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A defense of monarchy?
I'm wanting a good systematic defense of monarchy. I know it comes in several forms (I've read Hobbes and didn't find too much impressive in him). I've grown up in America, and I want to know the other side of the argument, but sources are few and far between in defense of it. One only needs to glance at history to realize an age of republics closes with a long age of monarchy, and I can see trends in that direction.
I'm not interested in celebrity stories about monarchy, but rather a good exposition of the system(s) of thought underlying it. I know there is more than one, because there are Hobbesian monarchists and those who aren't.
I would ask on the political forum, but I doubt I'd get much of a response there. I'm willing to bet that I'd get a better list of the political theory here where there are more people who believe in it.
4 Answers
- BenLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
Well, in my opinion the biggest advantage of a monarchy is that you have a head of state who is genuinely qualified. Elected heads of state are usually lawyers or military officers before they get into politics, and much of their history prior to that may not even be known.
A princes or princesses, however, are raised to be leaders from the very day they are born. For them it's not a matter of choice - they simply are who they are - future heirs to the throne. They receive the finest schooling and then they are trained to become leaders by their parents or relatives who are already proven experts in that area.
One could argue that it's easier for a monarchial head of state to abuse his power - and many monarchs, of course, have been notorious for doing just that. However, elected heads of state can abuse their power too - case in point, Hitler or Stalin.
The solution to that is to divide political control over different entities. That is a good reason to have the courts and the congress separate from the monarch or presidency.
- 1 decade ago
I personally can see no good defense of monarchy. These people didn't have to achieve to get to where they are. Some may prove themselves after the fact, but I think most people would if they were raised and nurtured with all the advantages that "royals" receive at birth. Show me what you can do when you are disadvantaged, as the majority of people are, relatively speaking.
I think the only system that can be defended absolutely is a "meritocracy". Too bad there is no such government.
- 1 decade ago
There is back issue at the Barnes Review titled in Defense of Monarchy and there is a book called Democracy: The God that Failed which is not a defense of monarchy, but a defense of a certain type of hereditarian monarchy over democracy and anarcho-capitalism over both democracy and hereditarian monarchy.
Source(s): www.barnesreview.org www.hanshoppe.com - Anonymous1 decade ago
Wonderful answer Ben. I should think that a monarchy would also promote patriotism, which is easily destroyed in a partisan democracy; the effects of which we have been experiencing for the past 30 years in the USA.
