Great Britain, 1688–1727 CE

Hybrid Regime · Monarchy · Western Europe · Age of Absolutism era

Post-Glorious-Revolution Britain, a constitutional monarchy with a sovereign parliament, a financial revolution and the 1707 union of England and Scotland.

The 1688 Glorious Revolution established the supremacy of Parliament over the crown, codified in a Bill of Rights, and inaugurated a constitutional monarchy with regular elections, a free-ish press and an independent judiciary. A financial revolution – the Bank of England, a funded national debt – underwrote naval and commercial power. The 1707 Act of Union joined England and Scotland into Great Britain.

Open Great Britain 1688–1727 CE in the interactive 3D atlas →

Dominant patterns

  • Democratization
  • External Expansion
  • Militarization
  • Great-Power Rivalry
  • Regime Stabilization

Political-science factor profile

Each factor 0–100; higher = stronger authoritarian / crisis pole (except institutional stability, where higher = stronger institutions).

Centralization of Power48
Media Control32
Repression35
Nationalism55
Militarization58
Economic Stress40
External Conflict62
Cult of Personality35
Elite Fragmentation50
Institutions72
Social Polarization48
Corruption & Patrimonialism52
Ideological Mobilization45
External Sovereignty92

Economy & society

GDP per capita$2000 (intl-$)
GDP growth+0.5%/yr
Population7.0M people
Share of world population1.1%
Territory~230k km²
Capital population~600k

Closest historical twins

The country-eras whose structural profile most resembles Great Britain 1688–1727 CE, by similarity score (0–100).

  1. Great Britain, 1727–1760 CE – similarity 99/100 · shared: Democratization, External Expansion, Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry, Regime Stabilization
  2. British Empire, 1868–1901 – similarity 96/100 · shared: Democratization, External Expansion, Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry, Regime Stabilization
  3. British Empire, 1901–1914 – similarity 96/100 · shared: Democratization, External Expansion, Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry, Regime Stabilization
  4. United States, 1981–1989 – similarity 93/100 · shared: Democratization, External Expansion, Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry, Regime Stabilization
  5. France, 1870–1900 – similarity 92/100 · shared: Democratization, External Expansion, Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry
  6. France, 1900–1914 – similarity 92/100 · shared: Democratization, External Expansion, Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry
  7. United States, 1945–1968 – similarity 90/100 · shared: Democratization, External Expansion, Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry, Regime Stabilization
  8. Great Britain, 1783–1815 – similarity 89/100 · shared: Democratization, External Expansion, Militarization, Regime Stabilization

What followed

  • Parliamentary supremacy and a bill of rights.
  • A durable constitutional settlement.