Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments - by Benjamin Constant

Book Synopsis

In Principles of Politics, first published in 1815, Constant explores the subjects of law, sovereignty, and representation; power and accountability; government, property, and taxation; wealth and poverty; war, peace, and the maintenance of public order; and freedom, of the individual, of the press, and of religion.

Benjamin Constant (1767-1830), born in Switzerland, became one of France's leading writers, as well as a journalist, philosopher, and politician.

Review Quotes

Apart from a few essays little was known in English of Constant, but now, thanks to the magnificent translation of his major work by Dennis O'Keeffe (Principles of Politics, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis, 2003) we have a clear idea of what Constant stood for and its value for the contemporary world. Constant produced, in over 550 densely argued pages, the most coherent normative theory of liberalism (in its traditional sense) in the nineteenth century. It is intellectually complex but Constant's own lyrical style is rendered into elegant English in O'Keeffe's fine translation. . . .There is an informative introduction by Nicholas Capaldi, and our understanding is made easier by Dennis O'Keeffe's thorough and lucid translation. He even politely corrects the odd mistake Constant made. It is a monument to scholarship and unlikely to be matched.

The Salisbury Review
Autumn 2004


Liberty Fund has published an elegant, faithfully translated edition of the first (1810) and longest version of Constant's Principles of Politics Applicable to All Modern Governments. . .Constant is a necessary companion for every thoughtful person who tries to steer a principled middle path between reactionary nostalgia and progressive illusions. His measured, humane liberalism is superior to nearly everything that goes by that name in the contemporary academic and political worlds.

The New Criterion
June 2004


By 1810 Constant had completed his Principles of Politics, which Dennis O'Keeffe has now translated into an elegant English that matches Constant's French. O'Keefe is the editor of the Salisbury Review in London, and his is the first full translation of this French classic. It also has an authoritative Introduction by Nicholas Capaldi, who sees Constant as a crucial link in the French liberal tradition between Montesquieu and Tocqueville. The book itself is a handsome product.

Quadrant
May 2004