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Revision as of 13:18, 8 April 2013
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2008) |
Countervailing Power, or countervailence, is the idea in political theory of institutionalized mechanisms that the wielding of power within a polity having two or more centers can, and often does, provide counter-forces that usefully oppose each other. This political organization stands in contrast to polities such as principalities where "various princes were absolute rulers in their domain"[1] or in modern examples of totalitarian governments.
History
Countervailance in formal political theory dates back at least to Medieval times, especially in Roman Catholic and early Protestant movements, not all of which were successful in achieving their own ends. The Conciliar Movement, although ultimately ending in failure to reform the Catholic church, "raised issues that are fundamental in all domains of social organization, and it contributed to the understanding of the general principle of countervailance, which eventually became the foundation of modern constitutionalism."[1]
In the 20th century, "Countervailing Power" is a theory of political modification of markets, formulated by American economist John Kenneth Galbraith in his 1952 book American Capitalism. In the classic liberal economy, goods and services are provided and prices set by free bargaining. According to Galbraith, modern economies give massive powers to large business corporations to bias this process, and there arise 'countervailing' powers in the form of trade unions, citizens' organizations and so on, to offset business's excessive advantage.[2][dead link]
Seventeenth century England was an active time for the development of countervailance theory.[3]
References
- ^ a b
Gordon, Scott (1999). "Countervailance Theory in Medieval Law, Catholic Ecclesiology, and Huguenot Political Theory". Controlling the State: Constitutionalism from Ancient Athens to Today. Harvard University Press. pp. 116–128. ISBN 0-674-16987-5.
the Republic of Venice ... city-state constructed a political system based firmly on the principle of countervailance
- ^ EconomyProfessor.com, Retrieved 2008-08-25
- ^
Gordon, Scott (1999). "The Development of Constitutional Government and Countervailance Theory in Seventeenth-Century England". Controlling the State: Constitutionalism from Ancient Athens to Today. Harvard University Press. pp. 116–128. ISBN 0-674-16987-5.
The toleration of an aberrant religion means that its adherents are left free to preach, publish and organize. Where such freedoms exist for religious groups, the cannot be effectively denied to citizens who have other agendas. ... During the eighteenth century, the countervailance model of British government was embraced by all the major writers on the subject. It appears to have been generally accepted until Walter Bagehot and A.V. Dicey initiated in the nineteenth century a reinterpretation of the English constitution in terms of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty.
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