The French Revolution and the Birth of Electoral Democracy

Rezensionen / Stimmen

'... this study brings a formidable research project to fruition, emphasises the importance of the Revolution in the birth of the modern world, and ultimately suggests that there are few short cuts on the long road to electoral democracy.' French History 'Melvin Edelstein has spent many years patiently gathering forensic evidence of electoral behavior and participation ... In this substantial monograph he lays out the fruits of his researches. ... Edelstein has laid down a secure foundation on which others who are interested in elections and the origins of citizenship will surely build.' H-France 'Historians will be grateful that Melvin Edelstein has published his magnum opus. He provides a wealth of information, demonstrates the limits of the evidence, and draws reasonable, comparative conclusions that shed considerable light on the origins of electoral democracy in the French Revolution and beyond.' French Studies 'This work should certainly find its way onto the library shelves of every institution that teaches about the French Revolution. As a work of reference, it will be indispensable to the study of elections in that period. [...] Melvin Edelstein here gives us the collected fruit of his many years of arduous work in local and national French archives; recording, totalling and comparing the discoverable figures on turnout and victors for the plethora of elections that marked the early years of the French Revolution.' English Historical Review 'Edelstein's work provides an unprecedentedly detailed treatment of early Revolutionary elections, and a useful counterpoint to Furet and Gueniffey's scepticism about their importance. Contextualizing Revolutionary electoral results both within their French and Atlantic contexts better than his predecessors, Edelstein's book should serve as a first reference on elections in the French Revolution.' European History Quarterly "Melvin Edelstein's 'The French Revolution and the Birth of Electoral Democracy' is an earnest and extremely meticulous analysis of electoral practices in the French Revolution and their implications for the broader quetsion of democratic political apprenticeship." - Jill Maciak Walshaw, University of Victoria (American Historical Review)

"the book stands as a monument of empirical scholarship, a work that must necessarily be consulted by anyone interested in French Revolutionary research" - Timothy Tackett, University of California, Irvine (The Journal of Modern History)

"Edelstein has laid down a secure foundation on which others who are interested in elections and the origins of citizenship will surely build" - Peter M. Jones, University of Birmingham (H-France)