Colley insists that even the most unlikely autocracies were keen to be seen as being on the constitutional route. Political theorists such as Rousseau and Bentham could normally be assumed to be working on a constitution for somewhere, a case of general principles tweaked for particular circumstances. The proliferation of written constitutions after 1750, aided by increases in literacy and the falling costs of printing, is undeniable. The written constitutions are necessary because men (literally) have to be taxed and enlisted and – more generally – incorporated into the polity. The guns and ships create global possibilities for war and empire. Warships that encircle the planet, guns that kill at half a mile or more, written constitutions that allocate your rights and duties: all these are crucial features of modernity and, according to Linda Colley, they are functionally connected.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |