Towards a theory of revolution

Abstract

This is an essay on comparative constitutional history and comparative revolution. In it, I will consider the development of the rule of law as a phase of state building, paying particular attention to representative institutions. I will compare the constitutional histories of England, France, Russia, Germany and the United States from their origins to the point in each nation’s history which I consider the end of that country’s revolution. It is my thesis that all revolutions are about law and constitutional arrangements. Revolutions answer the question: Who makes law? Where in the state does the legislative authority reside? I hope to show that the outcome of a revolution, the constitutional arrangements that result from it, is largely determined by the system of government that existed before the revolution. That is, however much revolutionaries might want to make a clean break with the past and create a totally new political system, the ultimate revolutionary outcome will have some continuity with the prerevolutionary system.