近代早期英格兰乡村精英与基层执法

Village Elites and Grassroots Law Enforcement in Early Modern England

在近代早期英格兰,警役作为负责收税与治安的基层官员,在国家建构过程中扮演着重要角色。他们主要由一批在财产、年龄、男性家长和老住户身份等方面占有优势的乡村精英担任。受制于王室官员与村民代表的双重身份,一方面警役认同国家权威,积极执行国家法律;另一方面,他们作为当地社区的一员,又会考虑邻居的意见,有时为照顾周围村民利益,不惜违抗上级命令。从17世纪后期开始,警役人员的具体构成发生了变化,大量一般村民出任此职,而众多乡村精英则逐渐退出,这使得警役的官方属性逐渐超越社会属性。从基层执法看近代早期英格兰国家形成,需要认识到在不同的历史阶段,乡村精英参与基层执法的具体情形有所不同。

The cosntable,being the grassroots official responsible for collecting taxes and policing,played an important role in state formation of early modern England.They were mainly composed of a group of village elites who had advantages in terms of property possession,age,male parental status,and being an old tenant.Constrained by their dual roles as royal official and representative of the villagers,on the one hand,the constable identified themselves with the sate authority and actively enforced the state law;on the other hand,however,as a member of the local community,they took into account the opinions of their neighbours;sometimes they disobeyed the orders of their superiors in order to take care of the interests of the villagers.Since late 17th century,the specific composition of the constable changed,with a large number of ordinary villagers taking up the post and many members of the village elites gradually withdrawing,which made the official attributes of the constable gradually overtake the social attributes.In looking at the state formation of early modern England from the perspective of grassroots law enforcement,it is important to note that the specific circumstances under which village elites participated in grassroots law enforcement varied at different historical stages.