3 - Familial governance (c.1800–1920): economic enfranchisement and the founder as entrepreneur

Summary

The first stage of the evolution of corporate governance we shall describe coincides with the birth of modern society and the beginnings of capitalism. As we have already pointed out in Part I, this period saw a redefinition of the meaning and significance of property, with important consequences for all of society. Entrepreneurship was liberalized, a right to be granted equally to all citizens. The emancipation of the entrepreneur was a first step, both in the deployment of the liberal political project and in the establishment of the technique of democracy in the governance of the activities of production (1). The privatization of the means of production led to a definition of the rules of governance in the private corporation centred on the founder entrepreneur. He (we will use the masculine pronoun throughout this chapter in line with the historical context) was the one who exercised the entrepreneurial force in the development of the corporation, either by being personally involved in the founding, or by virtue of inheritance. The extended discretionary power accorded to the owner was based on his genetic ties to the corporation. This power was constrained by a counterweight that was also private and genetic, namely the institution of the family. Modern liberal society of the nineteenth century made the family the institution of reference in the maintenance of social equilibrium. The result was a familial model of governance in which the entrepreneur and father represented the exemplary figure (2).