The declared aim of enlightened administrative reforms was to provide security and aid the whole population, i.e., all social classes. Executive powers of the newly introduced police institutions covered - and defined - the whole public sphere and measures such as census or obligation to have a passport applied, at least in theory, to persons from all walks of life. This article examines how and to what extent were these ambitions applied in practice and whether these measures had an equalising effect on the society. The author concludes that unequal, in this case preferential, administrative treatment of especially the aristocracy was still widespread at the beginning of the nineteenth century. On the one hand, persons of a higher social status - who often held public offices - were supposed to embody the new civil virtues and set an example. On the other hand, however, it was feared that any public punishment or police treatment of such persons would undermine public authority and social order in general., Pavel Himl., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
During the medieval and early modern eras, most of the European urban authorities intended to rule their cities for the «common good», together with respecting the social hierarchy and privileged status. In the 18th century, however, many voices raised for improving the urban policing and reforming old regulations. Most of police officers claimed for equality of every inhabitant with regards to local police ordinances and petty police courts. But even if the urban rules agreed with their arguments for a more efficient policing, they could not prescribe an equality that would overthrow the Ancien Régime’s social order. Brussels in the 18th century is a good example of this contradiction. It was there impossible to reform the policing for the foreigners nor to create a professional night-watch, because of the strong reluctance of the city aldermen to abandon social privileges which were seen as fundamental freedoms of the country., Catherine Denys ; translated by Laura Bennett., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy