ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the type of "public" authority characteristic of the medieval political community. It characterizes the traditional authority relationships which are an aspect of the rank-order of medieval society. The political and social order of medieval Europe underwent major transformations, ultimately producing the nation-state and a growing equalitarianism. The chapter focuses on the extension of citizenship to the lower classes, in order to get at the linkages between changes in authority structure and in social relations. It turns to the resulting characteristics of the Western nation-state. By developing a nation-wide system of public authority, governments undergo a process of bureaucratization which is analyzed in contrast with the patrimonial pattern of administration that it supplanted. The chapter considers terminological questions as well as certain general assumptions of the conventional approach to the study of social change before formulating the framework to be adopted in the studies. It examines public authority and social relations in a nation-wide context.
