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The Reith Lectures

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Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series.

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The Reith Lectures: Cyril Radcliffe - Power and the State: The Individual and the State

1951: Cyril Radcliffe - Power and the State

09/12/1951

The Individual and the State

Cyril Radcliffe - Power and the State

BBC Radio 4 - The Reith Lectures, Cyril Radcliffe - Power and the State, The Individual and the State

Lord Radcliffe considers what 'the will of the people' means in a democratic state. 

Lord Radcliffe examines how philosophers including Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Jeremy Bentham have defined the 'will of the people', in his sixth Reith lecture. 

This year's Reith Lecturer is British lawyer Lord Radcliffe. He was Director-General of the Ministry of Information during the Second World War, and is most famous for his role in Partition, the division of the British Indian Empire, His work led directly to the creation of Pakistan and India as independent nations. He examines the features of democratic society, and considers the problematic notions of power and authority in his series of seven Reith Lectures entitled 'Power and the State'.
In his penultimate Reith lecture, entitled 'The Individual and the State', Lord Radcliffe considers the role of the individual in the democratic state, and examines how philosophers including Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Jeremy Bentham have defined the 'will of the people'. 

The Reith Lectures: Cyril Radcliffe - Power and the State

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The lawyer Lord Radcliffe examines the features of democratic society.

The British lawyer Lord Radcliffe examines the features of democratic society, and considers the problematic notions of power and authority in a series of seven Reith lectures.

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The Reith Lectures

Cyril Radcliffe - Power and the State

The Individual and the State

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