THE DEVELOPMENT AND DECLINE OF MEDIEVAL VOTING INSTITUTIONS: A COMPARISON OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE
YORAM BARZEL,
EDGAR KISER,
YORAM BARZEL
Department of Economics, University of Washington, Seattle, Phone 1–206-543-2510 Fax 1–206-685-7477 E-mail [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorEDGAR KISER
Department of Sociology, University of Washington, Seattle, Phone 1–206-543-7290 Fax 1–206-543-2516, E-mail [email protected]
*An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Miami, August 1993. We got useful comments in seminars at the University of Washington, the University of Chicago, the UW-NSF Conference on Democracy and Markets, and from Kathryn Baker, Gary Becker, Terry Boswell, James Coleman, Andrew Creighton, John Freeman, Michael Hechter, Rosemary Hopcroft, Ron Jepperson, Margaret Levi, Kevin Neuhouser, Jonathan Pool, Sharon Reitman, and Joe Whitmeyer. We also wish to acknowledge the many useful comments from anonymous referees.
Search for more papers by this author
YORAM BARZEL,
EDGAR KISER,
YORAM BARZEL
Department of Economics, University of Washington, Seattle, Phone 1–206-543-2510 Fax 1–206-685-7477 E-mail [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorEDGAR KISER
Department of Sociology, University of Washington, Seattle, Phone 1–206-543-7290 Fax 1–206-543-2516, E-mail [email protected]
*An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Miami, August 1993. We got useful comments in seminars at the University of Washington, the University of Chicago, the UW-NSF Conference on Democracy and Markets, and from Kathryn Baker, Gary Becker, Terry Boswell, James Coleman, Andrew Creighton, John Freeman, Michael Hechter, Rosemary Hopcroft, Ron Jepperson, Margaret Levi, Kevin Neuhouser, Jonathan Pool, Sharon Reitman, and Joe Whitmeyer. We also wish to acknowledge the many useful comments from anonymous referees.
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
This paper argues that in the middle ages voting institutions emerged as mechanisms that allowed rulers to cooperate with subjects on mutually profitable projects. In spite of their utility, many of these voting institutions eventually declined. We test the model on the English parliament and the French estates general. The historical evidence strongly supports our view that these institutions declined in France, but not in England, due to increases in the heterogeneity of voters' interests and the insecurity of French rulers, since these factors made cooperation between French rulers and their subjects more difficult.
References
- Ames, Edward., and Richard, Rapp. “The Birth and Death of Taxes: A Hypothesis.” Journal of Economic History, March 1977, 161–78.
- Anderson, Perry. Lineages of the Absolutist State. London : Verso, 1974.
- Ault, Warren. Europe in the Middle Ages. Boston : Heath, 1932.
- Ault, Warren. “Village Assemblies in Medieval England.” Studies Presented to the International Commission for the History of Representative and Parliamentary Institutions, 23, 1960, 11–35.
- Baldwin, John. W. The Government of Philip Augustus. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1986.
- Barzel, Yoram. “Property Rights and the Evolution of the State.” Unpublished paper, University of Washington, 1996.
- Barzel, Yoram. “The Right to the Residual and the Right to Vote.” Unpublished paper, University of Washington, 1993.
- Barzel, Yoram., and Edgar, Kiser. “Taxation and Voting Rights in Medieval Europe.” Unpublished paper, University of Washington, 1992.
- Barzel, Yoram., and Edgar, Kiser. “Taxation and Voting Rights in Medieval England and France.” Paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Los Angeles , August 1994.
- Barzel, Yoram., and Tim, Sass. “The Allocation of Resources by Voting.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 1990, 745–71.
- Bates, Robert., and Donald, Lien. “A Note on Taxation, Development, and Representative Government.” Politics and Society, 14(1), 1985, 53–70.
- Bendix, Reinhard. Kings or People. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1978.
- Benton, John. “The Revenue of Louis VII.” Speculum, 92(1), 1967, 84–91.
10.2307/2856101 Google Scholar
- Bisson, Thomas. Assemblies and Representation in Languedoc in the 13th Century. Princeton : Princeton University Press, 1964.
- Bisson, Thomas. “The Military Origins of Medieval Representation.” American Historical Review, 71(4), 1966, 1199–1218.
- Bloch, Marc. Feudal Society. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1961.
10.4324/9780203406250 Google Scholar
- Blockmans, Willem. “A Typology of Representative Institutions in Late Medieval Europe.” Journal of Medieval History, June 1978, 189–215.
- Boyer, Mark. Medieval French Bridges. Cambridge : Medieval Academy of America, 1976.
- Brown, Elizabeth. “Cessente Causa and the Taxes of the Late Capetians: The Political Application of a Philosophical Maxim.” Studio Gratiana, 15, 1972, 565–87.
- Dahl, Robert. Polyarchy. New Haven : Yale University Press, 1971.
