Theories, Governments, and the Common Man

Theories of governments have been contemplated by the great minds of the human species. There are only two according to Machiavelli as he stated in The Prince, "Republics or Princedoms" (1). The American Republic and Absolute Monarchies are two different types of governments that do have some similarities. These differences and similarities can be found within who rules over the government and how this person comes to power, and in the economy and the people that contribute to it.

The American Republic is a government that rests on the people. The people choose their leader through voting, after which the votes are calculated and placed into the popular vote ballot. The Electoral College looks at these votes and decides which political party to cast their votes towards. Each state is given a certain amount of electoral votes and once all of them are counted, the nominee with the most electoral votes wins and becomes president. In an absolute monarchy "the order of succession in most monarchical states is by primogeniture, meaning the eldest son of the monarch is first in line" (en.wikipedia.org) to rule. The kingdom is passed down from generation to generation. The Monarch has "power over every aspect of the state, and a constitution may be granted or withdrawn." (en.wikipedia.org). The Monarch makes all the laws and has complete power. They keep order by making these laws and sometimes seek a little personal gain out of them. The Republic's President is part of a three branch system that is made up of checks and balances. He has the power to veto and pass bills but those same bills must go through the other two branches as well to be passed. This limits the Presidents power. The President is able to nominate judges to the Supreme Court when one finishes his or her life term. The President is also able to select cabinet members and to fire them. Both Presidents and Monarchs are at the head of their country's military. Monarchs do not need to ask other branches of government for money or for the approval to go to war, like the President does. Both leaders also act as ambassadors to other countries. They represent their country and may make or sign treaties with foreign powers. One substantial difference between the President and a Monarch is that the President can only be in office for a maximum of eight years, while a Monarch is in power his or her entire life. The President and Monarch seem to have about the same amount of power, in their own different ways, with the exception that the President stays in power a much shorter time than a Monarch does. None of this power would matter without citizens to use it on or an economy to plunder.

The American Republic is based on the majority of the middle class. The economy of America is based mainly upon industry and manufacturing, therefore it breeds middle class workers. Absolute Monarchies tend to have a "concentrated wealth in the aristocracy and the majority of the population living as agricultural serfs." (en.wikipedia.org). This means that in an Absolute Monarchy there is a small or nonexistent middle class, a large lower class due to the economies agricultural basis, and a small but very wealthy upper class. These two types of economies contrast significantly. One is based on agriculture and one is based on industry and manufacturing. In the Republic, most people are well off and live a decent life and in an Absolute Monarchy, most people are poor and are barely able to live at all. According to this, one can assume that they would have a better chance at a decent life in the American Republic, than they would if you were to have one in an Absolute Monarchy.

Differences and similarities can be found within who rules over a government, how this person comes to power, and in the economy and the people that contribute to it. From this information, the conclusion that can be made is that the formation of an Absolute Monarchy will result in a strict, non-changing, strong central government, with a large lower class and a small rich upper class. The conclusion that can be made about the American Republic is that it is a more balanced and more people oriented government, than an Absolute Monarchy. The Republic is more for state and people rights even though it has a strong central government. It can be concluded that the Republic may not be better than an Absolute Monarchy, but it does have more incentives for the common man.

Work Cited

"Monarchy." Wikipedia. 13 Nov. 2005. 14 Nov. 2005
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Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. New York: Dove Publications, Inc, 1992.