State Formation in the Hebrew Bible: An Institutional Economic Perspective

This article analyzes the changing approach to state formation in the stories of Joshua, Saul, David and Solomon. These stories are here scrutinized for features of emerging constitutional and institutional economic governance. This article inquires as to why initially a rather federalist structure...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Main Author: Wagner-Tsukamoto, Sigmund (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Sage 2013
In: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Further subjects:B transaction costs
B institutional economic governance
B state formation
B Property Rights
B wealth creation
B defense costs / attack
B anarchy / violence
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Electronic
Description
Summary:This article analyzes the changing approach to state formation in the stories of Joshua, Saul, David and Solomon. These stories are here scrutinized for features of emerging constitutional and institutional economic governance. This article inquires as to why initially a rather federalist structure under Joshua emerged, one that subsequently was replaced by more formally coordinated, hierarchical governance structures. It focuses on attack/defense costs and transaction costs that explain the emergence of state structures and their evolution over time. In addition, institutional economic concepts of political governance (that overcome anarchy and organize wealth creation in society) are projected to state formation in the Hebrew Bible. In this way, this article traces the early, yet pseudo-modern, economic history of a theory of state formation.
ISSN:1476-6728
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0309089213483980