Conclusion: The State and Local–Legal Governance in the Early American Republic

Abstract: This essay comments on four new articles on key institutions of local and legal governance in the history of the early American republic: e.g., nightwatchmen, overseers of the poor, justices of the peace, and sheriffs. It attempts to place these contributions in wider historical and historiographical context by noting recent developments in the history of the American state, municipal governance, the history of law, the history of administration, and the problem of local administrative discretion.