On the record
The latter made much show of an impartible and inalienable sovereignty eternally vested in the people; but in practice its exercise is impossible outside the confines of a city-state.
Said by
Harold J. Laski
Source
gutenberg.orgHarold J. Laski: “The latter made much show of an impartible and inalienable sovereignty eternally vested in the people; but in practice…”
Editor's note · Context
Laski critiques Rousseau's notion of sovereignty as impractical outside of a city-state context.
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More from Harold J. Laski
There are realms of conduct within which, to be free, I must be permitted to act as I please; to be denied self-expression there, is to be denied freedom.
We do not build Utopias; and the attempt to discover the eternal principles of political right invites disaster at the outset.
Liberty means self-government, and self-government means the right of every man to be his own legislator.
The charge that he supported the Revolution in America and deserted it in France is without meaning; for in the one there is no word that can honorably be twisted to support the other.
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