Benjamin Constant and constitutionalism
Benjamin Constant (1767-1830) was one of the most famous liberal politicians and writers of the Bourbon Restoration in France (1814-1830). In 1814 and 1815, he wrote a number of notable works on constitutionalism. This article places these writings in their historical context, and summarizes Consta...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2015
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Online Access: | https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/oaiart?codigo=5202129 |
Source: | Historia constitucional: Revista Electrónica de Historia Constitucional, ISSN 1576-4729, Nº. 16, 2015, pags. 19-46 |
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Benjamin Constant (1767-1830) was one of the most famous liberal politicians and writers of the Bourbon Restoration in France (1814-1830). In 1814 and 1815, he wrote a number of notable works on constitutionalism. This article places these writings in their historical context, and summarizes Constant's liberal pluralist constitutional philosophy. Constant insisted on the protection of rights, on a representative system of politics based on popular sovereignty, on the separation and balance of power, and on religious toleration. He worried about the destabilizing effects of "fanaticism," and argued that a liberal constitutional regime would not endure unless citizens embraced a politics that permitted contestation,
negotiation, and compromise. |
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