Checking misrule: Jeremy Bentham and public opinion

Abstract

This thesis is an examination of Jeremy Bentham's ideas of public opinion and how they applied in politics. Bentham thought that public opinion was the only force that could check misrule and encourage rulers, both democratic and tyrannical, to rule toward the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Bentham was among the first to see the importance of public opinion in politics. He lived at a time when political contention was focusing on parliament and national policy, and forms of contention were shifting toward the mind and away from the body. Yet the idea that social and political change can be effected by violence persists and Bentham specifically rejected other sanctions in advocating public opinion as the sole check on misrule. Bentham's importance in the area of public opinion has been underrated, despite his continued relevance. This thesis seeks to address this deficiency of scholarship.