614 



POLITICS. 



eminent by Filmer, Locke, Mackenzie, Algernon 

 Sidney. Hume, Milton, and a host of modern writers. 

 2. Though the theory of government falls, in 

 some degree, under natural law, yet the full treat- 

 ment of so extended a subject gives rise to a sepu- 

 raie branch of science, which we might call abstract 

 or theoretical politics. This department treats of the 

 object of Uie state, and the relation between the 

 state and the individual ; of the right to prescribe 

 laws, and to punish ; of fundamental laws and com- 

 pacts ; of the various forms of governments mo- 

 narchies and republics, aristocracies, democracies, 

 representative systems, &c. ; of the division of 

 jwwers, legislative, judiciary, executive ; of the 

 means of obtaining the true ends of the state ; of 

 the relations between different political societies, 

 &c. ; and of the whole subject of criminal law (q. 

 v.), philosophically considered. Among the most 

 important authors on these subjects are Plato, Aris- 

 totle, Cicero, among the ancients; Macchiavelli, 

 // Principe, with Frederic the Great's Antimacchia- 

 velli (1741), and that by Jakob (1794) ; Hubert 

 Languet (under the assumed name of Stephanus 

 Junius Brutus, Findiciae contra Tyrannos (Soleure, 

 1577) ; Mariano, De Regeet Regis Institutione (see 

 Mariano) ; Hobbes, De Give, and Leviathan, sen 

 de Materia, Forma et Potestate Civitatis (see 

 Hobbes) Locke, Two Treatises of Government 

 (see Locke); Rousseau, Contrat Social; Chr. von 

 Wolf, DeJure Civitatis (Halle, 1748) ; Aug. Schloz- 

 er, Allgemeines Staatstrecht und Staatsverfassung- 

 slehre (Gottingen, 1793) ; Von Haller ; Zacharia, 

 Vierzig Biicher vom Staate (Tubingen, 1820, et 

 seq.); Salmasius, DefensioproCaroloI., and Milton's 

 answer to him, Defensiopro Populo Anglicano ; and 

 Milton's Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, his 

 Ready and Easy Way to establish a Free Common- 

 wealth. Among the writers who have treated cri- 

 minal law philosophically are Beccaria, Dei Delitti 

 e delle Peue (Naples, 1764) ; Feuerbach, Revision 

 der Grundsatze und Grundbegriffe des positiven 

 peinlichen Rechts (2 vols., Erfurth, 1799), and his 

 Lehrbuch des peinlichen Rechts (9th ed., Giessen, 

 1820) ; Grolman, Tittman, Henke. 



3. Political economy, which treats of the resources 

 of national wealth, and the circumstances which af- 

 fect it advantageously and disadvantageously. 

 (See Political Economy?) The Germans give the 

 name of national economy to what is generally com- 

 prised, with us, under political economy. Under 

 state economy they include the management of the 

 finances, and the regulations by which the govern- 

 ment influences the wealth of the state. Under this 

 latter branch, they treat of taxes, monopolies, loans, 

 imports, exports, &c. 



4. Science of police. See Police. 



5. Practical politics, or the art of administering 

 the government of states, both in regard to their 

 internal and external relations. This branch tests 

 the principles of political institutions, whether libe- 

 ral or despotic, whether advocated by the holy al- 

 liance or by the friends of freedom. 



6. History of politics. This traces the variety of 

 civil governments ; the causes of their rise and de- 

 cay ; how one grew out of the other ; how they un- 

 derwent fundamental changes, from the patriarchal 

 form, in which religious institutions, civil govern- 

 ment and family relations were rudely mixed, to the 

 theocratic, in which the two former were blended ; 

 to military monarchies, after the separation of the 

 military power from the priesthood ; to democracies 

 or aristocratic republics ; to feudalism ; to aristocra- 

 tic constitutional monarchies ; to representative 

 aristocratico-democratic governments ; and, at last, 

 to democratic representative governments. The 



enumeration of the works necessary to the student 

 of this branch would far exceed our limits. 



