Question

Napoleon, who is considered an example of a romantic hero, wrote that "the defect of our modern institutions is that they do not speak to the imagination." Is this observation valid in our time?

Answer 1

The phrase has some validity to it. It is true that modern institutions in many cases are managed in very technical ways more similar to the way a private enterprise is managed. This reality usually makes citizens desinterested in the daily matters of the administration of public institutions.

At the same time, it is not necessary true that institutions of ancient times "spoke to the imagination". To state that, one would have to carry out an extensive historical study, and still, it is not likely that one would reach a conclusion like that.