Scottish Shire Elections: Preliminary Findings in Sheriff Court Books

Historians of the Scottish parliament have paid little attention to shire elections because of an apparent lack of local source material. This article explores some of the reasons for this perception and argues that sheriff court records contain considerably more evidence than has been appreciated hitherto. It demonstrates that these records provide details of the electoral process, the regularity of elections, the numbers of electors, external interference in elections and internal divisions within the electorate, local responses to national political events, and attitudes to representation through such things as levying taxes locally to reimburse representatives’ expenses. It challenges the once widely‐held view that the lesser nobility, who comprised the electorate, were uninterested in parliamentary participation, suggesting instead that the statute of 1587, by which shire representation was established, was reasonably successful. Finally, it considers the potential for further research in these and other records which, it is argued, will provide a much deeper understanding of 17th‐century Scotland's parliamentary history in particular and political history in general.     

Book reviews

William M. Carpenter and David G. Wiencek (eds), Asian Security Handbook: An Assessment of Political‐Security Issues in the Asia‐Pacific Region. New York: M.E. Sharpe Inc., 1996. xv + 301 pp. $US68.95 (cloth), $US27.95 (paper).

David S. Mason, Revolution and Transition in East‐Central Europe. Second Edition. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996. xiv + 242 pp. $US52.00 (cloth), $US 14.95 (paper).

Desmond Ball (ed.), The Transformation of Security in the Asia/Pacific Region. London: Frank Cass, 1996. 244 pp. £30.00 (cloth), £15.00 (paper).

M. Jane Davis (ed.), Security Issues in the Post‐Cold War World. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 1996. ix + 248 pp. £45.00 (cloth).

Sam Bateman and Stephen Bates (eds), Calming the Waters: Initiatives for Asia Pacific Maritime Cooperation. Canberra: Canberra Papers on Strategy and Defence No. 114, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 1996. xxii + 207 pp. $23.00 (paper).

Sam Bateman and Stephen Bates (eds), The Seas Unite: Maritime Cooperation in the Asia‐Pacific Region. Canberra: Canberra Papers on Strategy and Defence No. 118, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 1996. xxx + 303 pp. $25.00 (paper).

Anthony Hyman, Political Change in Post‐Soviet Central Asia. London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1994. 52 pp. £9.50 (paper).

Steven Philip Kramer and Irene Kyriakopoulos, Trouble in Paradise? Europe in the 21st Century. Washington, DC: McNair Paper 49, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, 1996. v + 71 pp. No price given.

Yaw Saffu (ed.), The 1992 PNG Election—Change and Continuity in Electoral Politics. Canberra: Department of Political and Social Change Monograph No. 23, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, 1996. xii + 409 pp. $30.00 (paper).

Roger Bell, Tim McDonald and Alan Tidwell (eds), Negotiating the Pacific Century—The ‘New’ Asia, the United States and Australia. St. Leonards: Allen & Unwin in association with The Australian Centre for American Studies, 1996. xi + 324 pp. $29.95 (paper).

Anthony Milner and Mary Quilty (eds), Australia in Asia: Communities of Thought. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1996. xi + 212pp. $24.95 (paper).

Colin Mackerras (ed.), Australia and China: Partners in Asia. South Melbourne: Macmillan Education Australia, 1996. xi + 217 pp. $32.95 (paper).

Peter Maass, Love Thy Neighbour: A Story of War. Papermac, 1996. 305 pp. $24.95 (paper).

United Nations, The United Nations and The Advancement of Women 1945–1996. Blue Books Series, Volume VI, Revised Edition. New York: United Nations Department of Public Information, 1996. 852 pp. US$49.95 (paper).

Frank Elbe and Richard Kiessler, A Round Table With Sharp Corners, The Diplomatic Path to German Unity. Baden‐Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 1996. 256 pp. No price given.

Walter Hatch and Kozo Yamamura, Asia in Japan's Embrace: Building a Regional Production Alliance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. xv + 281 pp. $90.00 (cloth), $34.95 (paper).

Andrew Selth, Transforming the Tatmadaw: The Burmese Armed Forces Since 1988. Canberra: Canberra Papers on Strategy and Defence No. 113, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 1996. 205 pp. $23.00 (paper).

Terry Burstall, Vietnam: The Australian Dilemma. St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1993. xxv + 329 pp. $19.95 (paper).

Terry Nardin (ed.), The Ethics of War and Peace: Religious and Secular Perspectives. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996. x + 286 pp. $US35.00 (cloth).

Archie Law, A Hollow Success: The Repatriation and Reintegration of Cambodian Refugees. Melbourne: Issues in International Development No.7, Research and Policy Unit, World Vision Australia, 1995. 86 pp. No price given.