In the Following Passage from a 1789 Letter, Maximilien Robespierre

question 56

Multiple Choice

In the following passage from a 1789 letter, Maximilien Robespierre denounced the decision to limit political participation to those with a certain amount of wealth (Thinking Like a Historian) : "[I]t seems to me that a representation founded on the bases I have just indicated [a system with property qualifications for political participation] could easily raise up an aristocracy of riches on the ruins of the feudal aristocracy; and I do not see that the people which should be the aim of every political institution will gain much from this kind of arrangement. Moreover I fail to see how representatives who derive their power from their constituents, that is to say from all the citizens without distinction of wealth, have the right to despoil the major part of these constituents of the power which they have confided to them."
What did Robespierre argue might result from a political system in which only those with money and property were allowed to participate?

• A)The emergence of a new aristocracy based on wealth instead of birth
• B)The resurgence of the traditional aristocracy
• C)A new and more violent revolution
• D)The victory of France's foreign enemies over the people

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Definitions:

Economic Profit

The measure of difference between total financial returns and comprehensive charges, taking into both explicit and silent costs.

Market Price

The existing price point for transactions involving an asset or service in the market.

Perfectly Competitive

A market structure characterized by a large number of small firms, a homogeneous product, and free entry and exit, leading to price taking behavior.

Marginal Revenue

The increase in revenue that results from selling one more unit of a product.