Just as the American is the type of composite Governments, in which the supreme power is divided between many bodies and functionaries, so the English is the type of SIMPLE Constitutions, in which the ultimate power upon all questions is in the hands of the same persons.
Walter Bagehot: “Just as the American is the type of composite Governments, in which the supreme power is divided between many bodies and…”
On the record
Said by
Walter Bagehot
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Bagehot contrasts the American system of divided power with the English system of centralized authority, highlighting their fundamental differences.
Share
More from Walter Bagehot
He could have found the truth as a statesman just as he found it when a judge; but he never did find it.
If the above reasoning be sound, compulsory constituencies are necessary, voluntary constituencies destructive; the optional transferability of votes is not a salutary aid, but a ruinous innovation.
They are solely concerned with his attractiveness as a candidate; they need not regard his efficiency as a ruler.
Nothing promotes intellect like intellectual discussion, and nothing promotes intellectual discussion so much as government by discussion.