7. History of the European and American sys- 

 tems of states, as forming each a family of members 

 under constant and intimate mutual influence. In 

 as far as the relations of the members of these fa- 

 milies can be learned from treaties of peace, &c., 

 there exist very valuable materials collections of 

 documents by Du Mont, Rousset, Wenk, Von Mar- 

 tens, Koch, Scholl, Isambert, &c. The first attempt 

 to treat this branch systematically was by J. Jac. 

 Schmauss, in his Introduction to Politics (in Ger- 

 man), and commentaries on the Corpus Juris Gen- 

 tium Academicee (2 vols., Leipsic, 1741), edited by 

 him. Koch wrote an Abrege de V Histoire des 

 Traites de Paix entre les Puissances de V Europe de- 



puis la Paix de fVestphalie (4 vols., Basil, 1796 ; a 

 new edition in 15 vols., by Fr. Scholl, Paris, 1817). 

 George Fr. von Martens wrote a sketch of a Di- 

 plomatic History of the European Political Nego- 

 tiations and Treaties, from the End of the Fifteenth 

 Century to the Peace of Amiens (in German, Ber- 

 lin, 1807). Heeren wrote a Manual of the History 

 of the European System of States (fourth edition, 

 Gottingen, 1822) ; and Politz, Political Sciences (3d 

 vol.) ; both in German. 



8. Statistics, or a knowledge of the actual condi- 

 tion, resources, &c. of states. The term was first 

 used by the Germans. 



9. Positive, public and constitutional law. Thi.s 

 branch gives a scientific representation of the fun- 

 damental laws and constitutions of the various Eu- 

 ropean and American states. Materials for tins 

 branch are found in Lacroix, Constitutions de.sprin- 

 cipaux Etats de I' Europe et des Etats-Unis de 

 I' Amerique (third edition. Paris, 1802) ; George Fr. 

 von Marten's Collection of the most Important Fun- 

 damental Laws (in German) ; Politz, the Constitu- 

 tions of the European States, during the twenty-five 

 last Years (4 vols., Leipsic, 1817 1825, in Ger- 

 man) ; Luder's Diplomatic Archives for Europe (3 

 vols., Leipsic, 1819 1823, in German); Archives 

 Diplomatiques pour V Histoire du Temps et desEtats, 

 (6 vols., Stuttgard, 1821 1825) ; and its continua- 

 tion Neueste Staatsacfen und Urfcunden (11 vols., 

 Stuttg., 1825 seq.) ; Dufau, Duvergierand Guadet, 

 Collection des Constitutions, Charles et Lois fonda- 

 mentales des Peuples de I' Europe et des deux Ame- 

 riques (Q vols., Paris, 182123) ; Alb. Fritet, Sci- 

 ence du Publiciste (11 vols., Paris, 18201823). 



10. Practical law of nations, containing the scien- 

 tific exposition of the principles adopted by modern 

 civilized nations for the regulation of their mutual 

 relations in peace and in war. To this belong the 

 rights and duties of neutrals and belligerents, the 

 rules relating to prizes (see Prize), prisoners, block- 

 ade, conquest, &c. The rules of national law are 

 not drawn up in a code, but are merely the princi- 

 ples which have developed themselves within the 

 last 300 years. (See Nations, Law of.) J. Jac. 

 Moser was the first who treated the practical law 

 of nations separately from the theoretical, in his 

 Attempt at a Sketch of the Modern European Law 

 of Nations in Times of Peace and War (in German, 

 10 vols., Frankfort on the Maine, 1777). See, also, 

 Vattel, Le Droit des Gens (3 vols., recent edition, 

 Paris, 1820) ; George Fr. von Martens, Precis du 

 Droit des Gens moderne de I' Europe ; and Charles 

 Martens, Causes celebres du Droit des Gens. The 

 Germans have numerous recent works in this branch 

 of science. 



11. Diplomacy. See Diplomacy. 



12. Political practice embraces whatever is ne- 

 cessary for the conduct of public affairs. In some 

 European governments, in which all business is 



