Dion Norris
Take Home Essay 2
World History 117
1. Every form of government has it’s pros and cons and they vastly differ from each other based on the leader and country they are adopted by. Pros of absolutism are that if the ruler has the people’s best interest at heart then he will lead the state effectively toward a better future. Also decisions can be made in a short period of time. The cons of absolutism, which was adopted by France, Austria, Prussia and Russia are that one-sided decision making by the absolutist ruler can lead to brash decisions which may or may not have the populations best interest in mind, leading to a bad outcome. The interest of the population may not be well represented, if represented at all. An example of this would be Louis XIV and his leading of France into wars that the state could not fund and the building and maintaining of Versailles that drained France’s treasury. Another con of absolutism is that succession is not based on how well someone ruled or through a fair election, but only by their blood line or divine right and any change in government usually must come about by violent and bloody means. King Louis XIV being an example again adamantly believed in divine rule, and had a philosophy of, “L’etate c’est moi”, meaning “I am the state”. One king, one faith, one law. Also, absolutist rulers can be egocentric, lazy or just not be a good ruler in general, destroying the state. King Louis XIV was egocentric, calling himself the Sun King, believing that he was the center of European influence just as the sun is the center of the solar system and his great-grandson Louis XV who came to rule Spain was lazy and uninterested in the duty of leading.
Pros of a constitutional monarchy are that there is a separation of powers. Cons of a constitutional monarchy are that it costs the the state a lot of money to support the monarchy when they have no real purpose in the government and also the Queen can’t make or pass...