Absolute monarchy: Encyclopedia - Absolute monarchy

Absolute monarchy

Absolute monarchy is an idealized form of government, a monarchy where the ruler has the power to rule his or her country and citizens freely with no laws or legally-organized direct opposition telling him or her what to do, although some religious authority may be able to discourage the monarch from some acts and the sovereign is expected to act according to custom. There is no constitution or body of law above what is decreed by the sovereign. As a theory of civics, absolute monarchy puts total trust in well-bred and well-trained monarchs raised for the role from birth.

In theory, an absolute monarch has total power over his or her people and land, including the aristocracy and sometimes the clergy (see caesaropapism), but in practice, absolute monarchs have often found their power limited.

Some monarchies have powerless or symbolic parliaments and other governmental bodies that the monarch can alter or dissolve at will. Despite effectively being absolute monarchies, they are technically constitutional monarchies due to the existence of a constitution and national canon of law.

Absolute monarchy - Theories and History

The theory of absolute monarchy developed in the late Middle Ages from feudalism during which monarchs were still very much first among equals among the nobility. With the creation of centralized administrations and standing armies backed by expensive artillery, the power of the monarch gradually increased relative to the nobles, and from this was created the theory of absolute monarchy.

Absolute monarchy - Divine Rights

Early Absolutists advocated the theory of Divine Right of Kings to justify their position. In the 16th century, monarchs took advantage of the clergy's weakness during the Reformation to impose their will. They declared to have the ability to decide the religion of their subjects. Henry VIII of England seized the property of the Catholic church while France claimed "Gallican liberties". These new monarchs claimed to be responsible solely to God. They attempted to eliminate or marginalize customs, institutions, and laws that held their predecessors in check.

Absolute monarchy - Thomas Hobbes

Hobbes believed that all the people should invest their power and rights in one sovereign ruler. He also argued the ruler has the ability to decree anything for the sake of the people. People may not argue with the rulers rulings.

Absolute monarchy - Enlightened Despotism

In France, the monarchy was able to eventually centralise its powers and sideline Parliament and nobles. A classic example of an absolute monarchy is that of Louis XIV of France. During the Enlightenment, the theory of absolute monarchy was supported by the French philosophes as a form of enlightened despotism. The philosophes argued that only an enlightened monarch can introduce progressive reforms to curtail feudalism and reactionary clergy. However, it must be pointed out that while Louis XV and Louis XVI were absolute monarchs in theory, they had to contend with many private interests, some of which opposed reforms, such as the great nobility and the parlements. Enlightened despotism was discredited with the fall of Napoleon.

The popularity of the notion of absolute monarchy declined substantially after the French Revolution and American Revolution, which promoted theories of government based on popular sovereignty.

Absolute monarchy - Modern examples

The remaining absolute monarchies in the modern world are in Saudi Arabia, Brunei and Swaziland. One might also add the Vatican City state (headed by an elected monarch who has absolute power).

In Jordan and Tonga, the monarch (although not absolute) retains considerable power. The King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, has voluntarily announced reforms, which would usher in a two-party democracy by 2008. It is not clear how much power King Wangchuk, or his successor, Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck would retain in the new system.

In Nepal, King Gyanendra dismissed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba due to the ongoing conflict with the Maoists, and formed his own cabinet [1], but claims democracy will return in 3 years.

In Liechtenstein, nearly two-thirds of the tiny principality's electorate have agreed to give Prince Hans Adam veto power he asked for. Although this does not make Hans Adam an absolute monarch, it makes him closer to being an absolute monarch than almost all other royals in Europe.

Many of the nations in the Middle East, such as Qatar, and Kuwait, are said to be absolute monarchies as well, as their monarchs continue to hold great power under their respective constitutions. However, in these cases there are also parliaments and other council bodies that advise and curtail the monarch's effective authority.

Absolute monarchy - Examples in the Past

An absolute monarch is one who has total control over his or her country and who claims that they rule by divine right. In order to be a successful absolute monarch, one must keep one’s threats far away and out of power, so as to ensure full political control. In addition, a monarch must have complete control over the religious groups of the country. This has been dictated by the past, as the rulers who follow these guidelines have prospered and maintained their power while those who didn’t were overthrown or killed. Charles the First, Louis the 14th and Peter the Great were all absolute monarchs who demonstrated, to different degrees, what is required to maintain total control.

Louis XIV was a successful absolute monarch. He ruled over France with divine right and ensured that he was all-powerful. He maintained rule over his country for such a long time because of two reasons. First, he made sure his threats and people who disagreed with him were far from his power base. Whenever he felt threatened by a noble or person, Louis would send that person to a rural area of Europe in order to keep them from causing trouble. By eliminating the people who threatened him in this way, he was able to create a strong and stable set of delegated nobles nearby who only supported him. The other reason he was able to maintain full control of France was because he was the head of the Catholic Church in France. Because religion was a strong force in every household back then, having control over the church allowed Louis to have even more control over the people. He ordered that all non-Catholics either be converted or sentenced to death so that he could keep his country pure and unified, which would ultimately allow for a long reign.

Another absolute monarch was Charles the First. Charles was not as successful a monarch as Louis XIV and only ruled over England for a short while before his own military overthrew and executed him. This is because he did not adhere to the guidelines for being a strong absolute ruler. Charles I allowed his threats to remain too close to him. His main threat was parliament, who disagreed with him often and made sure that he could not be in total control. By allowing parliament to exist, Charles could not fully rule over England as he would have liked. The other problem with his reign was that he could not manage and unify all the religious groups in England. While the head of the Anglican Church, or the Church of England, Charles could not manage to control the rebel Protestants and Puritans, which caused him a lot of trouble through protesting and riots. By allowing these minorities to continue rebelling, he lost power over England because he could not unify it. Finally, the parliament and military decided that he was detrimental to the country and ordered that he be executed.

Finally, Peter the Great was an absolute monarch who was very successful in ruling over all of Russia for a long time. Peter the Great did this mainly through violence and threats of violence. If he believed that someone was a threat to his power, he quickly had them killed. People had to be very careful about disparaging him as, if he found out about it, Peter would have them executed. While this was a very strict, cruel and violent way of eliminating threats from his power base, it worked. As for religion, Peter had a lot of influence on the dominant church in Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church. After deciding he needed to be in charge of religion, he banished the patriarch of the church and created the Holy Synod, a group of people who ruled over Russian religion. Peter appointed a spokesperson for himself as the head of this body, and now had a great deal of control over the church’s dealings. Although feared by many, Peter maintained control over Russia for his entire life and made it into a more powerful country.

Overall, absolute monarchs must follow certain guidelines in order to create and maintain a successful rule over their country. Louis XIV and Peter the Great each secured full political control over their country, by eliminating threats, as well as full religious control over the church, both of which allowed for long reigns. It is evident that if a ruler does not have utilize these methods, they will not have absolute power and will most likely be overthrown, as Charles the First was.

See also

• political absolutism
• absolute power
• constitutional monarchy
• Totalitarianism
• dictatorship
• fascism

Category: Monarchy

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Absolute monarchy", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki