The reading for Home4 is Fukuyama, Chaps 22, 23, and 27. A really good answer to the questions might make specific references to the Fukuyama chapters to support your points. 1. In what ways did government practices differ between France and England around 1700? Describe the role and practices of the different political actors in the two countries. 2. Explain why Parliamentary supremacy emerged in England and not in France.
Paper For Above instruction around 1700, the divergent political practices and institutions in France and England marked a significant turning point in the development of modern statehood and governance. Fukuyama’s chapters 22, 23, and 27 provide crucial insights into the nature of state formation, the role of political actors, and the evolution of constitutional order in these two nation-states. This essay explores the distinctions in government practices between France and England during this period, analyzing the roles of key political actors, and explicates why parliamentary supremacy emerged in England but not in France. Government practices in France and England circa 1700 In 1700, France and England exemplified two contrasting models of monarchy and governance, shaped by historical trajectories, social structures, and political culture. France, under the Bourbon monarchy, was characterized by an absolutist state where power was centralized in the figure of the king. Louis XIV epitomized this model, exerting control over the nobility, bureaucracy, and military, and diminishing the influence of other political actors (Fukuyama, 2011, Chap. 22). The French government practiced a highly centralized administrative system with the king at its apex, supported by a network of royal officials and administrators who implemented royal policies across the realm. The nobility's role was largely ceremonial, and ordinary subjects lacked significant political voice or participation in governance (Barras, 2020). By contrast, England had embarked on a different trajectory marked by the gradual development of constitutionalism and parliamentary authority. The English monarchy was constrained by a system of legal and political institutions that limited royal power, such as the Parliament, the Common Law courts, and established traditions of civic participation. The English political actors included not only the monarchy but also Parliament, which increasingly asserted its role in taxation, legislation, and national policy (Fukuyama, 2011, Chap. 23). The English instead relied on a model of governance characterized by shared