POL101Y1 Lecture Notes - French Revolution, Limited Government, Territorial Authorities Of New Zealand
Document Summary
Benjamin constant (1767 1830: swiss born, french intellectual, fervent liberal, context: french revolution and its aftermath, question: how should free people govern themselves, no models to work from. Model rejected: liberty of ancients: greece, participatory: all citizens participated directly in government (free men, public not private liberty. Republic was not dominated by another one (such as british colonies) Discussed things that were of interest to the public: freedom of the community self government. War isn"t as worth it as it used to be since we don"t have the fear of being conquered. He says we may too easily surrender out right in political power and that we shouldn"t just pursue our own happiness but that we should care about our government. Liberty of the ancients is seen through modern notions of citizenship and virtue. Ancient liberty and plato: representative government creates a pursuit of satisfying the lower-class.
