Today we share the political philosophy of Bertrand de Jouvenel (1903-1987) from his work ‘Sovereignty: An Inquiry Into The Political Good’, which was originally published in 1957.
Bertrand de Jouvenel was one of the great political thinkers of the twentieth century, though his work does not fit neatly into received political categories. Jouvenel’s achievement was to present an original political science, one that responds to the circumstances and tragedies of the century and draws on the insights of tradition while avoiding the abstract and ahistorical character of much of our contemporary political theory.
A Top Level Review Of ‘Sovereignty’
‘Sovereignty’ enables “friends of human dignity to deepen their understanding of the moral foundations of liberty and to appreciate more fully that a reflection of the common good does not entail collectivist premises or policies or a return to premodern political forms”, according to Mahoney and DesRosiers. Interestingly, this work from Bertrand de Jouvenel touches upon all of the key components of society we are researching as the point of this blog post series!
Quotes From ‘Sovereignty’
Quotes are organized by topic and excerpted from the Liberty Fund edition of ‘Sovereignty’, published in 2022, translated by J.F. Huntington, and featuring forwards by Daniel J. Mahoney and David DesRosiers.
Autonomy
“But in proportion as the impossible of yesterday becomes the possible of today, the mind loses its sense of the distinction between dream and wish.” – Chapter 15 – Liberty
“It is liberty of opinion which animates what is called the dialectic of democracy. Out of the free clash of opinions a majority view emerges and commands.” – Chapter 16 – Liberty And Natural Light
Groups
“Who has ever come across the completely solitary man? All that explorers (or anyone else) have ever found has been man in society.” – Introduction
“Co-operation is the means by which a man procures for himself material and intellectual good beyond the reach of a solitary individual. Also, it is the school of his morality. For this reason aggregates must be regarded as blessings and this vis politica – their source – essential beneficent.” – Chapter 1 – The Essence Of Politics
“In every highly developed society a man forms part of several aggregates… every aggregate, whatever it is, is kept alive by the loyalty of its members, without which it dies…” – Chapter 1 – The Essence Of Politics
“Man is made by co-operation.” – Chapter 2 – Authority
“Every man is born helpless and wild. He wins control of himself through the education given by the group – by, first and foremost, the narrow group called the family.” – Chapter 2 – Authority
“[Man] wins control over his environment through the collective organisation: this control, which he can never call his own right, comes to him from membership of a whole, and grows from age to age with the enlargement and improvement of the co-operative whole.” – Chapter 2 – Authority
“At length the association comes into being not by a mere coincidence of wishes, but as the fruit of one man working on another. The mistake of the classical theory is to overlook the role of the founder – the auctor – in the formation of the group.” – Chapter 2 – Authority
“The ‘isolated’ man is not a natural phenomenon but a product of intellectual abstraction. That which is natural (in the sense of both primary and necessary) is the group. Without the group man is an impossibility.” – Chapter 4 – The Group
“… to consider groups as secondary phenomena resulting from a synthesis of individuals is a wrong approach; they should be regarded as primary phenomena of human existence.” – Chapter 4 – The Group
“If it is neither natural nor possible for man to live in isolation, neither is it necessary for him to be embodied in groups of the size and complexity that we now see.” – Chapter 4 – The Group
“A progressive society is characterized by a great proliferation of action groups of all sizes and natures.” – Chapter 4 – The Group
“It is in society that a man meets with the various co-operators and traders by means of whom he assures himself of a material comfort such as he could never acquire in a state of isolation. It is in society again that he finds occasions for romance, enthusiasm and devotion, in other words, his spiritual good. It is by means of social relations that moral and intellectual truths are propounded to him…” – Chapter 7 – Problem Of The Common Good
“… a circle of men will have more things in common the narrower and homogeneous it is, and fewer things in common the more numerous and variegated it is.” – Chapter 8 – Of Social Friendship
“But almost everyone subconsciously wishes to recover the warmth of the primitive group… it is certain that he longs unconsciously for the social breast at which he was formed, for the small, closely-knit society which was the school of the species.” – Chapter 8 – Of Social Friendship
“The newer an action group, the less linked by habitual co-operation its members and the more exceptional its fruits, so much the readier are those engaged in it to agree on the justice of a share-out of these fruits by reference to the individual contribution. Contrariwise, the more that members of the team see each other as ‘neighbors’ and the more that the team gains in social coherence, the more the idea of ‘all alike’ gains at the expense of that of superior and inferior performance.” – Chapter 9 – Justice
