The Protestant Ethic Revisited: Disciplinary Revolution and State Formation in Holland and Prussia

Abstract

Current theories explain state structure and strength in terms of differences in socioeconomic and administrative development. Here, it is argued that a third factor was also critical in early modern state formation: a disciplinary revolution unleashed by ascetic Protestant movements. The essay critiques Foucalt's and Elias's theories of social disciplinization, explores the importance of disciplinary revolutions for the formation of two types of states (constitutional republics and military-bureaucratic monarchies), and seeks to identify and correct deficiencies in the neo-Marxist and institutionalist theories of the state.