Absolutism

A research paper on absolutism discusses the political system that relies on one person. World history research illustrates that there were many absolutist governments and there still are quite a few today. Have Paper Masters write your research paper on absolutism.

The term absolutism is used to describe a form of government, generally a monarchy, in which a single individual holds all power. It is slightly different than a dictatorship, in that under a system of absolute monarchy, there are still counterbalances among social classes, such as the nobility, and there is occasionally a symbolic legislature.

Modern absolutist governments include:

• Saudi Arabia
• Brunei
• Qatar
• Oman
• Swaziland
• United Arab Emirates

In Saudi Arabia, for example, absolutism has left the country without a written constitution, and the state has never held national elections, the only Arab nation where this is the case. The only restriction on the monarch is that he must obey Sharia, Islamic law, and the Quran.

Absolutism and it's Peak

Absolutism perhaps had its peak in Europe during the Age of Absolutism, the 17th and 18th centuries. Louis XIV of France is frequently held up as the model of an absolute monarch. Many other European monarchs during this period espoused the doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings, believing that God had invested in them all power and authority. The early Stuart monarchs in England (James 1 and Charles I) attempted to import this idea into England, only to precipitate the English Civil War that briefly deposed the monarchy. The Tsars of Russia were absolute monarchs, ruling that nation as a police state, and Russia became the last European nation to abandon absolutism with the 1917 Revolution.