Bentham’s constitutional theory and the Greek Constitution of 1822

Abstract

The article examines the manuscript of Jeremy Bentham’s Observations’
on the Greek Provisionai Constitution of Epidaurus (1822), which was written
in February-March 1823 and presented to the Greek legislature by Edward
Blaquière and Andreas Louriottis on 16 May 1823. Three major thèmes are
explored: a) Bentham’s thesis that the acceptance of popular sovereignty
should lead to a transformation of the theory and practice of constituţional
government; b) his use of the greatest happiness principie to resolve problems
arising from the exclusion of the minority Turkish community from citizenship
; and c) his contribution to constituţional theory in the doctrine of ‘latent
negatives’. The relationship between the Observations’ and Bentham’s major
work, the Constituţional Code, is also examined. The article concludes by
considering the allégation that the Constitution of Epidaurus was a mere
‘façade’ created by the Greeks to impress Europeans as to the capacity of the
Greeks to operate a Western, centralized government.