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THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO
DALLAS · SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED
LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.
TORONTO
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1918
All rights reserved
Copyright, 1913.
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1913.
Reprinted July, December, 1913; June, 1914; August, 1915; July, 1916; September, 1917.
It is a matter of common observation that during the opening years ofthe twentieth century there has been, in many portions of thecivilized world, a substantial quickening of interest in theprinciples and problems of human government. The United States ishappily among those countries in which the phenomenon can be observed,and we have witnessed in recent times not only the organization ofsocieties and the establishment of journals designed to fosterresearch within the field, but also a notable multiplication andstrengthening of courses in political science open to students in ourcolleges and universities, as well as the development of clubs,forums, extension courses, and other facilities for the increasing ofpolitical information and the stimulation of political thinking on thepart of the people at large. It is the object of this book to promotethe intelligent study of government by supplying working descriptionsof the governmental systems of the various countries of western andcentral Europe as they have taken form and as they operate at thepresent day. Conceived and prepared primarily as a text for use incollege courses, it is hoped none the less that the volume may proveof service to persons everywhere whose interest in the subject leadsthem to seek the sort of information which is here presented.
The content of the book has been determined, in the main, by threeconsiderations. In the first place, it has been deemed desirable toafford a wide opportunity for the comparative study of politicalinstitutions, especially by reason of the familiar fact that thegovernmental system of a minor country may, and frequently does,exhibit elements of novelty and of importance not inferior to those tobe observed in the political organization of a greater state. Hencethere are included descriptions of the governments of the minor aswell as of the major nations of western and central Europe; and theoriginal purpose to attempt some treatment of the governments of theeastern nations has been abandoned, somewhat reluctantly, only becauseof the demands of space, and because it was felt that this portion ofthe projected work would perhaps meet no very serious need in theusual college courses. In the second place, it is believed that theintelligent study (p. viii) of pres