Politics, the people, and extra-institutional participation in Scotland, c. 1603-1712

Bowie, K. and Raffe, A. (2017) Politics, the people, and extra-institutional participation in Scotland, c. 1603-1712. Journal of British Studies, 56(4), pp. 797-815. (doi: 10.1017/jbr.2017.119)

Abstract

This article examines popular political participation in early modern Scotland. In Scotland, some of the preconditions of public politics identified by recent scholars were less obviously present than in England or France. There was no culturally dominant metropolis or royal court; the volume of printed publications, though rising across the period, remained comparatively small. Because of these characteristics, historians of popular involvement in Scottish politics should pay particular attention to the traditional means of participation inherited from the medieval and Reformation periods. The article explores three forms of extra-institutional participation, each of which evolved out of formal, institutional political practices, but were deployed by ordinary Scots seeking to express their views. Protestations––formal statements of dissent from a statute or decision––developed in the courts, but were used in extramural contexts in the seventeenth century. Crowd demonstrations in towns took the place of traditional means of consultation, as urban government became increasingly oligarchical. And after congregational involvement in the appointment of parish ministers was legally instituted in 1690, significant numbers of small landowners and the landless poor claimed to have a say in the choice of their minister.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Bowie, Professor Karin
• Authors: Bowie, K., and Raffe, A.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > History
• Journal Name: Journal of British Studies
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• ISSN: 0021-9371
• ISSN (Online): 1545-6986
• Published Online: 27 September 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 The North American Conference on British Studies
• First Published: First published in Journal of British Studies 56(4): 797-815
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher