Walter Bagehot: “There is a great difficulty in the way of a writer who attempts to…”

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There is a great difficulty in the way of a writer who attempts to sketch a living Constitution--a Constitution that is in actual work and power.

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Walter Bagehot

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Bagehot highlights the challenges of writing about a dynamic political system.

More from Walter Bagehot

But, above all things, they were frightened of 'the world;' the spectacle of nature filled them with awe and dread.

There is no ELASTIC element, everything is rigid, specified, dated.

And, to the effectual maintenance of such a separation, the exclusion of the President's Ministers from the legislature is essential.

Perhaps such powers as these are what a wise man would most seek to exercise and least fear to possess.

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Walter Bagehot: “There is a great difficulty in the way of a writer who attempts to sketch a living Constitution--a Constitution that is…”