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Essays on absolute monarchy
Absolutism vs constitutional monarchy
Essays on absolute monarchy
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Monarchs and Dictators are very similar but yet very different. A monarch is defined as “a person who reigns over a kingdom or empire: as, a sovereign ruler or a constitutional king or queen” by Webster’s Dictionary. A monarch rules over lands while following a set of guidelines that are set by a constitution, law body, or the people themselves. Dictators on the other hand, are defined as “a person who rules a country with total authority and often in a cruel or brutal way”, they rule by themselves, they don’t follow any rules, they don’t take into account the people’s opinion, and they don’t care about anything other than gaining more power.
There are different types of monarchies, each with a different level of control used by the monarch. An absolute monarch has supreme power over his or her lands, and citizens. King Louis XIV of France once stated that “L'état, c'est moi” literally translating into, “The state, It is me”. An absolute monarchy and a dictator are very closely related, both leaders have absolute power, but the way they receive the power, and act on that power is very different. Another type of monarchy is a constitutional monarchy. A constitutional monarchy has a monarch who rules by a constitution, the monarch can’t do whatever he or she wants to, they must follow the constitution. Normally constitutional monarchies also have a parliament, which is used to govern laws.
A dictator rules with an iron fist, as Charlie Chaplin once said “Dictators free themselves, but they enslave the people.” Dictators don’t care whether you want them to lead you or not “In a democracy you believe it or not, in a dictatorship you believe it or else” (Evan Esar). Currently there still are dictators, one of the most well know is ...
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...Jong UN, killed for his power, and even made sure that he was the only one that could take the power after his father, Kim Jong Il, died. The New York daily news reported that "All relatives of Jang have been put to death, including even children,” The current monarch of England got her power from her relatives, not from killing them. Absolute monarchies are the closes thing relating to a dictator, but they still are not the same. An absolute monarchy is only different through how the monarch receives his or her power, an absolute monarch usually receives his or her power form their relatives or had been elected by officials or the citizens of the country, while a dictator receives their power from military invasions or when elected official refuse to step down from their elected spot. Even though Monarchies and Dictators may seem the same, they are very different.
Till this day there are countries that are still ruled by dictators, for example, North Korea. It is hard to believe that such a ruler existed back in that time, but sadly dictators like Trujillo still live to this day. An example would be in North Korea, where the current leader Kim Jong-Un is the successor of the previous dictator, Kim Jong-Il. Kim Jong-Il ruled North Korea during the 20th century.
According to the text book, an absolute monarch is a king or queen who has unlimited power and seeks to control all aspects of society (McDougall little, 1045). In more simple terms, it is a ruler who can do just about anything without having to get permission from anyone, or having to worry about the repercussions. This was a trend that started in the 1600’s by European leaders who were rich, and didn’t like to be told what to do. These conflicts arose with the States-General in France, or Parliament in England who had substantial control. The first countries to have absolute rulers were the traditionally strong countries, such as England, Spain, and of course Louis XIV’s France.
Absolute Monarchy was a major form of government in Europe during the Renaissance. The monarch of that country controlled every aspect of their country and acts as the undisputed head of state. Whether economic, social, religious, or domestic the monarch had his say in every matter in their country. While except in places like the Middle East and Africa, absolute monarchs have ceased to exist, their policies and actions are used in the governments of today.
A dictator is a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained power by force, and generally not liked by the community. The major dictators of the 20th century left an infamous legacy behind them, all using similar tactics during their reign. Mussolini, dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1942, used his power to abolish all other political parties in Italy, thus making him superior. Hitler gained dictatorship in the 1930’s. In that time, he purged opposition and used his newly confiscated power to create his definition of superior humans, annihilating entire groups due to them not meeting his criteria for appropriate human value.
In our society, we have elections to choose our leaders and, most of the time, they lead our countries well. Signs of authority are shown every day by our leaders; whether it be the way they dress, the way they give speeches, or the way they fight their wars. Our society has a checks and balances system, according to Merriam Webster “so that no part can become too powerful”. Societies like this thrive all over the world. Yet...
