Vernon Bogdanor on sovereignty…

“The modern left finds itself curiously uncomfortable with the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people, as it echoes the arguments of 19th-century conservatives who opposed the extension of the franchise on similar grounds to those put forward by Flynn. Indeed, some on the left may be coming ruefully to sympathise with the French reactionary opponent of the French Revolution, Joseph de Maistre, who declared: ‘The principle of the sovereignty of the people is so dangerous that, even if it were true, it would be necessary to conceal it.’ “