Pedro Schwartz , Spanish economist and historian, attempts to assess some of the political, social and constitutional ideas of the Utilitarian thinker who has had an influence, not only on the foreign liberation movements of the early 19th century but, he suggests, on the shaping of the English political system since his day.
Dr Schwartz is one of an international team of scholars who, under the general editorship of Professor J. H. Burns , arc editing the Bentham papers in University College, London. which the ' hermit of Queen's Square Place ' helped to bring into existence 150 years ago.