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This volume brings together a series of lectures A. V. Dicey first gave at Harvard Law School on the influence of public opinion in England during the nineteenth century and its impact on legislation. It is an accessible attempt by an Edwardian liberal to make sense of recent British history. In our time, it helps define what it means to be an individualist or liberal. Dicey's lectures were a reflection of the anxieties felt by turn-of-the-century Benthamite Liberals in the face of Socialist and New Liberal challenges.
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Lectures on the Relation between Law and Public Opinion in England during the Nineteenth Century a. v. dicey Lectures on the Relation between Law and Public Opinion in England during the Nineteenth Century by a. v. dicey Edited and with an Introduction by Richard VandeWetering Liberty Fund indianapolis This book is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a foundation established to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. The cuneiform inscription that serves as our logo and as the design motif for our endpapers is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 b.c. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash. New introduction, editor’s note, new annotations, translations, index 䉷 2008 by Liberty Fund, Inc. The Liberty Fund edition is based on the 1917 printing of the second edition, published by Macmillan in 1914. Frontispiece: Courtesy of Richard A. Cosgrove Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved. 1 3 5 7 9 c 1 3 5 7 9 p 10 8 6 4 2 10 8 6 4 2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dicey, Albert Venn, 1835–1922. Lectures on the relation between law and public opinion in England during the nineteenth century / A.V. Dicey ; edited and with an introduction by Richard VandeWetering. p. cm. Originally published: London : Macmillan, 1917. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-86597-699-3 (alk. paper) — isbn 978-0-86597-700-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Law—England—History. 2. Public opinion—England—History— 19th century. 3. England—Politics and government—19th century. I. Title. kd626.d5 2008 349.4209⬘034—dc22 2006052871 Liberty Fund, Inc. 8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684 Contents Introduction to the Liberty Fund Edition, by Richard VandeWetering Editor’s Note Preface to the First Edition Preface to the Second Edition xiii xxiii xxv xxix lecture i. Relation between Law and Public Opinion Law not always the result of public opinion (i.) Law may be the result of custom (ii.) Opinion governing law may not be public opinion (iii.) Want of legislative organ representing public opinion Law in modern England the result of public opinion How far law-making public opinion is always the opinion of the sovereign power Objection considered, that in legislation men are guided not by their opinion but by their interest 3 5 5 6 8 9 10 lecture ii. Characteristics of Law-making Opinion in England Precise scope of lectures Characteristics of English legislative opinion (1) Existence at any given time of predominant current of legislative opinion 14 15 16 vi / Contents (2) Legislative opinion may originate with thinker or school of thinkers (3) Development of legislative opinion in England slow and continuous Slowness Continuity (4) Dominant legislative opinion never despotic (5) Laws create legislative opinion 17 21 21 24 27 30 lecture iii. Democracy and Legislation Does not advance of democracy explain development of English law since 1800? The plausibility of idea suggested by question Advance of democracy only to slight extent explanation of developme