Peasants and the process of building democratic polities: lessons from San Marino . : An article from: The Australian Journal of Politics and History [HTML]

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This digital document is an article from The Australian Journal of Politics and History, published by University of Queensland Press on June 1, 2003. The length of the article is 6589 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation Details
Title: Peasants and the process of building democratic polities: lessons from San Marino *.
Author: Ulf Sundhaussen
Publication: The Australian Journal of Politics and History (Refereed)
Date: June 1, 2003
Publisher: University of Queensland Press
Volume: 49 Issue: 2 Page: 211(11)Distributed by Thompson Gale

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This essay challenges the conventional wisdom that democracy must be built upon the foundation of an established middle class, a belief forthrightly asserted in Barrington Moore's resolute dictum of "no bourgeois, no democracy". Taking a lead from Aristotle who thought peasants to be the best social group on which to build a political order that would preserve liberty, l consider the hypothesis that peasants can construct democratic systems of government. The little-known little country of San Marino provides a case study. Its long history serves to demonstrate that the driving force behind the establishment of democracy need not be an educated and wealthy middle class but that a poor and uneducated peasantry can provide this impetus. This is a...


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