Synopses & Reviews
Elections occupied an important place in the French Revolution, yet, until recently, they have received little attention. This book, the first on the subject in English, explores all types of elections from 1789 to 1799 and is based on extensive research in the different regions of France. It is primarily concerned with electoral behavior, an aspect of modern citizenship of great interest to historians and political scientists, the main audience for this pioneering study of Europe's first apprenticeship in democracy.
Review
"Crook provides the only thorough treatment of elections during the French Revolution....This in one of those rare books that seizes the attention, changes ways of thinking, and leaves one enlightened." Choice"I have no hesitation in saying that Malcolm Crook's Elections in the French Revolution is one of the half-dozen most important books on the French Revolution to appear in English in the past twenty-five years....Any academic library that offers any support at any official or unofficial, formal or informal level of study of the French Revolution must make available to its clientele this extremely important, well-written, and thoroughly and imaginatively researched book, for its impact will long be essential." History
Synopsis
An exploration of the role of elections in the French Revolution based on extensive research in different regions of France.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-216) and index.
Table of Contents
Introduction; 1. Subjects to citizens? The elections to the Estates General and the Revolution; 2. The limits of citizenship: the Franchise question, 1789-1791; 3. Biting on the ballot: from enthusiasm to abstention, 1790-1791; 4. One Man One Vote? The experiment with electoral democracy in 1792; 5. Voting the constitution: the referenda of 1793 and 1795; 6. Parties, schisms and purges: elections under the Directory, 1795-1799; 7. An invisible aristocracy? The departmental assemblies and the emergence of a new political class; Conclusion.