Party-group relations in new southern European democracies in the crisis era

UID/CPO/04627/2013 PTDC/IVC-CPO/1864/2014publishersversionpublishe

Agricultural Interests and the Origins of Capitalism: A Parallel Comparative History of Germany, Denmark, New Zealand, and the USA

Addressing the literature on the historical origins of capitalism, this study analyses the role agriculture played in the formation of non-market economic coordination in economic and social affairs around 1900. It argues that the dominant rural production profile dictated whether farmers did exert a significant impact on socio-economic institution and policy formation outside the rural sector. By applying the method of parallel demonstration of theory, we illustrate the plausibility of these theoretical considerations through juxtaposing the historical record of Germany, Denmark, New Zealand and the USA. The article highlights the limits of a dichotomous view on the origins of capitalism because the coordination effect of rural economies varies within the later coordinated and the later liberal cluster of market economies