Abstrak

Kembali

Towards the end of the seventeenth century, two disputed elections, which were contested by Jansenists and Jesuits, shook the religious establishment at Louvain. Somewhat banal at first sight, these elections actually brought to light the principles and issues at stake in operating the electoral process under the ancien régime. This did not involve choosing the best candidates among those competing for office, nor the democratic expression of opinions held by the members of the collectivity or corporation called upon to render a verdict. Rather than representing a right to be freely exercised, voting— for a monastic superior, dean, bishop or rector—was instead an honour, a privilege that entailed numerous obligations. As a result, early modern elections contributed far more to the reproduction of corporate society and its specific institutions than to the long march of the modern democratic experience.