Maintaining the Balance of Power: Taxation and Democracy in England and France, 1340–1688

Abstract

The endurance of democracy in England from the late medieval period to the Glorious Revolution (1688) remains a puzzle. Many analysts agree that an important factor in maintaining constitutionalism in England during this pivotal period was the reliance of the English Crown on indirect taxation and suggest that this reliance occurred because taxation on trade was easy and lucrative in a commercialized economy. I show how this explanation is inadequate. The English Crown tried to institute an additional system of permanent direct taxation in England in this period but failed. In contrast, the French Crown was successful in implementing a system of regular direct taxation in the early fifteenth century, which in turn facilitated the emergence of an autocratic state in the early modern period. I discuss reasons for the national difference, with particular attention to the role of regional factors and the response of local society to state impositions in shaping outcomes in both countries.