States of Credit-轻识

"States of Credit" provides the first comprehensive look at the joint development of representative assemblies and public borrowing in Europe during the medieval and early modern eras. In this pioneering book, David Stasavage argues that unique advances in political representation allowed certain European states to gain early and advantageous access to credit, but the emergence of an active form of political representation itself depended on two underlying factors: compact geography and a strong mercantile presence. Stasavage shows that active representative assemblies were more likely to be sustained in geographically small polities. These assemblies, dominated by mercantile groups that lent to governments, were in turn more likely to preserve access to credit. Given these conditions, smaller European city-states, such as Genoa and Cologne, had an advantage over larger territorial states, including France and Castile, because mercantile elites structured political institutions in order to effectively monitor public credit. While creditor oversight of public funds became an asset for city-states in need of finance, Stasavage suggests that the long-run implications were more ambiguous. City-states with the best access to credit often had the most closed and oligarchic systems of representation, hindering their ability to accept new economic innovations. This eventually transformed certain city-states from economic dynamos into rentier republics. Exploring the links between representation and debt in medieval and early modern Europe, "States of Credit" contributes to broad debates about state formation and Europe's economic rise.

戴维·斯塔萨维奇

纽约大学政治学教授，哈佛大学政府系博士。

席天扬

北京大学国家发展研究院政治学助理教授，纽约大学政治系政治学博士。研究领域为政治经济学、比较政治学、制度经济学、经济史。

欧恺

佛罗里达州立大学助理教授，纽约大学政治学博士。研究领域为实验社会科学、博弈论、政治经济学。