Crown and Cortes in Castile, 1590–1665

Summary

Preparations for the Estates General of 1789 constituted one of the last acts of the anclen régime in France. The accompanying elections have received relatively little attention, yet they bequeathed much more to the electoral practices and political mentalités of the Revolution than most historians have realised. Though separate orders were preserved at the final meeting of the Estates General, with disastrous consequences for the monarchy, custom was breached by the uniform fashion and broad franchise with which deputies were elected. When the National Assembly was created the orders were dissolved, but much of this semi‐traditional electoral system survived. Assemblies of voters, an indirect, two‐tier process of election and exhaustive balloting were all retained from the past. A pronounced aversion to declared candidatures and electoral canvassing remained equally entrenched. Moreover, radicals drew upon the old‐régime heritage, rather than upon Rousseau, in their use of mandates, oral voting and the pursuit of unanimity at the polls. The revolutionary experiment with elections ultimately faltered in face of apathy and cynicism among voters. This article concludes by suggesting how the electoral legacy of the anden regime inhibited the emergence of a ‘modern political culture’, which is currently hailed as the major achievement of the French Revolution.     

Political theology,orthodoxy and parliamentary sermons in Sweden, 1789–1866

This article investigates the concept of political theology by analysing parliamentary sermons in Sweden in the period 1789–1866. The bishops who delivered the sermons and their political contribution have received little scholarly attention, which this study is intended to remedy. Parliamentary sermons were printed and disseminated throughout the country as epitomes of the state's official ideology, which makes them important documentary evidence of past concerns. The study examines two key areas of thought evident in the sermons: the importance to the state of religious unity; and the monarch as a religious symbol. It was believed that the faith of the people and an organic relationship between church and state would provide society with a certain stability, and this view was reinforced – first by Romantic philosophy and later by confessional theology – in response to marked social challenges. Generally speaking, the state was not thought able to survive without help from the church, even as religious and political reform was underway. At start of the period in question, meanwhile, Sweden's monarchs were seen as imparting the faith to their subjects in finest Old Testament fashion; however, in the first decades of the nineteenth century this view weakened, as the foundation for a stable society was instead sought in the cooperation of king, people and God. After the 1840s, direct references to the monarchy were rare in the parliamentary sermons – from that point the king had a largely symbolic religious role in instilling the faith in his subjects and promoting the unity of the Church of Sweden.     

From the rebellion of the Prussian league to the autonomy of Royal Prussia: The estates of Prussia and Poland in the years 1454–1526

Summary

This article examines the successive stages in the conflict between Prussian particularism and royal centralism after the separation of the Prussian League from the Teutonic Order and incorporation into the Polish Crown in 1454. The Incorporation Privilege, though interpreted on the one side as a purely personal union and on the other as a real incorporation, remained a point of reference regulating the public and legal relationship between Royal Prussia and Crown Poland for three centuries. It is argued that the years up to 1526 can be considered as a period of consolidation of Prussian particularism and autonomy, although from the 1510s a new policy of participation was beginning to emerge in the Estates, reflecting the interests of the Prussian nobility and their increasing expression in the political arena.     

Party and democracy in nineteenth‐century Britain∗

SUMMARY

In this article, D.R. Clementi gives an account of the period of political instability in the royal government of Norman Sicily after the death of Roger II. The cource, the Liber de regno Sicilie, is a contemporary account written by someone with information from inside the Court who has never been identified, though in the Appendix Dr Clementi has presented circumstantial evidence on this. The main focus of the article is on the role of parliaments in these events, as revealed by the source, using ‘parliaments’ in the original meaning of consultations with the magnates of the realm on matters of major importance, summoned by the ruler, in which decisions might also be referred to the commoners for approbation. They were also a forum in which trials of political opponents could be organised. Circumstances enabled the parliaments to acquire power to influence the choice of ministers, and because it was their right to elect the king, had a significant input of their own.     

The opposition Pakatan Rakyat in the twelfth Malaysian parliament, 2008–12, and parliamentary behaviour on the budget process

In the post-2008 Malaysian general election, the opposition political parties the Parti KeADILan Rakyat, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party and the Democratic Action Party started to gain currency, especially when the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government was denied its two-thirds of the majority in parliament. The 2008 result indicated that there was a substantial shift in support from the incumbent BN to the opposition parties. The opposition later on was formed into a coalition known as Pakatan Rakyat (PR). The minor victory of the PR in the 2008 election suggested that it had secured a considerable number of seats in the twelfth Malaysian parliament. This article argues that the 2008 electoral outcome exhibited substantial competitive parliamentary behaviour despite the authoritarian nature of Malaysia. The article examines PR behaviour in the twelfth parliament with reference to the budget process. Besides elections, the Malaysian parliament is a very crucial indicator of the development of democratic governance in Malaysia. This article argues that the opposition PR is still relevant in the way in which it has fully exercised its legal parliamentary capability, especially its de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, in questioning and posing constraints on the ruling BN policies concerning the budget process.     

Le parlement belge de fonctionnaires 1830–1848

ABSTRACT

The recent publication of two volumes of the acts of the Sardinian Parliament, edited by Laura Galoppini, offers an opportunity to pay attention to this extraordinary rich documentation now covering a continuous period of 175 years. In 1355 King Pedro IV of Aragon convened a first assembly, modelled on the Aragonese corts. The second meeting, in 1421, aimed at the completion of the island’s conquest and the financing of that conquest. It was only since the 1480s that regular meetings took place, albeit it that their convening was determined by the royal need for subsidies. The remarkably long negotiations on the estates’ petitions and complaints reveal new insights into the island’s social tensions and economic problems, and its role in the struggle for domination in the Western Mediterranean.     

