America before 1787

The Unraveling of a Colonial Regime

Jon Elster

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English

Princeton University Pres
01 September 2023

History; Colonialism & imperialism; Revolutions, uprisings, rebellions; Social & political philosophy; Political ideologies

An original account, drawing on both history and social science, of the causes and consequences of the American Revolution.

With America before 1787, Jon Elster offers the second volume of a projected trilogy that examines the emergence of constitutional politics in France and America. Here, he explores the increasingly uneasy relations between Britain and its American colonies and the social movements through which the thirteen colonies overcame their seemingly deep internal antagonisms.

Elster documents the importance of the radical uncertainty about their opponents that characterized both British and American elites and reveals the often neglected force of enthusiasm, and of emotions more generally, in shaping beliefs and in motivating actions. He provides the first detailed examinations of ""divide and rule"" as a strategy used on both sides of the Atlantic and of the rise and fall of collective action movements among the Americans. Elster also explains how the gradual undermining in America of the British imperial system took its toll on transatlantic relations and describes how state governments and the American Confederation made crucial institutional decisions that informed and constrained the making of the Constitution.

Drawing on a wide range of historical sources and on theories of modern social science, Elster brings together two fields of scholarship in innovative and original ways. The result is a unique synthesis that yields new insights into some of the most important events in modern history.

By: Jon Elster
Imprint: Princeton University Pres
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780691242651
ISBN 10: 0691242658
Pages: 488
Publication Date: 01 September 2023
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Jon Elster is professor emeritus at Columbia University and professeur honoraire at the Collège de France, Paris. He is the author of twenty previous books, including France before 1789: The Unraveling of an Absolutist Regime (Princeton), the first volume in the present trilogy; Reason and Rationality (Princeton); Explaining Social Behavior; Securities Against Misrule; and Alexis de Tocqueville: The First Social Scientist.