Toleration and State Institutions : British Policy Toward Catholics in Eighteenth Century Ireland and Quebec

This study sheds new light on the official treatment (and mistreatment) of minorities at home during the height of British expansion abroad, offering an example of the divisions and rapprochements that characterize the relationship between state and society.

Toleration and State Institutions explores the rise of more charitable British policy toward Catholics in Ireland and in Quebec during the latter half of the eighteenth century. Applying a historical institutionalist approach, Karen Stanbridge demonstrates that "Catholic relief" arose more gradually, and encountered less opposition, than is generally maintained. Her careful analysis shows that the growth of toleration among political élites, and the concerns of administrators wishing to secure the allegiance of Catholic subjects, were only two of many factors leading to the development of policy kinder to Catholics. Toleration and State Institutions sheds new light on the official treatment (and mistreatment) of minorities at home during the height of British expansion abroad, offering a fascinating example of the divisions and rapprochements that characterize the relationship between state and society.