The four essays by Jeremy Bentham assembled in this volume date from the spring and summer of 1822 and are based exclusively on manuscripts, many of which have never before been published. In the essays `Economy as Applied to Office', `Identification of Interests', `Supreme Operative', and `Constitutional Code Rationale', Bentham develops the general principles of constitutional law and government which underpin the detailed administrative provisions set out in Constitutional Code . In addition, original and penetrating discussions of such topics as sovereignty, constitutional rule, democratic and monarchical government, public finance, the aptitude and powers of officials, corruption, the influence of public opinion, and the delusive effect of religion and titles of honour, affirm Bentham's status as a political theorist of the first rank. As an important application of utilitarian principles to the structure and organization of government, and a major contribution to the theory of representative democracy, this volume will be of interest to students of philosophy, law, politics, economics, and history.

This volume collects four essays--"Economy as Applied to Office," "Identification of Interests," "Supreme Operative," and "Constitutional Code Rationale"--dating from the spring and summer of 1822. Based exclusively on manuscripts, many of which have never been published, the essays represent an important application of utilitarian principles to the structure and organization of government and are a major contribution to the theory of representative democracy.

'We must be grateful to te editor for this contribution to Bentham's constitutional theory as we must also be for his maintenance of the high standards of scholarship we have come to expect from the Collected Works.' J.F. Lively, University of Warwick, European History Quarterly