The Reith Lectures 2019: In Praise of Politics

Reith Lectures - 2/5 In Praise of Politics

The Reith Lectures - 2/5 In Praise of Politics

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The Reith Lectures

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

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

The Reith Lectures: 2019: In Praise of Politics

Jonathan Sumption

In Praise of Politics

2019

BBC Parliament - The Reith Lectures, 2019, In Praise of Politics

Jonathan Sumption discusses state legitimacy.

Jonathan Sumption discusses state legitimacy and how democracy can be effective in accommodating political differences.

This year’s BBC Reith Lecturer is Jonathan Sumption, until recently one of England and Wales’s most senior judges, sitting in the UK’s Supreme Court. In his series Law and the Decline of Politics, he sets out his argument that the law has moved into the space once occupied by politics.

In his second of five lectures, recorded with an audience at Birmingham University, England, Sumption discusses state legitimacy and how democracy can be effective in accommodating political differences. But he says that politics has shied away from legislating. Sumption argues the resolution of political differences should be the job of politics not the law.

The Reith Lectures are presented and chaired by Anita Anand.

The Reith Lectures: 2019

The UK’s only dedicated politics channel, with parliamentary coverage and political programmes from the UK and Europe.

The UK’s only dedicated politics channel, with debates and committees from Westminster, Holyrood, Stormont, Cardiff Bay and Strasbourg and political programmes from across the UK.

Jonathan Sumption delivers his series, Law and the Decline of Politics.

Former judge, Jonathan Sumption, delivers his series, Law and the Decline of Politics, setting out the argument that the law has moved into the space once occupied by politics.

Former judge, Jonathan Sumption, delivers his series, Law and the Decline of Politics, setting out the argument that the law has moved into the space once occupied by politics. Presented and chair by Anita Anand.

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