On the record
The evil that men do lives after them; and few doctrines have been more noxious in their consequence than this theory of checks and balances.
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Harold J. Laski
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gutenberg.orgHarold J. Laski: “The evil that men do lives after them; and few doctrines have been more noxious in their consequence than this theory of…”
Editor's note · Context
Laski critiques the theory of checks and balances, arguing that its consequences have been harmful.
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More from Harold J. Laski
It has been the historic character of persecution always to degrade the persecutor and to strengthen the persecuted by drawing attention to their claims.
The intolerance may be Catholic, when it insists that a unity of outlook is essential for the preservation of society; or it may be Protestant when, as with Calvin and the Socinians, it holds that the blasphemous nature of the belief…
He is able, accordingly, to indulge in the twofold luxury not only of preserving his own authority, but also of assisting the persons attacked to enter, if they so choose, the way of truth.
Ultimately, that denial is always made upon the same ground: it is insisted that the doctrines or practices attacked are subversive of the civil order.
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