ABSTRACT
The relation between the state and the people is an equally precarious relationship. ‘Successful state formation,’ in which the central administration listens to its people, takes care of their needs, while at the same time manages to keep foreign competitors at bay, is a truly rare phenomenon in history. Scholars formulated generalities, such as countries with a rather high degree of commercialisation and urbanisation were more often characterised by a larger proportion of state formation from below. People made themselves heard in the ‘public sphere,’ the physical spaces, and media that permitted the debate and identification of political and societal problems by different groups in society. As the editors noted in the introduction, the transformation of this sphere was crucial for the interaction between state and people. Local priests acted as crucial intermediaries between the state and the people.
