470 Historical Reflections/Réftexions Historiques cconcemait la place de Yindividu, dont on peut dire que le courant The Battle for Legitimacy: Guizot and Constant on Sovereignty! Constant? Aurelian Craiutu n'y a point de souverains sur ta terre —Guizot Introduction Along with Tocqueville and Madame de Staé!, Benjamin Constant (1767-1830) and Francois Guizot (1787-1874) are nineteenth-centuty French liberalism. Bom in 1767, Constant was twenty ‘years older than Guizot and died a few months after the July Revolution, During the Bourbon Restoration (1814-30) the two thinkers met and engaged in an interes logue on the nature and institutions of representative government? Guizot was a prominent member of the ‘Auretian Crue isan Assistant Proesso inthe Department of Pla Science a nina Unersy. (©2002 HISTORICAL REPLECTIONS/REFLEXIONS HISTORIQUES, Vo 28, No.3472. Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques types of liberalism, Constant, ism based on the al 2 10 Guizor's theory of sovereignty because he remains a terra incognita or many poliical theorists, wile Constan'slewsonsoverelgnty the final section of this essay I offer a dill y tions of the sovereignty o as well as the central place the concept occupies in Guizot's poli philosophy. 19" Contry (New fon Niedelran, The The Battle for Legitimacy 473 Sovereignty in French Political Thought keep on using i ithas no place ‘Thetwoconceptsofsover onthe same anvil. They mustbe scrapped together. . must get Political philosophy. the word, as well as the concept of sovereignty.""Taday we the cote of democracy. This was nor the case in early nineleenth-century France, The enty in the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political to make decisions and settle disputes within a poli importance of sovereignty stems from its association with the right to474 Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques become @ new form of despotism, sovereignty could not be seen as a {Hane Kelsen On Sovereignty” in Defense of Soveregny, ed WS is. 9. Pormore deta se I Rees “The Theory of Sovereigny Restated,” ibid p. 2105, 10. Benjamin Constant, Polit Wriings, ed. Biancarvarla Fontana (Cambee, 1988), pte ‘The Battle for Legitimacy 475 French iberals had to search fornew ways of conceptualizing soverelgnty, political power and authority. ‘emphasis on the need icism toward any theory grounded in the concep! stand in need of explanation. The r ‘ought to be placed in the middle, yet editary assembly, the elective ibunals) and must not disturb the balance above, t 1989), pp 173. 12. Constant, Poltica Wetings, p12.476 Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques to supreme power authority is unl the boundaries Justice and by’ This empha an often negle ine right were two dif jh. The only way to preventat Power was to deny sovereignty of right to either the individual or the The Battle for Legitimacy 477 Li gen justice ‘The history ofthe concept of the sovereignty of reason deserves fead, it should be granted only to reason, trath (right), and ‘true sovereignty belongs tem alone. The supremacy of reason also appeared, albeit in different de Tracy's influential Commentary s which argued thy Philosophy. Men, argued Gulzot, always build idols whom they invest absolute sovereignty, the source of what Guizot called political idolatry. In thelr quest for security and certainty, men promise to obey these new478 Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques quest for cent wmething unattainable on Eatth He therefore grants the sovereignty of right either to monarch or the entire people, on ‘over that his hopes were once again unfounded, Power-driven individuals inevit political power by shrewdly playing with man’s i werelgnty was invested sometimes In one man, sometimes in several; occasionally, man granted ittoa caste, o even to an entire people sovereign defines both the great of the human condition Human beings have an insatiable need to worship; they aspire to transcend their limitations through the transcendence and immortality ofthe very idols they adore. Nonetheless, ‘uid, pp. 319-20, 2 Ti, . $20 Also see Gust, History ofthe Origins, p52 The Battle for Legitimacy 479 they often pay a high price for the costly ilusion of having found the sovereignty of right here on Earth. This the worship of false and dangerous idols—monarchs or the people—and thus opened the door to new forms of despotism: in Guizo’s political thought. For hi institution can be granted saver being can f ‘must obey. Not surprisingly, Guizot's influence upon his polit480 Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques ‘which remains beyond the reach of edge ® This view implies le, no power invested wi arbitrary and despotic is to sant de iure sovereignty to reason, truth and justice. lective body in order to Needless to say, in France Rousseau had countless who took issue ‘anachronistic elements” popular sovereignty, pointing out sovereignty of the people and the d absolute power and despotism. For both Constant lesson ofthe Terror was that a semblance of popular sovereignty could be easily misused 10 legilimize the tyranny of the “enlightened” (the The Battle for Legitimacy 481 al order in which rary willof other tances has anyone any right He of him who submits to power: ‘The upshot of this idea can be surnmarized as follows. Fest, the ri) power Is always derived from reason, never from will. Seco 1, hizo, History of te Origin,» 294482 Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques ‘granting the sovereignty of right toa Reason placed beyond the reach of human beings we prevent words, by equally subj called Reason we ps precepts of reason, justice and an unique sovereign refuse to obey the ‘The Sovereignty of Reason vs. the Sovereignty of the People between the two, as the following fragment from On the Government of France (1820) eloquently shows: believe neither in divine: ice do not reside anywhere on Earth ‘Noman, no assembly of men can fave them or possess them witout fae ort popular sovereignty and dlvine right were incompatible 232, or more details, see Guiot,Pifosophilepatique, p. 36970, 38, See for example, Got, Histon ofthe Orgs, p. 283-4 34, Gulzot, Du gouvernement de a France depul la Resturation (Pas, 820), p 201 ‘The Battle for Legitimacy 483 ‘Two systems have always dominated the world: the sovereignty of the people that deny and the divine detest... The ye will ofall is ply because itis or Guizot’s opposition to popular sovereignty, which he also called fa *raineté duunombre,"*has led many coramentalors to des the principles of reason. Needless to ‘say, Guizot was no democrat in our contemporary sense of the word, even, social condition and its most sallent characteristic, the equality of conditions, 38, Constant, “Dela souverainetéin lp, “Un texte neon de Be484 Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques The Battle for Legitimacy 485 uizot translated into French and commented on sly was no accident, Ancillon was an influential ve sovereign has neither form, nor residence, nor an abstract people ‘which only theory, ‘Therefore, for Guizot as well as Constant, the most important unintended consequence of the introduction of ‘popular sovereignty was the of despotism that threatened the foundations ferred to the sovereignty oft false and dangerous dogma, a weapon of wat (une machine name of allegedly oly ideals.” nin denouncing the use of popular sover tual rights theory of sovereignty. We have already seen th core of Guizot’s theory lay the idea that human beings ate faible, thal ‘ull always be inclined to abuse power if allowed to do so. Equally ‘was Guizot’s emphasis on the rel he called the “divine right-of ror, the soveregny of the people honieux espe pou le nombre and une ausse486 Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques eralism that recognized the rel ‘The tional imy nly of reason was anything legedly corrupt, oligarchic ited significance and cannot speak to our present reason advanced by Merriam in support of his answertothe question of sovereignty,” he concluded, "wi jereisno question to answer. .. . On the whole, the progress of the French theory The Battle for Legitimacy 487 during this period offers little of importance in the development of sovereignt ‘Much along the same lines Douglas the sovereignty of reason did ne century France and England. Starzinger claimed thatthe doc! position amounted to arguing that the very word sovereig virtually relevant toany theory of constitutionalism.*In his opinion, while ‘was a response to these questions. Furthermore, the jon and division of sovereignty kkey role played by freedom of the press, and the division and balance of 49, Memam, Histon p80.488 Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques In the watings ofthe doctrinaires sovereignty did not remain confined press and open parliamentary debates. iple ofthe sovereignty of reason was a con: of publie op ns of representative government characterized by pu Parliamentary debates and free press were consklered theory of the rule of law and a norm can be sovereign only The Battle for Legitimacy 489 subordinate themselves 10 sovereignty of reason,490 Historical Refections/Réflexions Historiques ual consent * This idea hi ralism and democracy, and’ decades to come. ‘The doctrinaires would have wholeheartedly agreed \ ;ppeared incontemporary ised the virtues of English con: ‘monarchy which successfully combined 55 Guinot Histon detected ere on Bs ape see The Battle for Legitimacy 491 the doctrine of the sovereignty of reason and for the social and pol al map of Europe.