Back Cover: We know the plan, has become famous, the first part of the brochure Sieyes: 1.
What is the Third Estate? Everything. 2. What has it been hitherto in the political order? Nothing. 3. Request that he? To be something. Greater political firebrand, written with force and brutality rare, What is the Third Estate? published in January 1789, immediately making its author famous and a resounding success. Sieves the nobility to attack "foreign to the Nation," paints a negative assessment of past policy and shows the task ahead. What to do to make people happy? Resorting to the nation and not the privileged, because the nation is, it is the origin of everything. The Nation must therefore give freely and the Constitution laws that protect citizens and decide the common interest. And will lay the foundations of the new society. Work of circumstance, What the Third Estate? became one of the founding texts of modern society.
notice of Emmanuel
I know nothing about politics and I no better history. The idea of reading What is the Third Estate? I actually came to listen to the courses currently gives to the College of France Pierre Rosanvallon (Chair of Modern History and contemporary politics) entitled What is a democratic society? The first hours of the course (I regret not having gone further), as a preamble to the exploration of the question, are interested in the notion of equality between men. In this context, this short essay by Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes was repeatedly cited and challenged me.
To summarize this introduction full of detours: the opinion that follows is by no that of a specialist, but more of a curious neophyte interested in a burst of humanism, see the writing on most famous one of the fathers of the French Revolution. Lu in the edition whose cover is reproduced above (classical fields), I must emphasize the quality of it, made so simply that precision: a short text aired but a sober cover and pleasant, and above all a preface short enough to be read and highly informative. We thus learn that EJ was Abbe Sieyes and therefore a member of the clergy, he wrote several political essays in 1788 before publishing What is the Third Estate? in January 1789. It also takes the measure of the impact of the text in society the time and discovered how Sieyes, Third elected member State in May 1789, will help implement its proposal for a national assembly and affect the drafting of the Declaration of Human Rights and constitution of 1791 before giving up gradually on the front of the stage.
Turning finally to the text, which is a plea for reasoned assumption popular sovereignty, I must say that I particularly liked two dimensions. First, the term political firebrand highlighted along with other superlatives in the back cover is perfectly appropriate : It is a real political discourse, committed, confident, well-argued book that Sieyes, a speech to excite the fiber "of the political debate Sunday noon" that lies within us. A speech like you've hardly heard today (regardless of any partisan belief). The second is the broad scope of the first part of the text, organized around the map reproduced above, which, dissecting the special relationship that maintaining the three levels which then comprised of France, is leading some difficulties inherent in all human societies. Thus one can cite a few sentences we might as well have noted yesterday in a newspaper article (The language is perhaps a little too strong):
"We are not free by privileges, but rights citizens, rights which belong to everyone. "
" It is dreadful to hear profane the sacred name of liberty to conceal the designs which are most opposed. "
" You're vain, it is not unlike the professions, nor fortune, nor the lights which divides people is that of interest. "
In the second part of the text (In fact two thirds following), Sieyes, naturally, argues and offers. It then goes from general to specific, from the theoretical to the technical and curious quickly losing ... and bored.
To read or not?
Objectively, the experience is interesting, but I do not think the game really worth the effort if you're not an expert or particularly interested in the subject. If you feel the urge to form a body of knowledge in political science, rather take the time to listen to the podcast mentioned above, for my taste (again ignorant of in this respect) exciting and relatively accessible.
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