COMPLETE The English Constitution by Bagehot -ck

Solo or group recordings that are finished and fully available for listeners
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Carolin
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Post by Carolin »

The English Constitution by Walter Bagehot (1826 - 1877).

This project is now complete! All audio files can now be found on the catalog page for this project: http://librivox.org/the-english-constitution-by-walter-bagehot/
The English Constitution is an extremely accessible work of political and legal science by Walter Bagehot, first published in serialized form in 1865-7. While some of his observations on the English system no longer apply to the modern constitutional organization of the United Kingdom, his philosophical basis is for the most part as sound as ever.
For instance, Bagehot observes in the chapter on the Monarchy that, It is often said that men are ruled by their imaginations; but it would be truer to say they are governed by the weakness of their imaginations. The nature of a constitution, the action of an assembly, the play of parties, the unseen formation of a guiding opinion, are complex facts, difficult to know and easy to mistake. But the action of a single will, the fiat of a single mind, are easy ideas: anybody can make them out, and no one can ever forget them. When you put before the mass of mankind the question, "Will you be governed by a king, or will you be governed by a constitution?" the inquiry comes out thus—"Will you be governed in a way you understand, or will you be governed in a way you do not understand?" The issue was put to the French people; they were asked, "Will you be governed by Louis Napoleon, or will you be governed by an assembly?" The French people said, "We will be governed by the one man we can imagine, and not by the many people we cannot imagine". ( Carolin)
    1. How to claim a part, and "how it all works" here To find a section to record, simply look at point 5. below at the sections. All the ones without names beside them are "up for grabs." Click "Post reply" at the top left of the screen and tell us which section you would like to read (include the section number from the left-most column in the reader list, please). Read points 6. to 8. below for what to do before, during and after your recording.
    2. New to recording? Please read our Newbie Guide to Recording!
    3. Is there a deadline? We ask that you submit your recorded sections within 1-2 months of placing your claim. Please note that to be fair to the readers who have completed their sections in a timely way, if you haven't submitted your recording(s) after two months, your sections will automatically be re-opened for other readers to claim, unless you post in this thread to request an extension. Extensions will be granted at the discretion of the Book Coordinator. If you cannot do your section, for whatever reason, just let me know and it'll go back to the pool. There's no shame in this; we're all volunteers and things happen.Please do not sign up for more sections than you can complete within the two month deadline.
    4. Where do I find the text? Source text (please only read from this text!): http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4351
    5. Please claim sections (the numbers in the first column below)! If this is your first recording, please let me know under which name or pseudonym you'd like to appear in the LibriVox catalogue. We can also link to a personal website/blog.

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    6. NOTES:
      1. Footnotes: Please read the footnotes. Frame them with "Footnote: ... End of Footnote".
      2. Chapter Divisions: Please find the start and end of the divided chapters in the second post of this project!
      3. Chapter Divisons (2): Some chapters are divided into two parts (I. and II.) by the author. please ignore this division so that this doesnt confuse the listeners!
    7. BEFORE recording: Please check the Recording Notes: http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6427#6430

      Set your recording software to:
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      No more than 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning of the recording!
      Bagehot is pronounced /ˈbædʒət/ or BA-jət
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      • "Section [##] of The English Constitution. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: librivox DOT org"
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        Some chapters are divided into two parts (I. and II.). Please ignore that division to not confuse the listeners!

      END of recording
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        "End of Section [##]"
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      128 kbps MP3
      constitution_##_bagehot_128kb.mp3 (all lower-case) where ## is the section number (e.g. constitution_01_bagehot_128kb.mp3)
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Carolin
Carolin
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Post by Carolin »

NO. I. - INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION.

part 1
please read until
The wide gift of the elective franchise will be a great calamity to the whole nation, and to those who gain it as great a calamity as to any.

part 2
please start at
I do not of course mean that statesmen can choose with absolute freedom what topics they will deal with and what they will not. I am of course aware that they choose under stringent conditions.
please read until
Young men who are born to rank may risk it, not middle-aged or old men who have earned their rank. A moderate number of life peers would almost always counsel moderation to the Lords, and would almost always be right in counselling it.

part 3
please start at
Recent discussions have also brought into curious prominence another part of the Constitution. I said in this book that it would very much surprise people if they were only told how many things the Queen could do without consulting Parliament
please read until
It would be enough to let the treaty be laid upon the table of both Houses, say for fourteen days, and to acquire validity unless objected to by one House or other before that interval had expired.

part 4
please start at
This is all which I think I need say on the domestic events which have changed, or suggested changes, in the English Constitution since this book was written. But there are also some foreign events which have illustrated it, and of these I should like to say a few words.

NO. II. THE CABINET.

part 1
please read until
The independence of the legislative and executive powers is the specific quality of Presidential government, just as their fusion and combination is the precise principle of Cabinet government.

part 2
please start at
First, compare the two in quiet times. The essence of a civilised age is, that administration requires the continued aid of legislation. One principal and necessary kind of legislation is taxation.

NO. III. THE MONARCHY

part 1
please read until
he and she would be at the head of the pageant of life; they would represent England in the eyes of foreign nations; they would represent the Government of England in the eyes of the English.

part 2
please start at
It is very easy to imagine a world in which this change would not be a great evil. In a country where people did not care for the outward show of life, where the genius of the people was untheatrical
please read until
Of the actual business of the sovereign—the real work the Queen does—I shall speak in my next paper.

part 3
please start at
The House of Commons has inquired into most things, but has never had a committee on "the Queen". There is no authentic blue-book to say what she does. Such an investigation cannot take place
please read until
But very many will intrigue when Parliament is perplexed, when parties are divided, when alternatives are many, when many evil things are possible, when Cabinet government must be difficult.

part 4
please start at
It is very important to see that a good administration can be started without a sovereign, because some colonial statesmen have doubted it.