- Dahl, Robert., and Charles, Lindblom. Politics, Economics, and Welfare. New York : Harper, 1953.
- Downing, Brian. “Medieval Origins of Constitutional Government in the West.” Theory and Society, March 1989, 213–47.
- Fawtier, Robert. The Capetian Kings of France. London : Macmillan, 1960.
10.1007/978-1-349-00584-0 Google Scholar
- Fryde, E. B. “Parliament and the French War, 1336-40,” in Historical Studies of the English Parliament I: Origins to 1399, E. B. Fryde and Edward, Miller. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1970, 242–62.
- Fryde, E. B., and Edward, Miller. “Introduction,” in Historical Studies of the English Parliament I: Origins to 1399, E. B. Fryde and Edward, Miller. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1970, 1–30.
- Given, James. State and Society in Medieval Europe. Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 1990.
- Hallam, Elizabeth. Capetian France. London : Longman, 1980.
- Hardin, Russell. Collective Action. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins, 1982.
- Harriss, G. L. King, Parliament and Public Finance in Medieval England to 1369. Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1975.
- Harriss, G. L. “War and the Emergence of the English Parliament, 1297–1360.” Journal of Medieval History, March 1976, 35–56.
- Harriss, G. L. “The Formation of Parliament, 1272–1377,” in The English Parliament in the Middle Ages, R. G. Davies and J. H. Denton Manchester : Manchester University Press, 1981, 29–60.
- R. G. Davies and J. H. Denton The Growth of English Representative Government. New York : Barnes and Co., 1948.
- Hay, Denys. Europe in the 14th and 15th Centuries. New York Holt , Reinhart and Winston, 1966.
- Henneman, John. Royal Taxation in 14th Century France: The Captivity and Ransom of John II, 1356–1370. Philadelphia : American Philosophical Society, 1976.
- Henneman, John. Royal Taxation in 14th Century France: The Development of War Financing, 1322–1356. Princeton : Princeton University Press, 1971.
- Henneman, John. “The Black Death and Royal Taxation in France, 1347–1351.” Speculum, April 1968.
- Hintze, Otto. The Historical Essays of Otto Hintze. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1975.
- Holt, J. C. “The Prehistory of Parliament,” in The English Parliament in the Middle Ages, R. G. Da-vies and J. H. Denton Manchester : Manchester University Press, 1981.
- Johnstone, H. “France: The Last Capetians,” in Cambridge Medieval History, J. R. Tanner, C. W. Previte-Orton and Z. N. Brooke Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1932, 305–40.
- Kiser, Edgar., and Yoram, Banel. “The Origins of Democracy in England.” Rationality and Society, 3(4), 1991, 396–422.
10.1177/1043463191003004002 Google Scholar
- Kiser, Edgar., and Michael, Hechter. “The Role of General Theory in Comparative-Historical Sociology.” American Journal of Sociology, 97(1), 1991, 1–30.
- Langmuir, Gavin. “Councel and Capetian Assemblies.” Studies Presented to the International Commission for the History of Representative and Parliamentary Institutions, 18, 1958, 21–34.
- Langmuir, Gavin. “Concilia and Capetian Assemblies, 1179–1230.” Studies Presented to the International Commission for the History of Representative and Parliamentary Institutions, 24, 1961, 29–63.
- Langmuir, Gavin. Of Rule and Revenue. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1988.
- Lewis, Alan. “Popular Assemblies and the Charter of Liberties of Montpellier in 1202.” Studies Presented to the International Commission for the History of Representative and Parliamentary Institutions, 56, 1916, 49–59.
- Lewis, Peter. Later Medieval France. London : Macmillan, 1968.
10.1007/978-1-349-00563-5 Google Scholar
- Lewis, Peter. “The Failure of the French Medieval Estates.” Past and Present, January 1972, 3–24.
- Lindblom, Charles. Politics and Markets. New York : Basic Books, 1977.
- Lipset, Seymour. Martin. Political Man. Garden City : Anchor, 1960.
- Lopez, Robert. The Commercial Revolution of the Middle Ages, 950–1350. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1976.
10.1017/CBO9780511583933 Google Scholar
- Lyon, Bryce. “What Made a Medieval King Constitutional?” in Essays in Medieval History Presented to Bertie Wilkinson, Thomas Sandquist. and Maurice, Powicke. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 1969, 157–75.
- Thomas Sandquist. and Maurice, Powicke. “Medieval Constitutionalism: A Balance of Power.” Studies Presented to the International Commission for the History Of Representative and Parliamentary Institutions, 24, 1961, 157–83.
- Thomas Sandquist. and Maurice, Powicke. “Parliament and the Constituencies, 1272–1377,” in The English Parliament in the Middle Ages, R. G. Davies and J. H. Denton Manchester : Manchester University Press, 1981, 61–87.