In Absolutism the country is ruled by way of the unjustifiable decisions of the king with the citizens not partaking in the government. “The head alone has the right to deliberate and decide, and the functions of all the other members consist only of carrying out the commands given to them… The more you grant…[to the people] the more they claim...The interest of the state must come first” (Doc. 3). This statement highlights how the king had a majority of the power, and did not believe he should share the wealth. Although Absolutism is the inadequate form of government, it does contain a few positive aspects. For example, without any power amongst the citizens, there is less rebellion and and civil war amongst the people. In addition, if the ruler is good, he can use his power for good without a Parliament to reject
An article in Britannica Encyclopedia talks about absolutism and how it operates. “The ruling power is not subject to regularized challenge or check by any other agency, be it judicial, legislative, religious, economic, or electoral.” Because of the fact that there is no other parties to check or regulate the main authority. The ruler can make a decision have it instantly be enforced upon the people. There is no restriction to the power of an absolute monarch. More than making changes whenever they please they can rule their people however they want. This could be good but for the most part it resulted in civilizations that feared their ruler. The only way to stop a monarch is to take it down. An example of this can be seen with Louis XIV in France. He was an overpowering authority in the country. He and his wife Marie Antoinette were big spenders and caused the country to always be in extreme debt. Also, because the process they had in place for decision making, the citizens were nearly neglected. This lead to citizen revolution, in this case it is the famous French
European monarchs from the Early Modern Era were indeed justified in their decision to wield complete power over everyone else. Absolute monarchs have proven time and time again that their ruling style greatly benefits their people if done correctly. While many people in today’s society would argue that having an absolute ruler would be an unwise decision, you must take in consideration the fact that they have a bias opinion based of their current government. Rulers like Catherine the Great and Maria Theresa are known for doing great things and that further proves the advantages of establishing a monarchy. Even though absolute rulers are rare now, that doesn’t change the fact that it is every efficient.
Bullies vs. Dictators When we hear the word “bully”, we normally think of little kids picking on other little kids. However, though bullying is an adolescent phase as well, grown adults can threaten other adults, too. On another note, a dictator, which seems to be an adult bully on a larger scale, misuses their power and controls a nation with a posse. They mostly use violence in order to scare citizens into changing their ways of life. Bullies and dictators are very similar because they use violence, they feel superior in their position and they tend to have their own cliques but they’re different in degree.
In retrospect, it's a single person in control. That's right, a single person is also known as the king, a queen. It isn't like this person is a president with the power to influence ideas and see if they go through, if the king wants it the king gets it. " The monarchs from places like Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Swaziland appear to continue to exercise more political influence than any other single source of authority in their nations, either by constitutional mandate or by tradition" (Monarchy). It is arguably the most efficient form of government on the political spectrum....
Many people argue that a totalitarian government is cruel and very corrupt. Dictators are always criticized because their actions aren’t for the good of his people, but a democracy is no different than a totalitarian rule; the only difference is that people living in a totalitarian government are equal, productive, and stable; which cannot be said for people living in a democracy.
In this context, an absolute monarch would be revolve around a single leader (usually a king) that would make decisions without the assistance of the aristocracy, such as a the nobility, the parliament, or other organizations that include the interest of wealthy families or government officials. In this case, the king would act alone in deciding the political, economic, and military decisions of the people, which would illustrate the absolute power that is wielded by the individual making the decisions. This governmental interpretation of the term “absolute” defines how a king would rule without the interference or inhibitions of an aristocracy or democratic form of government. Of course, the realization of this type o government can be better explained through the context of the absolute monarchy in France, which was founded in the leadership of king Louis
Kings have existed throughout history since the beginning of time with Egypt having some of the first recorded monarchies beginning back in the 3rd Century with King Menes. Monarchies began because people needed a higher figure to look up to, to follow because they didn’t believe that God was the higher power or in some cases didn’t know who God was. The bible tells the story of God’s people constantly losing site of God as the center of their lives, so they thought they needed something more, they thought they needed a King.
As stated in the prompt, the two modes of rule are absolute rulers and a constitutional government. Absolute rulers act as monarchs who feel they have sole responsibility for the outcome of their people. At the end of the day, it's what they say or the highway. No one can overpower their decision because it was their "divine right" (they were chosen by God himself to rule). On the other hand, constitutional government was pretty much the opposite.
Constitutional monarchy can be described as a form of government in which a monarch acts as the head of state but functions within the parameters or guidelines of a written and/or unwritten constitution. Although the government may function officially in the monarch’s name, the monarch does not set public policies or choose the political leaders. Constitutional monarchy therefore differs from absolute monarchy where the monarch controls political decision making without being restricted by constitutional constraints. Consequently, a constitutional monarch has often been defined as a sovereign who reigns but does not rule. Constitutional monarchies have also been called limited monarchies, crowned republics or parliamentary monarchies.