A government on the principles on which constitutional governments arising out of society are established, cannot have the right of altering itself.
Thomas Paine: “A government on the principles on which constitutional governments arising out of society are established, cannot have…”
Editor's note · Context
Paine argues in "Rights of Man" that a constitutional government, established by society, lacks the inherent power to unilaterally change its own fundamental structure.
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If, therefore, the good to be obtained be worthy of a passive, rational, and costless revolution, it would be bad policy to prefer waiting for a calamity that should force a violent one.
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