Bentham and Bureaucracy (Cambridge Studies in the History and Theory of Politics)

Most accounts of Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) deal with him as a prophet of either utilitarianism or of liberal democracy. This book discusses a less familiar but very important aspect of his political thought: his theory of how government institutions should be organised in order to function as efficient and yet responsive guardians of the community's interests. It thus focuses on his programme for he executive and judicial branches of government rather than for the legislature and the electorate. Dr Hume suggests that eighteenth-century political thought was richer in ideas about government that has usually been allowed, but that Bentham's special qualities of mind enabled him to widen and deepen those ideas much further than his contemporaries could have foreseen. Most accounts of Bentham treat him as a prophet of either utilitarianism or of liberal democracy. This book discusses a less familiar but very important aspect of his political thought: his theory of how government institutions should be organised in order to function as efficient and yet responsive guardians of the community's interests. This work is an essay in the history of ideas, the report of an inquiry into the sources and evolution of Jeremy Bentham's ideas about the functions, structure and activities of government. An examination of Bentham's programme for the executive and judicial branches of government L.j. Hume. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 303-309.