“Whenever I look in society, I find the self-same process at work: the rallying of individuals at the call of some person who has suggested a goal to be achieved in common. Such a rallying of individuals builds up through the adding together of their energies ‘a power’ in the simple and immediate sense of the word: a power capable of doing ‘work’ which no individual could do by himself.” – Conclusion
“The essential freedom, as I see it, is the freedom to create a gathering, to generate a group, and thereby introduce in society a new power, a source of movement and change.” – Conclusion
Liberty
“…what a mistake it is to oppose authority to liberty. Authority is the faculty of inducing assent. To follow an authority is a voluntary act. Authority ends where voluntary assent ends.” – Chapter 2 – Authority
“The distinguishing feature of man is the diversity of the plans which he is capable of evolving, the freedom to choose his ends; it is also the liberty of choice or indifference possessed by others as regards the ends set before them.” – Chapter 4 – The Group
“The man who has dedicated himself to the success of the project, the master builder, no longer has any freedom: his conduct is now determined altogether by the constraining force of the end.” – Chapter 4 – The Group
Social Capital
“… men come together under the pressure of a purpose which each has and which is the same in each.” – Chapter 2 – Authority
“Authority is, we have seen, the creator of the social tie, and its position is consolidated by the benefits which spring from the social tie.” – Chapter 2 – Authority
“A society keeps in being only in so far as each man does not encroach on what belongs to another, keeps his sworn oath, acts contractually, and generally answers to another’s expectation. Disappointed expectations are the death of life in society.” – Chapter 3 – Leadership And Adjustment
“Human actions are, it is clear, based on confidence in others… Our progress in and towards the human condition presupposes that we live within a circle of peace and friendship, in which not only do we not anticipate attacks but we expect to be succoured at need.” – Chapter 7 – Problem Of The Common Good
“Awareness of a ‘we’ is aroused by real affections and is in the present indicative for persons known to us, it constrains our affections to the conditional future, or to the imperative, for unknown persons who are members of the ‘we’. The ‘we’ breeds obligations which are really feelings of linkage. Awareness in each ‘he’ of these obligations constitutes for each ‘me’ a powerful safeguard. It enables ‘me’ to have confidence in ‘him’. This confidence is the condition on which human activity can develop.” – Chapter 7 – Problem Of The Common Good
“The development of our argument has brought us to seeing the common good as residing in the strength of the social tie, the warmth of the friendship felt by one citizen for another and the assurance that each has of predictability in another’s conduct – all of them conditions of the happiness which men can create for each other by life in society.” – Chapter 8 – Of Social Friendship
“… the City must not become too large, for otherwise, when the number of citizens is too great for intimacy between them to be possible, the harmony will be less intense… the intensity of the common emotion is in inverse ratio to the size of the society.” – Chapter 8 – Of Social Friendship
“… only transcendental ties of affection could hold the human race together in a world-wide society.” – Chapter 8 – Of Social Friendship
“… in any large society the common good does not greatly interest more than quite a small part of its members.” – Chapter 8 – Of Social Friendship
Sovereignty
“What I mean by ‘authority’ is the ability of a man to get his own proposals accepted… Authority of this kind is essential to the forward march of every society, for collective actions and stoppage of disputes cannot be dispensed with. It is certain that, were men deaf to all authority, they would have among them neither co-operative nor security – in short, no Society.” – Chapter 2 – Authority
“… authority can never be dispensed with if confidence is to be assured and quarrels overcome: it is in our view the original source of sovereignty.” – Chapter 2 – Authority
“… the first requirement in an authority is to be a manifest and immediate presence… The more distant that an authority is, the more it needs a halo, or, if no halo is available, the more policemen it will need.” – Chapter 5 – Relations Between Authorities
“… it is to the sovereign’s advantage, whenever he has to get himself obeyed, to have his decision endorsed by some more immediate authority.” – Chapter 5 – Relations Between Authorities
“Every man is, naturally, sovereign of his own energies and can use them as suits him.” – Chapter 6 – Benevolence In The Sovereign Will
“The Sovereign Will… is conceived as a will capable of exercise on every subject-matter whatsoever without limitation by any subjective right. It is a command from on high which its form validates whatever its substance, and which has neither limits nor rules governing its subject-matter. This will makes the law and there is no law other than this will.” – Chapter 10 – Idea Of The Sovereign Will
“The erection of sovereignty into a right of concentrated command was marked by certain transformations of the civil law.” – Chapter 10 – Idea Of The Sovereign Will
“Thus, the theory of sovereignty of the people, as generally advanced in our own time, is but a new version of the theories of despotism advanced in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries – theories which did not then win the same approval as they receive today. The claim advanced three centuries ago (and admitted today) is that the will of the sovereign makes the law for the subject, whatever the will may be and subject only to the condition that it issues from the legitimate sovereign.” – Chapter 12 – Theory Of The Regulated Will
