Ancien régime venality of office has been axiomatically associated with inefficiency and corruption. In the case of mid-ranking provincial royal forestry officers, such behaviour was blamed on the limited promotion opportunities and poor financial rewards of their office. This article argues that active engagement with municipal politics was an additional, and more effective, compensation strategy for these office-holders because they could capitalize on the opportunities provided by the introduction of municipal venality in 1692. While financially unrewarding, civic participation enhanced their local status and prestige. It also contributed to the concentration of municipal power into few privileged hands, which over time severely undermined more participative forms of local governance. Ultimately, the failure of Colbert’s vision of forestry as an efficient public service was not due to the venal nature of the forestry office per se, but to office-holders sacrificing dedication to the king’s service for enhanced municipal prominence.

中文翻译：

---

城镇中的唯利是图：维勒穆尔的唯利是图的林业官员的公民参与（1671-1776）

旧政权的腐败与低效率和腐败有着不言而喻的联系。就省级皇家林业官员而言，这种行为被归咎于他们办公室的晋升机会有限和经济奖励不佳。本文认为，对于这些公职人员来说，积极参与市政政治是一种额外的、更有效的补偿策略，因为他们可以利用 1692 年市政贿赂制度的引入所提供的机会。虽然在经济上没有回报，但公民参与增强了他们的地方意识。地位和威望。它还导致市政权力集中到少数特权人士手中，随着时间的推移，这严重破坏了更具参与性的地方治理形式。最终，