Jacques Peuchet Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Jacques Peuchet (1758–1830) was a French political philosopher who was highly influential in shaping public administration in his country. It is likely that he coined the term bureaucratic around 1798, approximately a decade after the word bureaucracy was first introduced.

Born in Paris, Peuchet matriculated at the College of Louis-le-Grand. He followed his classical studies with study in law. After graduating, he assumed legal and administrative posts, prior to and continuing throughout the French Revolution (1789–1799), with intervals of self-imposed exile during periods when he felt he was in danger. He came to focus upon political economy as the chief area of his contribution and successfully introduced substantial systematic statistics to French administrative procedure.

Peuchet produced two notable works, Statistique élémentaire de la France (1807) and Description Topographique et statistique de la France (1807). In these works he labored to develop a disciplined approach to public administration, laying thereby the foundation for the discipline to emerge. His influence is reflected in German philosopher Karl Marx’s translation of Peuchet’s treatise on suicide from Peuchet’s Mémoires tirés des archives de la police de Paris (1838), which Marx viewed, in Marx on Suicide (1818–1883) as holding the “great advantage of having placed in evidence the contradictions and the monstrosity of modern life, not only in the conditions of particular classes but in the entire sphere and form of the actual social relations.” Peuchet’s greatest contribution is perhaps his authorship of entries in the Encyclopédie Méthodique (1782–1832), most significantly those in the ninth volume, the 1791 Dictionnaire de police et municipalité, under the heading “Jurisprudence.” Also to note, the “Police” entry contributes two important concepts. The first clarifies the meaning of “public opinion,” which had become a vital part of the thinking of les idéologues of the French Revolution era and had also influenced the thinking of politician and philosopher James Madison in the United States. The second contribution applies to the meaning of the term police itself. Peuchet presents the single, most comprehensive account existing in the literature of political science on the topic, examining the word from its broadest meaning as constitutional and moral order all the way to the maintenance of public order, health, and safety.

Peuchet’s influence extends from political economy and public administration to fictional literature. His worked as a publicist and also edited the Gazette de France and the Mercure. His service as archivist for the Préfecture de Police led to the publication of memoirs that provided the inspiration for Alexandre Dumas’s novel, The Count of Monte Cristo. In addition, Peuchet authored the fictional work Mémoires de Mademoiselle Bertin sur la reine Marie-Antoinette, avec des notes et des éclaircissements (1824).This pseudonymous account (which draws upon the factual record contained in an earlier work of his on Marie Antoinette) served to complete Peuchet’s transition from a representative in the general assembly during the 1789 revolution to a royalist quietly sympathetic to the executed queen.

Bibliography:

Goodell, Edward. The Noble Philosopher: Condorcet and the Enlightenment. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1994.
Kafker, Frank A. The Encyclopedists as a Group: A Collective Biography of the Authors of the Encyclopédie. Oxford:Voltaire Foundation, 1996.
Marx, Karl. Marx on Suicide. Edited by Eric A. Plaut and Kevin Anderson. Translated by Eric A. Plaut, Gabrielle Edgcomb, and Kevin Anderson. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1999.
Peuchet, Jacques. “Administration.” In Encyclopédie Méthodique. Paris: Panckoucke, 1792.
“Jurisprudence.” In Encyclopédie Méthodique. Paris: Panckoucke, 1792.
Mémoires de Mademoiselle Bertin sur la Reine Marie-Antoinette. Paris: Bossanges Frères, 1824.
Mémoires tirés des archives de la police de Paris, pour servir à l’histoire de la morale et de la police, depuis Louis XIV jusqu’à nos jours. Paris: A. Levavasseur et cie, 1838.

This example Jacques Peuchet Essay is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need a custom essay or research paper on this topic please use our writing services. EssayEmpire.com offers reliable custom essay writing services that can help you to receive high grades and impress your professors with the quality of each essay or research paper you hand in.