Compare and contrast absolutism and constitutionalism in seventeenth-century Europe.
What will be an ideal response?
The ideal answer should include:
a. Absolutism and constitutionalism were both associated with monarchy in seventeenth-century Europe.
b. Because absolutism was based on the notion that rulers derived their authority from God, rulers were above the law.
c. Constitutionalism limited the powers of the monarchy; rulers were held to the law.
d. The success of absolutism depended in large part on the ability and will of the ruler and the weakness of the nobility.
e. Louis XIV was a strong ruler who embodied absolutism.
f. Philip IV was a weak ruler whose reign shows the failure of absolutism.
g. Charles I was a strong ruler, but he faced a strong Parliament who favored constitutionalism.
You might also like to view...
The power structure of the Ottoman Empire
A. was highly structured, with the ruler's oldest son always succeeding to power. B. was not hereditary, and the sultan was succeeded by his highest-ranking military subordinate. C. was physically centered in the Topkapi. D. divided power between the vezir, "the sultanate of women," and devshirme scholars. E. lacked an imperial bureaucracy, a serious weakness in an empire of that size.
Polybius argued that the Roman Republic
A) had a mixed constitution with executive, deliberative, and legislative branches. B) was an oligarchy behind a democratic façade. C) found its strength in a loose federation of diverse peoples. D) would inevitably evolve into an imperial autocracy. E) eventually added a judicial department.
According to Lorber’s article, the prevailing belief in Western societies is that women and men are:
a. intrinsically similar. b. culturally similar. c. intrinsically different. d. culturally different
In 2006, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
a. became the first woman elected chief executive of a country on the African continent. b. was executed for violation of Shari'a law. c. gained international notoriety for exposing corruption in the United Nation. d. won the Nobel Prize in Literature for her book Devil on the Cross. e. relinquished power to Nelson Mandela ending Apartheid in South Africa.