征税方式、农业商业化与国家建构——现代早期英国与法国的比较历史分析(1450—1789)

Taxation Mode,Agricultural Commercialization,and State Building——Comparative Historical Analysis of Early Modern England and France(1450-1789)

现代早期,原本社会政治结构和文化基本相似的英国与西欧大陆在国家形成过程中形成了两种不同的国家形态,特别是英国形成了官僚-立宪主义,法国形成了世袭-绝对主义。本文在既有研究的基础上,提出征税方式和农业商业化的互动塑造了政体的分岔。而征税方式和农业商业化的互动也影响了代议机构的存在与否及其性质:以商业资产阶级占主导的全国性代议机构能够审议、监督财政和行政机构的运转,最终改变官僚组织的性质。中世纪晚期英国的统一征税方式和农业商业化为其保留了世袭-立宪政体,但全国性的商业化代议机构逐渐校正了其国家基础结构的世袭性质,最终定型为官僚-立宪政体,完成了渐进的制度变迁。中世纪晚期法国分散的征税方式和农业商业化的缺失让其在战争压力中建立起绝对君主制和大型的世袭官僚体系,并在后续持续的战争中不断强化。最终在农业商业化和战争的双重压力下,激发了法国大革命,导致了剧烈的制度变迁。

In the early modern period,England and Western Europe,which originally had a similar social and political structure and culture,formed two different forms of state in the process of national formation.In particular,England formed bureaucratic-constitutionalism,and France formed patrimony-absolutism.On the basis of the existing research and the empirical evidence of fiscal politics,this paper proposes that the interaction between taxation mode and agricultural commercialization has shaped the diversion of polity.The interaction between taxation mode and agricultural commercialization also influences the existence and nature of representative institutions:the unified representative institutions dominated by the commercial bourgeoisie can review and supervise the operation of financial and administrative institutions,and ultimately change the nature of bureaucratic organizations.In the late middle ages,the united way of taxation and agricultural commercialization in Britain retained the patrimony-constitutionalism,but the unified commercial representative institution finally adjusted the patrimonial nature of its sate infrastructure and finally finalized into bureaucrat-constitutionalism,which completed the gradual institutional change.In the late middle ages,France’s decentralized taxation and absence of agricultural commercialization allowed it to build an absolute monarchy and a large patrimonial bureaucracy in the midst of the pressures of war,which were reinforced in subsequent wars.Finally,under the dual pressure of agricultural commercialization and war,the French revolution was inspired,leading to drastic institutional changes.