Limited Government: A Reappraisal of the French and English Old Regimes through Parliamentary Activities

45 Pages Posted: 17 Dec 2019 Last revised: 30 Jan 2024

See all articles by David Le Bris

David Le Bris

Toulouse Business School

Ronan Tallec

Universite de Toulouse 1 Capitole

Date Written: November 23, 2019

Abstract

The French executive had to deal with local Parliaments examining its legislation before registration. The comparison of the Acts recorded by the Parliaments of Toulouse and Westminster between 1689 and 1779 shows that from an initial similarity, the state gradually played a more active role in shaping economic life in England. State constraints appeared stricter in Paris than in London as, in the event of war, the French executive remained unable to register more fiscal Acts nor increase its revenues while the opposite is observed in England. Our findings suggest a more limited effective state in France compared to England during this period.

Keywords: Parliament, limited government, constraint on the executive, taxation, economic take-off, Old Regime, property rights

JEL Classification: N13, N23, O10, P14, P16

Suggested Citation

Le Bris, David and Tallec, Ronan, Limited Government: A Reappraisal of the French and English Old Regimes through Parliamentary Activities (November 23, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3492276 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3492276

David Le Bris (Contact Author)

Toulouse Business School ( email )

20, bd Lascrosses
Toulouse, 31068
France

Ronan Tallec

Universite de Toulouse 1 Capitole ( email )

2 Rue du Doyen-Gabriel-Marty
Toulouse, 31042
France

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