[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/irlaec/v47y2016isp10-21.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The two sides of Magna Carta: How good government sometimes wins out over public choice

Author

Listed:
  • Epstein, Richard A.
Abstract
This article examines two rival interpretations of Magna Carta. It rejects the view that Magna Carta is largely a special interest deal between the King and the Barons, and defends the proposition that by and large it works as a public-regarding document that did much to cure the defects of the feudal and judicial systems that had evolved under King John. A clause-by-clause analysis of the document, dealing with such matters as tenurial succession, marriage, courts and judicial procedures, debtor and creditor arrangements, and property rights and liberties shows that Magna Carta exhibited a high degree of technical excellence. By constantly referring back to ancient customs, Magna Carta introduced sensible reforms, some of which were peculiar to the feudal system, but others of which carry over to similar problems today. The durability of the Magna Carta is justified by its political and legal achievements.

Suggested Citation

  • Epstein, Richard A., 2016. "The two sides of Magna Carta: How good government sometimes wins out over public choice," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(S), pages 10-21.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:irlaec:v:47:y:2016:i:s:p:10-21
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irle.2016.05.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0144818816300199
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.irle.2016.05.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. anonymous, 2000. "International ACH debuts at the Federal Reserve," Financial Update, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 13(Apr), pages 1-3.
    2. Buckland, William Warwick, 1908. "The Roman Law of Slavery," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number buckland1908.
    3. anonymous, 2000. "Fed introduces nationally standardized check services," Financial Update, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 13(Jul), pages 1-4.
    4. Smith, Adam, 1759. "The Theory of Moral Sentiments," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number smith1759.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francisco Alvarez-Cuadrado & Ngo Van Long, 2012. "Envy and Inequality," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(3), pages 949-973, September.
    2. Charles M. A. Clark, 2021. "Editor’s Introduction: Economics and the Option for the Poor," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 80(4), pages 1051-1059, September.
    3. Andrew Lynn, 2022. "Ethics, Economics, and the Specter of Naturalism: The Enduring Relevance of the Harmony Doctrine School of Economics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(3), pages 661-673, July.
    4. Alice Martini, 2019. "Socially responsible investing: from the ethical origins to the sustainable development framework of the european union," Public Finance Research Papers 36, Istituto di Economia e Finanza, DSGE, Sapienza University of Rome.
    5. Mihnea-Dan Radu, 2017. "The Protection Of Children In The Post-Classical Roman Law," FIAT IUSTITIA, Dimitrie Cantemir Faculty of Law Cluj Napoca, Romania, vol. 11(2), pages 171-176, November.
    6. Schnellenbach, Jan & Schubert, Christian, 2015. "Behavioral political economy: A survey," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 40(PB), pages 395-417.
    7. Lee, Hoon & Vaughn, Michael S. & Lim, Hyeyoung, 2014. "The impact of neighborhood crime levels on police use of force: An examination at micro and meso levels," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 491-499.
    8. David A. Weisbach, 2008. "What Does Happiness Research Tell Us About Taxation?," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(S2), pages 293-324, June.
    9. Bauer, Johannes M., 2014. "Platforms, systems competition, and innovation: Reassessing the foundations of communications policy," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 662-673.
    10. Richard M. Robinson, 2018. "Friendships of Virtue, Pursuit of the Moral Community, and the Ends of Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 85-100, August.
    11. Masahiko Aoki, 2013. "Institutions as cognitive media between strategic interactions and individual beliefs," Chapters, in: Comparative Institutional Analysis, chapter 17, pages 298-312, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Benno Torgler & Sascha L. Schmidt & Bruno S. Frey, 2006. "The Power of Positional Concerns: A Panel Analysis," CREMA Working Paper Series 2006-19, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    13. Hernández-Pizarro, Helena M. & Nicodemo, Catia & Casasnovas, Guillem López, 2020. "Discontinuous system of allowances: The response of prosocial health-care professionals," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    14. Harvey James, 2006. "Sustainable agriculture and free market economics: Finding common ground in Adam Smith," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 23(4), pages 427-438, December.
    15. Schlicht Ekkehart, 2000. "Aestheticism in the Theory of Custom," Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-21, March.
    16. Saez, Emmanuel & Stantcheva, Stefanie, 2018. "A simpler theory of optimal capital taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 120-142.
    17. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3ile1g7sqe8kfpi2d1e7jp82im is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Avner Offer, 2012. "Self-interest, Sympathy and the Invisible Hand : From Adam Smith to Market Liberalism," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 1(2), pages 1-1, December.
    19. Pienkowski, Dariusz, 2009. "Selfishness, cooperation, the evolutionary point of view and its implications for economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 335-344, December.
    20. Alpizar, Francisco & Carlsson, Fredrik & Johansson-Stenman, Olof, 2008. "Anonymity, reciprocity, and conformity: Evidence from voluntary contributions to a national park in Costa Rica," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1047-1060, June.
    21. Puri, Manju & Robinson, David T., 2007. "Optimism and economic choice," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 71-99, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ancient customs; Church and state; Debtor/creditor relations; Magna Carta; Liberties of London; Medieval courts; Marriage; Property rights; Succession tenurial relations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • K19 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Other
    • K49 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Other
    • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:irlaec:v:47:y:2016:i:s:p:10-21. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/irle .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.