Participative Political Institutions in Pre-Modern Europe. Introducing a New Database

58 Pages Posted: 20 Sep 2014 Last revised: 12 May 2015

See all articles by Fabian Wahl

Fabian Wahl

University of Hohenheim - Department of Economics

Date Written: May 12, 2015

Abstract

This paper introduces and describes a new city-level data set on political institutions in pre-modern Europe. To be precise, it presents three variables reporting the prevalence of the different existing types of participative political institutions between 800 AD and 1800 AD in 104 cities in central Europe (Alsace-Lorrain, Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland). According to the historical studies consulted the three included measures (intensity of guild participation in the city council, participative election procedures and the existence of institutionalized burgher representation) represent the universe of existing political institutions in cities in this era. This new data set is potentially useful for advancing knowledge in various ongoing research debates about e.g., the impact of political institutions and regimes on city development, the effects of guilds, the relationship of economic and political institutions and the debate about the advantages or disadvantages of city states relative to territorial states.

Keywords: Political Institutions, Central Europe, Cities, Medieval, Early Modern Period, Political Regimes, Guilds

JEL Classification: D02, H11, N43, N93

Suggested Citation

Wahl, Fabian, Participative Political Institutions in Pre-Modern Europe. Introducing a New Database (May 12, 2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2498047 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2498047

Fabian Wahl (Contact Author)

University of Hohenheim - Department of Economics ( email )

Wollgrasweg 49
Stuttgart, 70599
Germany
+49711-45924405 (Phone)

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