Reform and resistance to royal authority in fourteenth‐century France: The leagues of 1314–1315∗

Summary

Among the various assemblies of the Old Regime, the Cortes of Aragon came to be celebrated during the sixteenth century as bulwarks of regional freedoms facing inroads from Spanish Habsburg authoritarianism. Over recent decades, modern historiography has made notable advances in their study. Nonetheless, recent revisionist perspectives on early‐modern parliaments invite new approaches to the Aragonese Cortes. That revisionism has, in turn, also been viewed from a critical standpoint. The aim of this article is to provide a synthesis of the functions of the Cortes; to identify the issues under discussion today; and then to propose a new, more balanced view of their evolution, especially after the dramatic revolt against Philip II in 1591. Events in Aragon will also be considered in the light of recent reinterpretations of the parliamentary history of the neighbouring kingdom of Castile.     

The influence of party leaders on women's representation in parliament, 1935–1975: the case of New Zealand

New Zealand women gained the vote in 1893, the first women in the world to do so. But they could not stand as candidates for Parliament. Early twentieth-century party leaders were reluctant to allow women full suffrage. This article examines the attitudes and influence of New Zealand party leaders from 1935 to 1975 in helping or hindering women gain representation in Parliament. It concludes that during those 40 years the most influential gatekeepers were the party leaders. By 1972, however, the Second Wave of Feminism and the changing attitudes of some party leaders resulted in women gaining more opportunities to become MPs and by 2001 an unprecedented number of women held leadership positions in the New Zealand Parliament.     

A New Scenario for British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies?

This article looks at territories that form part of the ‘Commonwealth Family’ but which do not enjoy legal sovereignty as nation-states and cannot therefore qualify for full membership of the Commonwealth. A particular focus of this article is Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories, both of which retain a constitutional link with the UK, but most of them are largely self-governing, each with its own constitution and its own government. The author examines the arguments for and against providing for these territories with ‘observer’ or ‘associate member’ status, which would grant them greater access to the official institutions and forums of the Commonwealth.     

Representatives and Represented in England, 1660–89

SUMMARY

This article considers the tensions and ambiguities in the attitudes of members of the English House of Commons towards those they represented. Constitutionally, the Commons assented to laws and taxes in the name of, and on behalf of, the people and presented the nation's grievances to the king. They were thus conscious to some extent of the need to defend the people's interests and to justify their conduct to the electorate and to their neighbours. However, memories of the civil wars made them nervous of popular involvement in politics and strongly resistant to any suggestion that ‘the people’ in whose name they spoke had any right to be consulted on ‘public’ issues, still less to tell them how to act. The latter part of the article explores one aspect of this attitude, the concern to maintain the confidentiality of proceedings in Parliament and to restrict the dissemination of parliamentary news, which meant that only in 1680–81 did the Commons agree to the printing of their ‘votes’.     

Radicals and moderates in the Liberal party in 1886: The processes of political assimilation in the house of commons∗

Joseph F O'Callaghan: The Cortes of Castile‐León, 1188–1350 (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1989; pp. x, 265; ISBN 0–8122–8125‐X; £31.95)

Jack P. Greene, Charles F. Mullett, and Edward C. Papenfuse, Jr. (eds), Magna Charta for America: James Abercromby's ‘An Examination of the Acts of Parliament Relative to the Trade and the Government of our American Colonies’ (1752) and ‘De Jure et Gubernatione Coloniarum, or An Inquiry into the Nature, and the Rights of Colonies, Ancient and Modern’ (1774), Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, Held in Philadelphia for Promoting Useful Knowledge, Vol. 165 (The American Philosophical Society, Independence Square/Philadelphia, 1986; pp. v‐xii, 346; ISBN 0–87169–165–5; US ISSN 0065–9738).     

Russian politics in a time of uncertainty∗

It is not only the vitality of the incumbent political regime but the very basis of the democratic system in Russia that has been tested by the recent economic crisis, argues Sergei Smolnikov, Visiting Professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo. So far, the regime has reacted to the situation by recruiting the old nomenklatura to manage the country. Since it is forced to maneuver in a political and economic environment that is qualitatively different from the Soviet era, the nomenklatura might eventually attempt to reconstruct this environment. Smolnikov highlights a growing disparity between the major structural elements of the regime's foreign policy. If exacerbated, this trend could lead to a deterioration of Russia's relations with the West, and might eventually make Russia an international outcast. Strategically, this situation is dangerous not only for the future of democracy in Russia but also for international security. To ensure democracy in Russia remains vibrant, the West should not reduce its commitment to engage Russia by economic and political means.     

Between parliament und government: the position of the President in the discussion about the new German Constitution (1918–19)

SUMMARY

In this article, Cristiana Scnigaglia analyzes how, when the constitution of the new German republic was being debated at Weimar in 1919, difficulties arose because there had been very little prior debate in Germany about a republican form of government, since the permanence of the monarchical system had been generally assumed. This gave great weight to the writings of Robert Redslob, the only senior academic authority who had discussed at some length the institution of a presidency in a republic. The article goes on to show how leading figures like Max Weber and Hugo Preuss, who were deeply involved in drafting the Weimar constitution, drew on Redslob's ideas in arguing for the solution that was eventually accepted, a State President directly elected by popular vote, who could act as a necessary constitutional balance by setting limits to the otherwise unlimited authority of the legislature and the central government.     

Baltic Refugees and Policy Formation in Sweden 1940–1950

The Baltic refugees of the Second World War, in Sweden, were part of the opening up of Sweden to immigration. New research, after the turn of the century, has shown how this change of policy was part of the emerging welfare state, embracing a wider geographical area. Still, the opening was conditioned by degrees of “Nordicness” and the conditions of neutrality toward Germany and not least the Soviet Union. This review article highlights some of the new insights of Swedish historiography.