Political Inclusion and Inequality in Preindustrial Italian Alps (1500-1800)

Details

ERC sector: SH6 - The Study of the Human Past
ERC subsector: SH6_8 - Ancient history, medieval history
Project start date: 30/11/2023
CUP: G53D23007540001
Financial support received: €93.378,00

Description and purpose

The project investigates how the inclusiveness of municipal institutions shaped the management of commons, taxation, and economic inequality in the Northern Italian Alps between 1500 and 1800. Using new data on council composition, revenues, and wealth, it explores the links between decision-making access, fiscal policies, and inequality growth, offering a long-term perspective that helps understand both historical dynamics and their relevance to contemporary inequality.

Website: https://sites.google.com/unimib.it/politicalinclusioninequality/home?authuser=0

Purpose

The project explores how unequal access to public institutions and decision-making shaped fiscal policies and economic inequality in preindustrial Italy, focusing on mountain areas. By studying wealth distribution, taxation, and commons management, it examines how institutional inclusiveness affected inequality trends and aims to fill research gaps by revealing the mechanisms through which governance and fiscal systems influenced long-term inequality dynamics.

Expected results

The project will produce a comprehensive database on council composition, municipal revenues, and wealth inequality, combining archival sources with existing data. This will offer new insights into how unequal access to decision-making fostered inequality and altered fiscal policies. The findings will enhance historical knowledge and provide a deeper understanding of the enduring link between institutional inclusiveness and inequality, informing present and future policy debates.

Achieved results

The project shows that in mountain areas inequality grew less linearly, influenced by local economic and demographic factors. The Commons acted both as equalizers and as drivers of inequality, depending on their management. Elitist control of public goods often increased disparities, though exceptions existed. Economic inequality, fiscal policies, and political inclusiveness were deeply interconnected, demonstrating that governance choices strongly shaped inequality dynamics over time.