The Medieval Constitution of Liberty

Political Foundations of Liberalism in the West
Erscheinungsjahr 2023
ISBN: 978-0-472-07601-7
Verlag: University of Michigan Press

Buch, Englisch, 296 Seiten, Hardback, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

Why did enduring traditions of economic and political liberty emerge in Western Europe and not elsewhere? Representative democracy, constitutionalism, and the rule of law are crucial for establishing a just and prosperous society, which we usually treat as the fruits of the Renaissance and Enlightenment, as Western European societies put the Dark Ages behind them.In The Medieval Constitution of Liberty, Salter and Young point instead to the constitutional order that characterized the High Middle Ages. They provide a historical account of how this constitutional order evolved following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This account runs from the settlements of militarized Germanic elites within the imperial frontiers, to the host of successor kingdoms in the sixth and seventh centuries, and  through the short-lived Carolingian empire of the late eighth and ninth centuries and the so-called “feudal anarchy” that followed its demise. Given this unique historical backdrop, Salter and Young consider the resulting structures of political property rights. They argue that the historical reality approximated a constitutional ideal type, which they term polycentric sovereignty. Salter and Young provide a theoretical analysis of polycentric sovereignty, arguing that bargains between political property rights holders within that sort of constitutional order will lead to improvements in governance.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Staats- und Regierungsformen, Staatslehre
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Vor- und Frühgeschichte, prähistorische Archäologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
Part 1: The Historical Backdrop
2. The Fall of Rome and the Rise of the Barbarian West
3. The Carolingian Project
4. The Peace of God
Part 2: The Medieval Constitution: Theory and History
5. Political Property Rights and Constitutional Bargaining
6. Sovereignty and Self-Enforcing Political Property Rights
7. Polycentric Sovereignty
8. Why Western Europe? Why Not Elsewhere?
Part 3: The Medieval Institutions of Liberty
9. Representative Assemblies
10. The Self-Governing Medieval City
Part 4: The Rise of the Nation-State
11. The Tragedy of the Medieval Anticommons?
12. What State Capacity Cannot Do
13. Postscript: The Road Away from Polycentric Sovereignty
14. Appendix: Historiographical Notes