Two Political Models of the 17 th Century

1. Two Political Models of the 17th Century Kagan pp. 379-380, 382, 390 & 394-395 Nature of the State DBQ

2. Characteristics of 17th Century Modern State • Peace at Home, War Abroad • maintains order & security within the state • no regard for other countries’ policies • raises, controls and supports armies for use against other states • Effect of Military Changes: (U3.1 #2)

3. Political Absolutism: sovereignty is the ruler! • Jean Bodin – sovereign power = authority to make laws, tax, administer justice, control the state’s administrative system and determine foreign policy • “Kings are appointed by God and He reigns through them, therefore coming from God a king’s rule is absolute and he is responsible to no one (not even parliament) except God” • WHERE?

5. Absolutism? • ruler is not legally bound to any other persons or institutions but he • was dependent on advisors & bureaucrats • had to compromise with vested interests • could be undone by local custom • could be resisted by lawyers, nobles, ecclesiastics, hereditary officeholders, etc. • had to deal w/ slow transportation & communication = not very efficient

6. Social Contract • Parliamentary Monarchy • Form of limited or constitutional monarchy in which the monarch is subject to the law and ruled by the consent of the parliament • WHERE? • Republic • a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch; a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law • WHERE?

7. Nature of State DBQ Docs • Categorize each of the docs as either representative of an ABSOLUTE MONARCHY (aka Divine Right of Kings) or PARLIAMENTARY MONARCHY (aka Social Contract). Be careful to look closely at the authors, the time and the place as well as the content to help aid you in your decision.

8. Who’s who of 17th & 18th century Politics Absolutism • King James I (England), On the Divine Right of Kings, 1609 • Cardinal Richelieu • Bishop Bossuet, Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture • Louis XIV, L’etat c’est moi! • Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan • Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, 1790 Social Contract • Dutch Act of Abjuration (Declaration of Independence), 1581 • English Parliament, William III and Mary II, Bill of Rights, 1688 • John Locke, Two Treatises of Civil Government, 1690 • Jean Jacques Rousseau, Social Contract, 1762 • Declaration of Independence, 1776