Dörfer und Deputierte

The manuscript deals with the elections to the Austrian Constituent Diet in June 1848, compared with those to the French National Assembly in April of the same year, with a focus on the dissemination of new concepts and practices of politics ? particularly electoral and representative politics ? in rural areas. The approach is based on concepts from the debate on the ?politicisation? of rural populations which has been conducted in France during the past decades. To facilitate a detailed analysis closely based on primary sources, the study is limited to the province of Lower Austria (excluding Vienna) and the former department of Seine-et-Oise, surrounding Paris. The manuscript is based on a dissertation accepted in 2010, which has been revised in both content and form. Additional archival research in France in January and February 2011 has allowed an augmentation of the primary source basis. After a summary of theoretical and methodical positions regarding the use of international comparison, a brief presentation of the debates on ?politicisation? is intended to familiarize the reader both with the concept and with recent criticisms of it (Chapter 2). The resulting approach is bas