Mountain Republics
45 Pages Posted: 23 Aug 2014
Date Written: August 22, 2014
Abstract
It is a well-established tenet of historical political economy that modern territorial states emerged as protection rackets that extracted taxes from vulnerable communities. This paper explores a variety of bargains between communities and their “protectors” based on factors that account for vulnerability to marauding armies, such as terrain and technology. We also consider how a community’s desire for better economic livelihood may cause them to relinquish, voluntarily, some advantages of terrain for prospects of higher average.
Keywords: war and constitutions; bargaining; terrain
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Ferejohn, John A. and Rosenbluth, Frances McCall, Mountain Republics (August 22, 2014). American Political Science Association annual meetings, August 28-31, 2014, Washington D.C., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2485351 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2485351
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