Bentham’s Views on Sovereignty and Government
Bentham empowered the sovereign with unlimited powers to legislate all and everything. The supreme government authority, though not infinite must unavoidably, be allowed to infinite unless limited by express convention. The only possible restraint on the sovereign authority is his own anticipation of popular resistance, based upon popular interests. Bentham firmly believed in the written constitutions as guarantees of rational governments, but he was against any bill of rights, limitations upon the powers to amend the constitution and all other devices for restraining the supreme authority and regarded them unsound in theory and worthless in practice. He said that rights emanated from the supreme authority of the state, i-e, the sovereign. The sovereign was not bound to respect any individual rights. A government was liberal and despotic according to the arrangement of distribution and application of supreme power.
Rights of Resistance:
Bentham thought that a subject had no legal right to show resistance or revolt against sovereign. Their legal duty is unconditioned obedience to the sovereign. But a subject has a moral right and a moral duty to resist his sovereign if the utility of resistance were greater than the evil of resistance. The exercise of his unlimited powers by the sovereign would depend on considerations of utility.
Government:
Bentham believed that in the long run a representative democracy was a more suitable form of government than any other to secure the greatest happiness of the greatest number. The main thing is that the government should be an agency of good, i-e, of happiness and not of evil. The extension, duration and intensity of government power should be properly restricted and de-limited with a view to secure the maximum of happiness and pleasures.
Bentham seems reluctant to agree with Blackstone’s characterization of the British constitution as perfect, and suggested some amendments to it. He was for the promulgation of universal manhood suffrage, annual parliaments and voting by ballot. He disliked oth the monarchy and the House of Lords in Britain. A republican government was best because it ensured efficiency, economy and supremacy of the people and brought about the greatest good of the greatest number on the basis of the identity of interests between the ruler and the ruled. Democratic constitution is presented by him.
Theory of Punishment:
Bentham held that punishment should be preventive and corrective rather than coercive and retaliatory. It should be calculated to prevent the spread of evil and to secure the extension of good. Punishment must not be inflicted where it was ineffective, groundless, needless or unprofitable. It should be obviously justifiable and proportionate to the offence committed but it must be sufficient to secure its ends. It ought to be able to prevent the offender from repeating the offence. It should be individualized, qualitatively and quantitatively, to suit the individual offender. The basic principles of punishment are:
1. Equable
2. Exemplary
3. Frugal of Pain
4. Remissible
5. Compensatory
6. Reformatory
7. Popular
8. Certain and not severe
According to Bentham, the only valid test of the adequacy of a punishment was its ability to secure public welfare. He believed that the English criminal law was inhuman. He was in favor of the reform of the criminal and the prisons and suggested the building of his moral Panopticon, a wheel-shaped building for the housing and proper observation of the criminals. He had a great faith in education as he wanted to bring about adult franchise, a responsible executive, universal education and a representative parliament.