Principles of Politics was first published in 1815. It is by one of the great political thinkers of all time, a pioneer of classical liberalism. Thanks to the work of historian Ralph Raico, he is being discovered anew today.
This translation of his masterwork on government is based on Etienne Hofmann’s critical edition of Principes de politique (1980), complete with Constant’s additions to the original work.
For example, Constant writes: "Whenever there is no absolute necessity, whenever legislation may fail to intervene without society being overthrown, whenever, finally, it is a question merely of some hypothetical improvement, the law must abstain, leave things alone, and keep quiet."
