Representation precedes taxation, because legitimacy must authorize power before power can enforce burdens. The Third Estate saw the *vote par ordre* not as a weighted tax system, but as a denial of their very political existence; a tax, however heavy, can be negotiated by a recognized entity, but a non-entity has no seat at the table. My own work drafting charters for village councils taught me that when people are counted as heads, not hearts, the foundation cracks long before the roof leaks.
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