The History of the Origins of Representative Government in Europe - by François Guizot

Book Synopsis

The French political philosopher and historian François Guizot (1787-1874) was one of the French Doctrinaires, thinkers who sought to avoid the interpretations of the Revolution advanced by either extreme of Left or Right. He argued that in order to understand the nature of political institutions it is necessary to study first the society, its composition, mores, and the relation between various classes. At the very center of his theory lies the principle of the sovereignty of reason.

Aurelian Craiutu, Associate Professor of Political Science at Indiana University, writes in the Introduction: "A cursory look at the table of contents shows the originality of this unusual book: it combines lengthy narrative chapters full of historical details with theoretical chapters in which Guizot reflects on the principles, goals, and institutions of representative government." The first part of the book covers the period from the fifth to the eleventh centuries and such topics as the "true" principles of representative government and the origin and consequences of the sovereignty of the people. The second part spans the Norman Conquest to the reign of the Tudors in England and analyzes the architecture of the English Constitutional monarchy.

François Guizot (1787-1874) was a French historian, political philosopher, and politician.

Aurelian Craiutu is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Review Quotes

The following review appeared in the September 2002 issue of Choice

This new edition of Guizot's history of representative government consists of Andrew Scoble's original 1861 translation, with a new introduction and explanatory notes by Aurelian Craiutu. Guizot is an important 19th-century liberal thinker in the tradition of Constant and Tocqueville. Reflecting the current revival of liberalism in France and elsewhere, his work has attracted increasing scholarly attention. Although this is one of Guizot's more important works, it has long been unavailable in English. Craiutu is an accomplished scholar of 19th-century French political thought; his short introduction provides a useful overview of Guizot's life and work and situates this text in the larger currents of the time. Craiutu has also provided an extensive set of explanatory footnotes to the text, providing helpful references to other literatures and relating specific points or issues to other places in the text where they are taken up. Although long neglected, this is an important text in the history of political thought, and Craiutu's editing has done much to make it accessible to a modern audience. This is an essential work for academic libraries. Highly recommended for general readers, undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and researchers.

--J. D. Moon, Wesleyan University