Walter Bagehot: “The characteristic legislation of every age must have characteristic…”

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The characteristic legislation of every age must have characteristic defects; it is the outcome of a character, of necessity faulty and limited.

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Walter Bagehot

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Bagehot reflects on how the limitations of a society's character influence its legislative outcomes.

More from Walter Bagehot

It is absurd to choose by contested party election an impartial chooser of Ministers.

He could have found the truth as a statesman just as he found it when a judge; but he never did find it.

No doubt this momentary gain is bought at a ruinous after-cost.

All savage religions are full of superstitions founded on luck.

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Walter Bagehot: “The characteristic legislation of every age must have characteristic defects; it is the outcome of a character, of…”