Social Stratification and the Political Community

In the developing areas of the world new class-relations emerge, as one after another country adopts democratic institutions and initiates industrial growth. In the ‘developing areas’ of Europe a comparable process took place since the French Revolution and during much of the nineteenth century. This essay seeks to enhance our understanding of the modern problem by a re-examination of the European experience with special reference to the relation of social stratification and the political community in the nation-state (i).