The English Constitution |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 62
Page xii
... fact guided in their judgment by the better educated classes ; that they preferred representatives from those classes , and gave those representatives much license . If a hundred small shopkeepers had by miracle been added to any of xii ...
... fact guided in their judgment by the better educated classes ; that they preferred representatives from those classes , and gave those representatives much license . If a hundred small shopkeepers had by miracle been added to any of xii ...
Page xiii
... facts ; not by things palpable , but by things impalpable . Not to put too fine a point upon it , they were influenced by rank and wealth . No doubt the better sort of them believed that those who were superior to them in these ...
... facts ; not by things palpable , but by things impalpable . Not to put too fine a point upon it , they were influenced by rank and wealth . No doubt the better sort of them believed that those who were superior to them in these ...
Page xviii
... fact , that popularity acted as a guide both to consti- tuencies and to members . The candidates only said they would vote with Mr. Gladstone , and the constituencies only chose those who said so . Even the minority could only be ...
... fact , that popularity acted as a guide both to consti- tuencies and to members . The candidates only said they would vote with Mr. Gladstone , and the constituencies only chose those who said so . Even the minority could only be ...
Page xxii
... fact ; people do not do their political sums so . Of all our political dangers , the greatest I conceive is that they will neglect the lesson . In plain English , what I fear is that both our political parties will bid for the support ...
... fact ; people do not do their political sums so . Of all our political dangers , the greatest I conceive is that they will neglect the lesson . In plain English , what I fear is that both our political parties will bid for the support ...
Page xxviii
... facts of real life and decide simply by an abstract formula . If in 1832 the Lords had so acted , there would have ... fact in judging whether the nation is determined to have that measure enacted ; it is an indication , but it is only ...
... facts of real life and decide simply by an abstract formula . If in 1832 the Lords had so acted , there would have ... fact in judging whether the nation is determined to have that measure enacted ; it is an indication , but it is only ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
administration American arguments aristocracy assembly authority better Bill cabinet government chamber choose classes committee constitutional monarch critical Crown defect despotic difficulty discussion duty eager educated effect elected electors England English Constitution evil executive Executive Government fact feeling foreign free government function George George III give greatest head hereditary House of Commons House of Lords imagine influence interest judgment king leader legislation legislature liament look Lord Palmerston matter ment mind minister ministry monarch nation nature never opinion organisation Parlia Parliament parliamentary government party peculiar peers perhaps persons plutocracy political popular premier present President presidential government presidential system principle Queen questions Reform Act royalty rule rulers Sir George Lewis society sort sovereign speak statesmen stitution sure theory things thought tion Tory treaty truth vote WALTER BAGEHOT Whig whole wish
Popular passages
Page 74 - Having once given her sanction to a measure, that it be not arbitrarily altered or modified by the Minister; such an act she must consider as failing in sincerity towards the Crown, and justly to be visited by the exercise of her Constitutional right of dismissing that Minister.
Page 14 - hyphen which joins, a buckle which fastens the legislative part of the State to the executive part".
Page 75 - To state the matter shortly, the sovereign has, under a constitutional monarchy such as ours, three rights — the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn.
Page 10 - The efficient secret of the English Constitution may be described as the close union, the nearly complete fusion, of the executive and legislative powers.
Page xxiii - But in all cases it must be remembered that a political combination of the lower classes, as such and for their own objects, is an evil of the first magnitude; that a permanent combination of them would make them (now that so many of them have the suffrage) supreme in the country; and that their supremacy, in the state they now are, means the supremacy of ignorance over instruction and of numbers over knowledge.
Page 33 - The best reason why Monarchy is a strong government is, that it is an intelligible government. The mass of mankind understand it, and they hardly anywhere in the world understand any other.
Page 13 - The cabinet, in a word, is a board of control chosen by the legislature, out of persons whom it trusts and knows, to rule the nation.
Page 269 - ... kind of democratic country, because it is more suited to political excellence. The highest classes can rule in it; and the highest classes must, as such, have more political ability than the lower classes. A...
Page 172 - ... not for a moment wish to see a representation of pure mind; it would be contrary to the main thesis of this essay. I maintain that Parliament ought to embody the public opinion of the English nation; and, certainly, that opinion is much more fixed by its property than by its mind. The 'too clever by half people, who live in 'Bohemia', ought to have no more influence in Parliament than they have in England, and they can scarcely have less.
Page 251 - On my return home, it occurred to me, in 1837, that something might perhaps be made out on this question by patiently accumulating and reflecting on all sorts of facts which could possibly have any bearing on it.