“The perfect sovereign is, therefore, perfectly unfree… At each single moment he is tied down to doing whatever maximises the common good.” – Chapter 12 – Theory Of The Regulated Will
“He is a free man in so far as the formulator of his obligations is none other than himself. Herein resides his dignity.” – Chapter 15 – Liberty
“A man is free when and to the extent that he is his own judge of his obligations, when none but himself compels him to fulfill them. A man is free when act spontaneously, as the execution of a judgment passed, in the forum of his own conscience.” – Chapter 15 – Liberty
“I regard it as the essential function of the sovereign to ensure the reliability of the individual’s environment… the social universe must be at the same time fluid, responsive to new initiatives, and a solid ground to which the individual may trust… this task of adjustment and stabilisation is the essential duty of the sovereign…” – Conclusion
“It is the sovereign’s business to see that the reges operate to repair the insecurity caused by initiatives, not to preclude them; and it is his duty to intervene to the extent necessary for the adequate fulfillment of the function of rex.” – Conclusion
Trust
“Clearly it is in the personal interest of each individual to be able to trust others, and to trust them in two different ways. First, he needs to be able to count on the general complaisance of others, and that presupposes a social climate of friendship; next, he must know with reasonable certainty how others will conduct themselves towards him. This personal interest, which is particular for each and the same for all, constitutes a real common interest…” – Chapter 7 – Problem Of The Common Good
“Trustfulness within the group is not only a moral good in itself; it is also the condition of the various advantages which the members can confer on each other. And the beneficence of this trustfulness is shown in nothing more than in the fact that it makes possible the birth of new relationships…” – Chapter 8 – Of Social Friendship
“Social friendship and mutual trustfulness can be looked on as the essential framework, or the network of roads, which each member of society uses for his own ends, and tends to spoil by the use he makes of it.” – Chapter 8 – Of Social Friendship
“The wider and more developed a society is, the less can the climate of trustfulness be the fruit of a spirit of community; the widening of the circle and the growing diversity of personalities tend to destroy that spirit.” – Chapter 8 – Of Social Friendship
Virtues
“Society furnishes us with opportunities for conceiving what our good is to be; it furnishes us also with opportunities for realising it.” – Chapter 7 – Problem Of The Common Good
“In every age justice has been called the keystone of the social edifice.” – Chapter 9 – Justice
“Thus justice is conceived as a human attitude of mind which habit strengthens – a virtue. But when people talk of justice today they no longer mean this virtue of the soul, but a state of things. We see then justice today is not a habit of the mind which each of us can acquire in proportion to his virtue and should acquire in proportion to his power; rather it is an orgnanisation or arrangement of things.” – Chapter 9 – Justice
“Today, reasoning on justice is focused on the distribution of rights, the existing distribution being thought unjust.” – Chapter 9 – Justice
“… appraisals of justice are most unlikely to coincide, unless they are founded on a feeling of belonging together for a common purpose.” – Chapter 9 – Justice
“Justice is thus seen to be as simple in principle as it is varied in application.” – Chapter 9 – Justice
“It is impossible to establish a just social order.” – Chapter 9 – Justice
“Justice is a quality, not of social arrangements, but of the human will.” – Chapter 9 – Justice
Final Thoughts
Bertrand de Jouvenel’s wisdom feels particularly urgent in our current moment. His central insight—that human flourishing depends not on abstract systems, but on the quality of relationships between people—challenges both collectivist and hyper-individualist ideologies. In an age of growing isolation and institutional distrust, his emphasis on social friendship, mutual confidence, and the organic bonds that make cooperation possible offers a path forward that neither abandons tradition nor rejects progress.
Perhaps most striking is de Jouvenel’s observation that “justice is a quality, not of social arrangements, but of the human will.” This reminds us that no perfect system can substitute for personal virtue and that the health of any society ultimately rests on the character of its members. As we navigate technological disruption, political polarization, and social fragmentation, Jouvenel’s vision of sovereignty as the art of maintaining both stability and dynamism—creating space for innovation while preserving the trust that makes human cooperation possible—provides essential guidance.
His work invites us to see politics not as a battle for control but as the delicate craft of nurturing the conditions where human beings can create value for one another, form meaningful associations, and pursue their diverse visions of the good life. In this light, the sovereign’s role is neither to command from above, nor to disappear entirely – but to act as a gardener, tending the social soil in which human flourishing can take root and grow.
Thanks for reading!