Secondly, though the leaders of party no longer have the vast patronage of the last century with which to bribe, they can coerce by a threat far more potent than any allurement--they can dissolve.
Here, Bagehot highlights the coercive power of party leaders in parliamentary politics.
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More from Walter Bagehot
They are above corruption because they are the corruptors.
It is absurd to choose by contested party election an impartial chooser of Ministers.
Now it is not conceivable that a race of beings with valuable instincts supporting their existence and supplying their wants would need these simple tools.
The work would be done so well that we should not want any one to look over or revise it.
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