Akademisk avhandling för filosofie doktorsexamen vid Stockholms universitet 1993 Doctoral Dissertation. Department of Historv, StockholmUniversity, S-10691 Stockholm. Abstract During the early modern period, by means of taxes the state transferred a large part of the peasants’ surplus production to officials who partly were state-sustaining. The collection of taxes was thus a central focus of class conflict. Howdid the local administration and especially tax collection function in the interaction between state and peasants? In mv analysis, Weber’s ideal-tvpes for an estatedetermined administration and a rational bureaucracy are used. During the Age of Liberty (17191772), the parliament, w'here the estate of peasants w'as represented, dominated political life. The recruitment of bailiffs was pre-bureaucratic in the sense that the most important qualification was practical work experience. Wages paid as goods-in-kind had a feudal character as they were delivered by certain peasants; this in itself prevented a bureaucratization. The civil officials investigated, who never belonged to the nobilitv, could thanks to the income of their offices buv property. Normally, tax collection in the investigated bailiwicks of Västernärke and Säter in central Sweden functioned fairly well. There was not, however, anv question of a formal rationality which aligned itself with the comprehensive system of regulations but rather of a goal-oriented rationality. The local variations were great and the legal rights of the peasants were often infringed. During years of dearth and social unrest (for example the uprising of Dalecarlia in 1743), major problems arose, especially in the Dalecarlia bailiwick Säter, where taxation was tied to the coppermining. Tax arrears increased to ca. 50 %. The peasants, who were self-owning, were active and conflicts over charcoal arose. Policies on tax collection were, however, generally lenient. Loans of grain fromthe Crown ameliorated the famine and eased the payment of taxes; these loans were especially important in Säter which depended on import of grain. The inspection trips of the Attorney-General of 1750-53 and 1773-74 show that the peasants to a high degree were at the mercy of the local civil officials when the control of the countv governor was weak. Key words: local administration, peasants, tax collection, interaction, dearth, peasant uprising, goal-oriented rationality, Dalecarlia, Närke. ISBN 91-85190-47-0 ISSN 0534-2716 Pär Frohnert och Institutet för rättshistorisk forskning Tryck: Bloms Boktryckeri AB, Lund 1993 Den på titelbladet avbildade medaljen över Johan Stiernhöök är slagen av Svenska Akademien 1837. Den är graverad av C. M. Mellgren.
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