- Major, J. Russell. Representative Institutions in Renaissance France, 1421–15–59. Madison : University of Wisconsin Press, 1960.
- Major, J. Russell. “The Loss of Royal Initiative and the Decay of the Estates General in France 1421–1615.” Studies Presented to the International Commission for the History of Representative and Parliamentary Institutions, 24, 1961, 247–59.
- Mann, Michael. The Sources of Social Power. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1986.
10.1017/CBO9780511570896 Google Scholar
- Marongiu, Antonio. Medieval Parliaments: A Comparative Study. London : Eyre and Spottiswoode, [1949] 1968.
- McIlwain, “Medieval Estates,” in Cambridge Medieval History, J. R. Tanner, C. W. Previte-Orton and Z. N. Brooke, 1932, 665–715.
- Miskimin, Harry. “The Last Act of Charles V. The Background of the Revolts of 1382.” Speculum, 38(3), 1963, 433–42.
10.2307/2849169 Google Scholar
- Mitchell, Sydney. Knox. Taxation in Medieval England. New Haven : Yale University Press, 1951.
- Myers, Alec. “The English Parliament and the French Estates General in the Middle Ages.” Studies Presented to the International Commission for the History of Representative and Parliamentary Institutions, 24, 1961, 141–53.
- Myers, Alec. Parliaments and Estates in Europe to 1789. London : Thames and Hudson, 1975.
- Myers, Alec. The Rise of the Western World. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1973.
- North, Douglass., and Barry, Weingast. “Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in 17th-Century England.” Journal of Economic History, December 1989, 803–32.
- Petit-Dutaillis, Charles. The Feudal Monarchy in France and England. New York Harper and Row, [1936] 1964.
- Pirenne, Henri. A History of Europe, Vol. 2. New York Doubleday, 1956.
- Poggi, Gianfranco. The Development of the Modern State. Stanford : Stanford University Press, 1978.
- Pollard, Albert. F. The Evolution of Parliament. London : Longmans, 1926.
- Post, Gaines. “Plena Potestas and Consent in Medieval Assemblies.” Traditio, 1, 1943, 355–408.
- Powicke, Maurice. “England: Richard I and John,” in Cambridge Medieval History, J. R. Tanner, C. W. Previte-Orton and Z. N. Brooke Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1932, 285–330.
- J. R. Tanner, C. W. Previte-Orton and Z. N. Brooke The 13th Century, 1216–1307. Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1953.
- J. R. Tanner, C. W. Previte-Orton and Z. N. Brooke The Three Edwards. New York : St. Martin's Press, 1980.
- Rasler, Karen., and William, Thompson. War and State-Making. Boston : Unwin Hyman, 1990.
- Richardson, H. G. “The Origins of Parliament.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6, 1928, 137–86.
10.2307/3678542 Google Scholar
- Riker, William. The Development of American Federalism. Boston : Kleuwer, 1987.
10.1007/978-94-009-3273-9 Google Scholar
- Stephenson, Carl. “Taxation and Representation in the Middle Ages,” in Haskins Anniversary Essays, Charles. H. Taylor Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1929, 291–312.
- Charles. H. Taylor Borough and Town. Cambridge : Medieval Academy of America, 1933.
- Charles. H. Taylor “Philip the Fair: A Constitutional King.” American Historical Review, October 1956, 18–32.
- Charles. H. Taylor On the Medieval Origins of the Modern State. Princeton : Princeton University Press, 1970.
- Charles. H. Taylor Studies in Early French Taxation. Cambridge : Harvard University Press, 1939.
- Taylor, Charles. “The Composition of Baronial Assemblies in France, 1315–1320.” Speculum, 29(2), 1954, 433–59.
10.2307/2853961 Google Scholar
- Taylor, Charles. “French Assemblies and the Subsidy of 1321.” Speculum, April 1968, 2174.
- Taylor, Charles. The Possibility of Cooperation. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1987.
- Tilly, Charles. Coercion, Capital, and European States. Oxford : Blackwell, 1990.
- Treharne, Reginald. F. “The Nature of Parliament in the Reign of Henry III,” in Historical Studies of the English Parliament: Origins to 1399, E. B. Fryde and Edward, Miller. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1970, 70–90.
- Tyrrell, Joseph. A History of the Estates of Poitou. Paris : Mouton, 1968.
- Weber, Max. Economy and Society. Berkeley : University of California Press, [1922] 1968.
- White, Albert. “Some Early Instances of Concentration of Representatives in England” American Historical Review, November 1914, 735–50.
10.2307/1836828 Google Scholar
- Wilkinson, Bertie. The Creation of Medieval Parliaments. New York Wiley and Sons, 1972.
- Williamson, Oliver. The Economic Institutions of Capitalism. New York Free Press, 1985.
- Zolberg, Aristide. “Strategic Interactions and the Formation of Modem States,” International Social Science Journal, 32(4), 1980, 687–716.
