As, in the end, all the members of this elective Constitution are equally fugitive, and exist only for the election, they may be no longer the same persons who had chosen him, to whom he is to be responsible when he solicits for a renewal of his trust.
Burke critiques the French revolutionary constitution, arguing that the transient nature of elected officials and electors undermines the principle of accountability.
Share
More from Edmund Burke
Their trust for the future preservation of the Constitution was not in future revolutions.
Though a king may abdicate for his own person, he cannot abdicate for the monarchy.
An irregular, convulsive movement may be necessary to throw off an irregular, convulsive disease.
But the course of succession is the healthy habit of the British Constitution.
Other voices in this conversation