NO. IV. THE HOUSE OF LORDS.

part 1
please read until
My opinion is, that you should advise the House to vote that which would tend most to public order, and would be most beneficial to the immediate interests of the country."

part 2
please start at
This is the mode in which the House of Lords came to be what it now is, a chamber with (in most cases) a veto of delay with (in most cases) a power of revision, but with no other rights or powers.
please read until
It would be a standing miracle if such a chamber possessed a knowledge of its age superior to the other men of the age; if it possessed a superior and supplemental knowledge; if it descried what they did not discern, and saw truly that which they saw, indeed, but saw untruly.

part 3
please start at
The difficulty goes deeper. The task of revising, of adequately revising the legislation of this age, is not only that which an aristocracy has no facility in doing, but one which it has a difficulty in doing.

NO. V. THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

part 1
please read until
Our English system contains both contrivances; it makes party government permanent and possible in the sole way in which it can be so, by making it mild.

part 2
please start at
But these expedients, though they sufficiently remove the defects which make a common club or quarter-sessions impotent, would not enable the House of Commons to govern England.
please read until
If happily, by its intelligence and attractiveness, a Cabinet can gain a hold upon the great middle part of Parliament, it will continue to exist notwithstanding the hatching of small plots and the machinations of mean factions.

part 3
please start at
On the whole, I think it indisputable that the selecting task of Parliament is performed as well as public opinion wishes it to be performed; and if we want to improve that standard, we must first improve the English nation, which imposes that standard.

NO. VI. ON CHANGES OF MINISTRY.

part 1
please read until
In answer, I think it may be shown not, indeed, that this precise change is necessary to a permanently perfect administration, but that some analogous change, some change of the same species, is so.

part 2
please start at
At this moment, in England, there is a sort of leaning towards bureaucracy—at least, among writers and talkers. There is a seizure of partiality to it.
please read until
The nation can tell what a Parliamentary member is by the open test of Parliament; but no one, save from actual contact, or by rare position, can tell anything certain of a Presidential Minister.

part 3
please start at
The case of a Minister under an hereditary form of government is yet worse. The hereditary king may be weak; may be under the government of women;

NO. VII. ITS SUPPOSED CHECKS AND BALANCES.

part 1
please read until
But when we perceive by the roundabout example of a colonial governor how difficult the task of a constitutional king is in the exercise of the function of dissolving Parliament, we at once see how unlikely it is that an hereditary monarch will be possessed of the requisite faculties.

part 2
please start at
An hereditary king is but an ordinary person, upon an average, at best; he is nearly sure to be badly educated for business; he is very little likely to have a taste for business; he is solicited from youth by every temptation to pleasure;
Carolin
Carolin
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Post by Carolin »

i know there are plenty of people interested or working in history, politics/ political science, and/or law, so we should be able to get this project completed!

i hope some readers will find the text as fascinating as i find it :thumbs:
Carolin
Darvinia
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Post by Darvinia »

May I claim sections 20 and 21 please?
Bev

There's nothing you can't prove if your outlook is only sufficiently limited. - Lord Peter Wimsey
I yam what I yam, and that's all what I yam - Popeye, the sailor man
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice - Neil Peart
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Carolin
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Post by Carolin »

:thumbs:
Carolin
Carolin
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Post by Carolin »

We are moving out to readers wanted :)
Carolin
sawasawaya
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Post by sawasawaya »

I'd like section 1 please! :)

Edit:
Let me amend my request. I had looked through the text until I saw that Roman numeral II, and thought that was part 2. Now I see that's considered part 4.

I am really requesting parts 1, 2 and 3.

Edit again:
I've now had a look at section 4, and I'll sign up for that, too. (Though I do need to find out how to pronounce Rouher...)
Carolin
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Post by Carolin »

thank you very much!
sawasawaya wrote:(Though I do need to find out how to pronounce Rouher...)
you can listen to two french speakers saying it here: http://de.forvo.com/word/eug%C3%A8ne_rouher/
dont go for perfection though, we dont expect you to be able to sound like a french native speaker :)

thanks!
Carolin
Carolin
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Post by Carolin »

i believe this project is in perfect order!

all readers are welcome to claim new sections here :thumbs: :thumbs:
Carolin
Darvinia
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Post by Darvinia »

Bev

There's nothing you can't prove if your outlook is only sufficiently limited. - Lord Peter Wimsey
I yam what I yam, and that's all what I yam - Popeye, the sailor man
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice - Neil Peart
12696
Carolin
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Post by Carolin »

Thanks a lot :thumbs:
Carolin
Carolin
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Post by Carolin »

I have advertised for a dpl :thumbs:
Carolin
MrsHand
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Post by MrsHand »

I can DPL for you Carolin.
Carolin
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Post by Carolin »

That would be great kristin! I hope you will enjoy this project :thumbs:
Carolin
Darvinia
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Post by Darvinia »

Uploaded Section 21:
https://librivox.org/uploads/carolin/constitution_21_bagehot_128kb.mp3
Duration - 36:48

I enjoyed these two sections. I'll keep watching this project and probably come back for more in the new year.
Bev

There's nothing you can't prove if your outlook is only sufficiently limited. - Lord Peter Wimsey
I yam what I yam, and that's all what I yam - Popeye, the sailor man
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice - Neil Peart
12696
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