A 14 page research paper that discuses the statement that absolute monarchy requires more than absolute power alone in order to function efficiently. The writer argues that this statements suggests 3 factors, which are that the people should believe in this form of government, the monarch should be of exemplary character, and that he should be advised by able ministers. Bibliography lists 10 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: D0_khking.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
mind that serve to facilitate the functioning of an absolute monarchy. First of all--and foremost--the functioning of absolute monarchy requires that the governed accept the idea that the monarch should
have supreme power and that this constitutes a reasonable form of government. History shows that an absolute monarch--no matter how powerful--cannot rule over those who have rejected this form of
government. Secondly, the above statement suggests that the monarch should have the character, wisdom and experience to govern wisely, so the governed continue to accept this form of
government. Third, the statement suggests that the absolute monarch should have able advisers, ministers, etc., that is, a structured bureaucracy, in order to facilitate the functioning an efficient government. Examination
of various primary sources, as well as other opinion, substantiates these observations. The eighteenth century French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau points out in his Letter to DAlembert that "nothing is more
independent of the supreme power than the judgement of the public" (2004, p. 301). Therefore, the sovereign should take care that "not to mix his arbitrary decisions in with the
decrees meant to represent and, what is more, to determine this judgement" (Rousseau, 2004, p. 301). In other words, Rousseau is saying that no amount of absolute power can tell
the public what to think. If the people, in their entirety, consider a man to be a base coward and the king declares him to be a hero, no
one will believe such an edict and the people will still regard him as a coward (Rousseau, 2004). The man "who wants to be honored by force," will be "only
the more despised" because of the royal coercion to change public opinion (Rousseau, 2004, p. 301). This being the case, the first requirement of an absolute monarchy is that the