11 - The Decline of Cameralism in Germany at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century

Summary

Introduction

In the early nineteenth century a fundamental transformation in the established German system of governance occurred; at the same time, Kameralwissenschaft went into decline. These two events have been linked, and several explanations advanced for this linkage, but none is convincing in detail. The decline of cameralism has often been treated as a result of the ‘rise of liberalism’ and the diffusion of English political economy, especially in the wake of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. Unfortunately, this argument – like others along similar lines – is simply incorrect. On the one hand, the influence on contemporary German economic thought that some theorists assign to the Wealth of Nations is exaggerated; and on the other, cameralism continued to play a substantial role in German offices and administrations, even though its theoretical presence had altered and it was progressively replaced by Nationalokonomie in German universities.

A central focus of this chapter will be the development of cameralism as a university discipline and its divorce from administrative practice. Keith Tribe has argued that the pedagogical and philosophical influence of late cameralism should not be underestimated, suggesting a closer analysis of the changing philosophical foundations of university scholarship and training during the nineteenth century, when the idea of happiness as the goal and purpose of the state was increasingly replaced by that of the state providing the conditions for autonomous personal development. Insight can also be derived from Andre Wakefield's critical view of the authenticity of the ideas and teaching of many cameralists, especially regarding their personal credibility and professional ambitions. Finally, arguments for the decline of cameralism at the turn of the nineteenth century can be described by the idea that ‘cameralism becomes more legally minded’. Here I will highlight the impact of alterations to the financial support of the court household that led the activities of the Kammern to be transferred into the sphere of constitutional law.

The development of cameralism as a science and its perception in theory

From the mid-eighteenth century a new curricular structure emerged in German universities including disciplines such as natural law, constitutional law and, of course, the theory and practice of cameralism [Kameralwissenschaft]. Cameralism offered the prospect of telescoping the related subjects of law, history, politics and economy into a single system without rejecting the old teaching tradition of the philosophia practica.