ABSTRACT
A ritual rests on repetition, regularity, and tradition. Venetian order is all the more readily imposed because it passes for a secular rhetoric, with political implications that the inhabitants understand. The battle upsets the social and political hierarchy that the ritual means to stage: the dominance of the patricians over the folk of the popolo; of the Muranesi cittadini over the other inhabitants; of the master glassmakers over their workers; of adults over children. One of the clearest signs of commoner familiarity with political speech and practice appears in the customs around elections. The inhabitants contribute to the construction of order, to the production of laws and rules, and to the defence of political choices, be they of either particular or general interest. The two types of action need one another: political culture, slowly elaborated, is what generates moments of acceleration; short, rapid attempts are nourished by resources, accumulated over the long haul, that permit the inhabitants to take action.
