Bentham on Democracy and Bureaucracy:

With a Focus on the Concept of ‘Responsibility’

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between democracy and bureaucracy in Bentham's Constitutional Code by focusing on his concept of ‘responsibility’. Most studies on Bentham have emphasised his optimism about the validity of public opinion. It is true that Bentham trusted in public opinion that was formed through discussion among the people. He called ‘the responsibility of the governors’, which answers to the dictates of public opinion, ‘moral aptitude’. This concept was formed through criticising Burke's concept of ‘virtue’. Bentham also recognized, however, that deviations exist between the dictates of public opinion and the principle of utility. Therefore, he expected able governors not only to follow public opinion but also to lead it. In leading public opinion, governors, especially ministers or functionaries, were required to have mastered a kind of scientific and useful knowledge, which Bentham termed ‘intellectual aptitude’. His educational writing, Chrestomathia, was intended to train these able governors rather than average citizen. What Bentham attempted in his Constitutional Code was to reconcile democratic values such as political participation with bureaucratic expertise.