L’influenza come fattore costituzionale: Jeremy Bentham e l’etica pubblica

The issue of « influence » in Bentham’s constitutional thought is analyzed within the theoretical frame provided by Talcott Parsons, according to which influence presumes an institutionalized and generalized normative system, which is the condition of its effectiveness. However, while for Parsons the understanding of this system is not possible through the theoretical instruments provided by the utilitarian and positivist tradition, this paper argues that Bentham’s conception of influence as a « constitutional factor » reveals his normative understanding of the social order. Once corruption is conceived of as the dark side of influence, i.e., a private regulation of the relationship between social and political power, the aim of constitutional law becomes that of incorporating and organizing the social forces whence influence derives and of managing their political effects, so that civil servants can act virtuously, despite their subjective intentions.