{"title":"When the Vote is Not the Only Factor: (Re)thinking Electoral Corruption in Nineteenth-Century Europe from the Electors’ Perspective","authors":"Oriol Luján","doi":"10.1177/02656914231199950","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Practices labelled as corrupt in nineteenth-century European elections are generally conceived either as a form of domination where the candidates and their agents use exclusive resources for personal gain or a means of transaction between candidates and voters, on the assumption that candidates deploy corrupt practices in order to perusade voters. Consequently, electoral corruption in the nineteenth century is considered a tool that limits the participation of enfranchised citizens, whose conception of corruption is largely uncultivated. This study challenges this notion and demonstrates how corrupt practices by electors in societies where freedom was not guaranteed, did not restrain but instead extended the possibilities of political participation. The novelty of this study is based on integrating research focused on politicization beyond the elite and the new history of corruption, using Great Britain, France, and Spain as case studies. This integrated process found that corruption was used by electors to overturn unfavourable results, thus providing a platform for participation beyond voting.","PeriodicalId":44713,"journal":{"name":"European History Quarterly","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European History Quarterly","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02656914231199950","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HISTORY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Practices labelled as corrupt in nineteenth-century European elections are generally conceived either as a form of domination where the candidates and their agents use exclusive resources for personal gain or a means of transaction between candidates and voters, on the assumption that candidates deploy corrupt practices in order to perusade voters. Consequently, electoral corruption in the nineteenth century is considered a tool that limits the participation of enfranchised citizens, whose conception of corruption is largely uncultivated. This study challenges this notion and demonstrates how corrupt practices by electors in societies where freedom was not guaranteed, did not restrain but instead extended the possibilities of political participation. The novelty of this study is based on integrating research focused on politicization beyond the elite and the new history of corruption, using Great Britain, France, and Spain as case studies. This integrated process found that corruption was used by electors to overturn unfavourable results, thus providing a platform for participation beyond voting.
期刊介绍:
European History Quarterly has earned an international reputation as an essential resource on European history, publishing articles by eminent historians on a range of subjects from the later Middle Ages to post-1945. European History Quarterly also features review articles by leading authorities, offering a comprehensive survey of recent literature in a particular field, as well as an extensive book review section, enabling you to keep up to date with what"s being published in your field. The journal also features historiographical essays.