Droughts, Conflicts, and the Importance of Democratic Legitimacy
Evidence from Pre-Industrial Europe
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10094573 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Evan Wigton‐Jones (0000-0002-7424-1101, Husson University, corresponding author), Evan Wigton-Jones (Husson University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 85 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1101-1137 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-10 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Economic History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-0507 • E-ISSN: 1471-6372 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0022050725100922 |
| OpenAlex | W4415022747 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 39 |
This research shows that droughts are robustly associated with city-level unrest in Europe over the years 900 to 1800 ce . This relationship is non-linear, with disproportionately greater increases in the probability of a conflict among droughts in the upper tail of the severity distribution. Elected city governments are relatively immune to drought-induced conflict, while those based on representation by burghers or guilds are not. These results suggest that local governments are key to maintaining social stability during economic shocks, and are most successful when they have a greater degree of democratic legitimacy
Democracy · Representation (politics · Social conflict · Social unrest · Unrest · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies
The Long Road to the Industrial Revolution
Grain Markets in Europe, 1500–1900
European Cities
Old World megadroughts and pluvials during the Common Era
Inference with Arbitrary Clustering
The global distribution of cultivable lands
Climate Change, Mortality, and Adaptation
Medieval Cities: Their Origins and the Revival of Trade
The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare
The Medieval City
From Baghdad to London
Climate Shocks and Sino-nomadic Conflict
Middleman Minorities and Ethnic Violence
The Reformation in the Hanseatic Cities
Drought effects on US maize and soybean production
Can cultural norms reduce conflicts? Confucianism and peasant rebellions in Qing China
The Imperial Court and the Localities during the Reign of Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III
Participative political institutions in pre-modern Europe
Poverty and crime in 19th century Germany
Feeding the Medieval Italian City-State
Anarchy and its Breakdown
Weather Shocks, Sweet Potatoes and Peasant Revolts in Historical China
Jewish Persecutions and Weather Shocks
How Merchant Towns Shaped Parliaments
City States in the Later Medieval Mediterranean World
The Economics of Guilds
The Food Riot as a Form of Political Conflict in France
Medieval origins of constitutional government in the West
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |