Overview

Presbyterianism has shaped Scotland and its impact on the world. Behind its beliefs lie some distinctive practices of governance which endure even when belief fades. These practices place a particular emphasis on the detailed recording of decisions and what we can term a 'systemic' form of accountability. This book examines the emergence and consolidation of such practices in the 18th-century Church of Scotland. Using extensive archival research and detailed local case studies, it contrasts them to what is termed a 'personal' form of accountability in England in the same period. The wider impact of the systemic approach to governance and accountability, especially in the United States of America, is explored, as is the enduring impact on Scottish identity. This book offers a fresh perspective on the Presbyterian legacy in contemporary Scottish historiography, at the same time as informing current debates on national identity.

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9781399563628

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Reviews

This book is an important addition to the study of Scottish Presbyterianism and piety, with a close examination of church records that indicate the way in which administrative records not only give an account of the religious shaping of the nation, but lie at the heart of the Presbyterian identity that has marked the nation since the middle of the sixteenth century. -- Kenneth B. E. Roxburgh, Samford University * Journal of Church and State * A book to be commended. -- Graeme Morton, University of Dundee * Journal of Scottish Historical Studies * Impressive and compelling. -- James J. S. Foster, University of Sioux Falls * Scottish Historical Review * an insightful and wonderfully researched book on the development of the practice of accountability in the Church of Scotland. Governance practices in the Kirk – record-keeping, accounting, inspections – have rarely been examined in such depth. -- Valerie Wallace, Victoria University of Wellington * The Journal of Ecclesiastical History *

Author Information

Alistair Mutch is Professor of Information & Learning at Nottingham Business School. He combines organizational theory with business history and has published on Scottish rural and religious history. He is author of Managing Information and Knowledge in Organizations, 2008 and Strategic and Organizational Change: From Production to Retailing in UK Brewing 1950-1990, 2006.

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