초록 열기/닫기 버튼
France held about twenty elections over the decade of the FrenchRevolution. For the French people of the late eighteenth century, choosingtheir leaders through elections was not a totally new idea. Yet, the rateof abstention was still high and democracy failed to consolidate. Patrice Gueniffey argues that democracy could not be achieved becauseof the one-sided application of popular sovereignty. His claim seemsparadoxical and post facto as he looked at the elections of the FrenchRevolution and the democratic system through the lens of modern-daydemocracy. The high rate of abstention at the time of the Revolution was dueto the structural weaknesses of the election system, the high rate of illiteracyof the constituency, and the economic hardship. The opposite view isthat the Revolutionists' rejection of a popular sovereignty system allowingfor opponents-as Gueniffey would like to argue. In fact, the root causeis to be found in the attempt to juxtapose a revolutionist concept of popularsovereignty never seen before and a traditional electoral system.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
French Revolution, Democracy, Election, Representation, Popular Sovereignty
