Condorcet: Writings on the United States

Ideas on Despotism: For the Benefit of Those Who Pronounce This Word Without Understanding It (1789)

1 Despotism comes from the Greek word δεσπóτης, which means master. There is despotism whenever men have masters, that is to say, are subjected to the arbitrary will of other men. 2 Despotism by one man alone is a fiction of the mind; but despotism by a small number over a large number is very common and has two causes: the ease with which a small number can join together, and its wealth, with which it can buy other forces. If one examines the history of countries where it has been thought that despotism by one man existed, one will always see a class or several bodies of men who share with him his power. In Turkey, the Janissaries and the cast of legal professionals; in Rome, the Praetorian Guard and the twelve armies stationed along the borders; in France, the twelve parliaments; in Prussia, the army; in Russia, the regiments of the guards and the great lords.i i. This is not to say that a conqueror, a great general, or this or that king cannot really be the sole master, as often in a democracy a man, through his influence upon the people, wields power alone; but only the ordinary state of things can be at issue here, not the personal influence of some individuals. The arbitrary authority of a commander over his army does not create the despotism of one man. The bey of Algiers can have the officers of his troops beheaded; but he is obliged to conform to the prejudices, pretensions and whims of the militia. Ideas on Despotism: For the Benefit of Those Who Pronounce This Word Without Understanding It (1789) 64 S condorcet 3 There are two kinds of despotism, which could be called legal and factual if the word “legal” could be applied to despotism, but which I will call direct and indirect despotism. Direct despotism occurs in every country where representatives of the citizens do not exercise the most extensive right of opposition, and do not have adequate means to amend laws they find contrary to reason and justice. Indirect despotism exists when, despite the intent of the law, representation is neither equal nor real, or when one is subjected to an authority that is not established by law. Thus, in England, for example, one will find that direct despotism exists, since the right of veto of the king and the House of Lords leaves the nation without legal avenues to revoke a bad law,1 and the representatives of the people only have, in order to obtain such reform, indirect means which are equally offensive to reason, national dignity and public order. But England is above all subjected to indirect despotism, because the House of Commons , which should by law represent the nation, does not in reality represent it; because it is only an aristocratic body the resolutions of which are dictated by forty or fifty people, either ministers, lords, or representatives of the boroughs.2 4 These two types of despotism almost always go together. In Turkey, one is subjected to the direct despotism of the sultan and of the body of legal professionals , whom he is obliged, by custom at least, to consult—he even has to obtain their authorization in some cases—and who are the real legislators since they also have the authority to interpret civil laws; but the despotism of the Janissaries is only indirect. It is not by virtue of an explicit law or a time-honored custom that the sultan is obliged to yield to their will. In some countries, the populace of the capital exercises indirect despotism; in some others, the leaders of the nation have made themselves subordinate to financiers; government operations depend upon the ease with which advance funds can be obtained from them; they impose their choice of ministers , and so the people are subject to the despotism of bankers. All these powers, either direct or indirect, form in various countries a body IDEAS ON DESPOTISM S 65 of citizens whose arbitrary will governs the rest of the nation; and often, in the midst of so many masters, it does not know whom it obeys. 5 A few writers,3 either in good faith or because they belonged to or hoped to become members of the dominant faction, have honored with the name of liberty the anarchy produced by the discord between the various...