{"product_id":"administrative-reform-in-late-eighteenth-century-sebastian-meurer-9781837650989","title":"Administrative Reform in Late Eighteenth-Century Britain and Its Empire: A System of Economy","description":"Indispensable for understanding the historical forces that shaped modern governance. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHow did Enlightenment philosophy shape the modern bureaucratic state? While thinkers like Adam Smith and David Hume are celebrated for their contributions to political economy, the crucial work of administrative reformers has largely been forgotten-until now. Here, this question is explored through the untold story of the specialists of public administration, such as the Commissioners for Examining the Public Accounts, whose pioneering efforts to translate political economy into practice laid the foundation for contemporary public administration. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis methodologically refined study re-evaluates Britain's administrative reforms of the late eighteenth century. It traces how systematic, resource-oriented administrative rationality replaced patrimonial notions of office, which treated public offices as royal privileges similar to titles of nobility. Sebastian Meurer relates the British reforms to contemporary administrative reform processes in British India and Ireland and reveals their manifold interconnections. Furthermore, the book offers an analysis of the very process, in which new notions pervaded public administration and traces the interrelations of different perspectives and their gradual shift of credibility. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBy connecting the rise of public administration with the early social sciences, this monograph illuminates how ideas once confined to philosophical discourse were adapted into the practical realities of governance, reform, and statecraft across the British Empire.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Sebastian Meurer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1837650985\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781837650989\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Boydell Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/29\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover","brand":"Sebastian Meurer","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46721239220479,"sku":"9781837650989","price":120.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_7a7cc4b1-c278-43bb-b8ae-bd8f6bc364a4.jpg?v=1742752274","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/administrative-reform-in-late-eighteenth-century-sebastian-meurer-9781837650989","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}