Democracy and Information: The Perspective of Jeremy Bentham's Political Panoptism

Abstract

As regards political commitment, Halévy's seminal study (1995) has made Bentham known as a member of the 'Radicals' who, at the end of the 18th century in England, defended the equal vote, the secret ballot, and the principle of 'No taxation without consent'. He is undoubtedly less known for proposing an almost complete plan of a utilitarian democracy, which he conceived in 1822 at the request of the Portuguese Cortes. Bentham worked on this project for ten years, trying to have it implemented in Greece, Tripoli, Portugal, and South America. He died in 1832, leaving the Constitutional Code unfinished (.).