ABSTRACT
The intellectual beauty of the mercantilist model that Adam Smith constructed in order to demonstrate its flaws seems to have encouraged others since, including John Maynard Keynes, to believe that the system which Smith described accorded with the reality of his time. The role of the State in eighteenth century Britain was largely confined to law and order, national defence, the conduct of foreign policy, the promotion of trade and some attempt at imperial management, various local functions, and the collection of the revenue to sustain these activities. The eighteenth century witnessed changes in the relationship between the Crown, the Cabinet Council and Parliament, but the Crown was by no means pushed to one side. The ‘traditional’ functions of the State accounted for most of the changes that took place in the machinery of government in eighteenth century Britain. An independent judiciary and the establishment of the Home Office can both be traced to the eighteenth century.
