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Literacy and State–Society Interactions in Nineteenth‐Century France

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  • Nan Zhang
  • Melissa M. Lee

Abstract

Modern states are distinguished by the breadth and depth of public regulation over private affairs. This aspect of state capacity and state power is predicated on frequent and dense encounters between the state and the population it seeks to control. We argue that literacy in the language of state administration facilitates state–society interaction by lowering the transaction costs of those encounters. We support this claim with evidence drawing upon detailed historical data from nineteenth‐century France during a crucial period of state and nation building. Focusing on the specific domain of French marriage regulations, we find that increasing literacy predicts greater popular involvement with local authorities across French regions over time. These results demonstrate that literacy plays an important role in political development not solely by enhancing loyalty to the state, as the literature has recognized, but also by lowering linguistic and human capital barriers to state–society interaction.

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  • Nan Zhang & Melissa M. Lee, 2020. "Literacy and State–Society Interactions in Nineteenth‐Century France," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 64(4), pages 1001-1016, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:64:y:2020:i:4:p:1001-1016
    DOI: 10.1111/ajps.12524
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    5. Lee, Melissa M., 2018. "The International Politics of Incomplete Sovereignty: How Hostile Neighbors Weaken the State," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(2), pages 283-315, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Morgan Kelly, 2021. "Devotion or Deprivation: Did Catholicism Retard French Development?," Working Papers 202115, School of Economics, University College Dublin.

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