Absolutism & Constitutionalism

• Absolutism is typified by monarchs like Louis XIV and Peter the Great
• Absolute government


  The government rules by divine right or by force, and the people are subjects with no power
• Limited government


  The government is governed by a constitution and its power is limited
• The first words of the United States Constitution are "We the people"
• Constitutional government


  A government that is limited by a constitution
• Contrasts between absolutism and constitutionalism


  • Government power is absolute in absolutism, but limited in constitutionalism
  • Laws are arbitrary in absolutism, but based on common law in constitutionalism
  • Taxation is by decree in absolutism, but by consent of the people in constitutionalism
• Common law


  Laws set by judges based on precedent, rather than arbitrary laws of a lord
• The Magna Carta was signed by King John


  1215
• Magna Carta


  A contract that limited the king's power, particularly his power to tax, and recognized the rights of the people (or at least the privileged classes)
• The Magna Carta embodies the principle of taxation by consent
• Parliament


  A representative body that the English monarch had to convene and get permission from in order to tax
• Power of the purse

  Parliament's power to determine how money is spent
• The English Constitution is not written, but rather a set of traditions and ways of doing things
• Elements of the English Constitution


  • Executive authority of the king
  • Bicameral Parliament (House of Lords and House of Commons)
  • The Lords included the church and nobility, while the Commons included the landed gentry
• In an absolutist state, sovereignty resides in the monarch, while in a constitutional state, sovereignty resides in the people
• Representative bodies are a hallmark of constitutional states, as they give the people a voice
• Absolutism


  Centralized government with "absolute control" ruled by a monarchy with divine right
• Means by which absolute control was gained


  1. Standing military

  2. Control taken from nobility

  3. Limited nobility's participation in government, but preserved their privileges

  4. Religion

  5. Wars

  6. Tax collecting

  7. Improved for more useable revenue

  8. Secret police
• Absolutists


  • Philip II (Spain)
  • Louis XIV (France)
  • Peter the Great (Russia)
  • Austria (Hapsburgs)
  • Prussia (Hohenzollern)
• Philip II (Spain)


  • Religion
  • Wars
  • Improved tax collecting
• Louis XIV (France)


  • The Fronde
  • The nobility
  • Palace of Versailles--intendants
  • The "Sun King"
  • Jean-Baptiste Colbert—Finance Minister
  • Increased king's administrative, financial, military, and religious control
  • Religion—Revoked the Edict of Nantes
• Peter the Great (Russia)


  • Modernized
  • Military
  • Streltsy
  • Created the first navy in Russia
  • Wars
  • St. Petersburg
  • Nobility
  • Religion
• Austria (Hapsburgs)


  • Serfdom
  • Leopold I
  • Repelled the Ottomans (1683)
  • Pragmatic Sanction
  • Charles VI (1713)
  • Maria Theresa
• Prussia (Hohenzollern)


  • The Great Elector, Frederick William
  • Brandenburg-Prussia
  • Standing army
  • Permanent taxes
  • Junkers get hereditary serfdom (1653)
  • Frederick I
  • Frederick William I (1713-1740)
  • "Soldiers' King"
  • Junkers=officers class
• Mercantilism


  A state-driven economic system which emphasizes the buildup of mineral wealth (gold and silver) by means of a favorable balance of trade
• Mercantilism


  • State makes all the economic decisions, like in a command economy
  • Emphasis on accumulating mineral wealth (gold and silver)
  • Maintaining a favorable balance of trade (more exports than imports)
• Mercantilism leads to


  Intense rivalries among European states to accumulate more wealth
• Favorable balance of trade


  Having more exports than imports, to accumulate gold and silver
• Mercantilism gave Europe an increasingly dominant position in the world economy
• Reasons for establishing colonies under mercantilism


  • Provide raw materials for manufacturing
  • Provide new markets for manufactured goods
• Example of mercantilist policy


  • British Navigation Acts - required goods shipped to Britain to be on British ships with British crew, and colonies to trade only with Britain
• Mercantilist policies


  Caused tension with colonies, leading to events like the American Revolution
• Increased demand for New World products like sugar and rice, leading to a rise in consumer culture
• Increased demand for labor, largely from enslaved Africans, to work on European plantations
• Triangular Trade


  Three-part transmission of goods across the Atlantic - finished European goods to Africa in exchange for enslaved Africans, then the Africans to the colonies in exchange for raw materials, which were shipped back to Europe
• Absolutism


  Monarchs consolidated all state power under themselves to advance the needs of their own state
• Constitutionalism


  Government limited by the rule of law, monarch had to share power with a representative body
• Prior to this period, power was distributed among monarchs, nobles and the church
• During this period, monarchs looked to consolidate power under themselves
• Factors leading to rise of absolutist states


  • Weakened influence of Catholic Church
  • Expanding merchant classes desiring economic and political stability
  • Waning power of landed nobility