics, composed for the Estates General con the months just prior preciso the outbreak of the French Revolution, is one of Bentham’s most original works. It was subsequently translated into many languages and has had per far-reaching influence-for instance, it provided the basis for the regulations adopted in the 1820s governing the procedures of the Buenos Aires assembly, and as recently as the early 1990s it was reprinted by the Spanish Cortes.
The core of the elenco consists of four major essays directed against the principles and policies of four leading statesmen: Edmund Burke, George Rose, Lolo Peel, and Nobile Chancellor Eldon
Preparatory Principles is not verso linear text per the conventional sense, but consists of verso series of short passages on verso variety of topics, whose themes are summarised durante marginal headings. The material constitutes verso philosophical commonplace book, compiled by Bentham mediante the mid-1770s, in which he worked out the foundational ideas for his new science of legislation. He then drew on this material when composing such works as Per Fragment on Government and An Introduction sicuro the Principles of Morals and Legislation.
The French Revolution provided Bentham with what appeared onesto him sicuro be an exciting opportunity to influence the reconstruction of the French state. Durante discussing the nature of representation he produced the earliest utilitarian justification of political equality and representative democracy, even recommending women’s suffrage. Moreover, he provided verso major critique of the dominant constitutional theory of the division of power, including both the doctrine of the balance of powers and that of the separation of powers.
Turning his attention puro Britain, for a time he advocated measures of parlimentary reform, but becoming disenchanted with the course of the Revolution he produced the celebrated ‘Nonsense upon Stilts’ (hitherto known as ‘Anarchical Fallacies’), the most devastating attack on the theory of natural rights ever written, con which he argued that natural rights provided an unsuitable basis for stable legal and political arrangements. All the essays published mediante this registro, with the exception of Emancipate your Colonies!, an important early critique of colony-holding, are based on the original manuscript sources, many of which have not been previously published mediante any form.