ABSTRACT
Within the last twenty years, historians' views about the significance of 'Benthamism' for the development of British government in the nineteenth century have fluctuated pretty widely. In an article prompted directly by Dr MacDonagh's discussion, Henry Parris maintained that Jeremy Bentham and Benthamism did influence the character of 'the nineteenth century revolution in government', but he saw their influence as working less consistently in favour of intervention than Brebner had done. Most importantly, he continued to believe that the 'exercise of the powers of government consists in the giving of directions or commands, positive and prohibitive; and incidentally in securing compliance through the application of rewards and punishments'. MacDonagh and Roberts were considerably illuminating the character of mid-century government and its possible relationship to Benthamism. While Bentham sought to limit the powers and the discretion of officials, his model of government and administration was dynamic in a number of respects.
