Elite pact

Joel Migdal has suggested that the concept of political settlements has a pedigree going back to the work of Barrington Moore.

Political settlements are the frameworks for governing a state established by elites, either through formal processes or informally over time.

'[5] Elite pacts can be explicitly articulated (enshrined in an evolving document – such as a peace agreement or a constitution).

Verena Fritz and Alina Rocha Menocal published a paper in 2007 arguing that political settlements are a `domain' at the heart of all state processes.

[6] Important contributions on the establishing of political settlements in modern (particularly newly democratic) states have also been made by Thomas Carothers and Marina Ottaway of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

King John signing the Magna Carta — the charter of rights of the powerful barons which has been described as "the greatest constitutional document of all times — the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot". [ 1 ]