Niccolo Machiavelli is revered as the founder of modern political philosophy. He was considered a "realist" because he concerned himself only with the political situations that actually arose in reality; where as previous philosophers were concerned largely with the theoretical politics of an "idealist" prefect society. Machiavelli presents Medici with a sort of guidebook of successful political practices. ... What he means by the "arms of others" and "fortune" is monarchs that inherit their kingdoms. ... By advocating the use of force, Machiavelli became the first political thinker to sug...

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Niccolo Machiavelli is revered as the founder of modern political philosophy. He was considered a "realist" because he concerned himself only with the political situations that actually arose in reality, where as previous philosophers were concerned largely with the theoretical politics of an "idealist" perfect society. ... In doing so, Machiavelli presents Medici with a sort of guidebook of successful political practices. ... What he means by the "arms of others" and "fortune" is monarchs that inherit their kingdoms. ... By advocating the use of force, Machiavelli became the first poli...

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America politics have come along way for the time of its youth. ... This society has removed God and Monarchs from the center of the Government. ... Another ancient thinker would take a step in the direction of a modern political way of thought. ... The thought is that the government was like a mixture of a Monarchy and a Democracy, with God as the monarch, allowing the leaders of the church to govern his congregation. ... Many thinkers thought it wise to place the power in the hands of the people, leading to the idea of a Representative Democracy. ...

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A political party is "A group organized for the purpose of achieving and exercising power within a political system," (Gwinn 960). They obtain their power by either election or revolution. ... Early political parties, centered around aristocratic and monarchial regimes, only composed of nobles and influential people opposed to one another. ... In some countries like Saudi Arabia political parties are outlawed because with the totalitarian monarchial system of government they employ there would have no purpose. ... The United Kingdom is considered a monarchial republic though currentl...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

During Locke's time he argued that rulers are not absolute in their power, that they to are bound to the laws of nature. He suggested that a monarch who violated trust should be over thrown. ... Locke also preached that a monarch who violated the trust that had been placed in him could be overthrown. ... The political ideas of the Whigs were also derived from Locke's views. ... And Rousseau talks about the majority vote, which is needed to impeach a president for example, so both of there political ideas were so in genius that we still use them almost everyday. ...

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Traditionally, Hobbes is seen as a defender of absolute monarchy, a government system where the power is held  in the hands of one man, the Monarch. ... For him, the only way to erect such a common power, and the injuries of one another, is to confer all their power and strength up on one man'. ... The definition of absolute monarchy, is a kind of regime, where the monarch has all the power and where people cannot disobey. ... Additionally, Hobbes stated that people could easily be against what the monarch decided. ... Once involved in this vicious circle of revolutions, the mo...

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While looking at this basic idea that the goal of government should be to provide for the public good, I find it necessary to first show how each of these political theorists embrace this idea personally. ... Differences arise to even a greater extent when you start to look at how these political theorists apply their basic idea to the actual creation of a government. ... The riches, power, and honour of a Monarch arise onely from the riches, strength, and reputation of his subjects. ... There are also some inconveniences that arise from a Monarchial form of government. There is the fact t...

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• Grade Level: High School

This is in stark contrast to the Platonic philosophy when man existed to serve the state, the basic idea being that ethics and politics are intertwined, its essential features overlapping. ... Combining these two concepts, the invariable conclusion is that the citizen because of his own uniqueness inevitably becomes embroiled in the internal political conflicts of the state. ... To Machiavelli, the logical creation of an ordered state is a republic characterized by political and civil liberty. ... Machiavelli thus recognizes that an ordered republic that can insure political and civil liber...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Western Political thought was heavily influenced by individual rights and liberties and due process. ... Later on in 1689, a bill of rights from the Parliament was accepted by the monarchs, William and Mary. ... This was also important in the development of Western Political thought because Western Political thought was that of a democratic government, and an Enlightment thinker, John Locke, indicated that " a government's power comes from the people- Western Political thought was based on several essential ideas and parts about democracy. An important part was that that of that people g...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

When the Medici family returned to power in 1512, Machiavelli was dismissed and briefly thrown in jail. ... Though it was not the best of times for him, it gave Machiavelli time to widen his belief on politics. During that time he read book on Roman history and political treatises. "The main theme of this short work is about monarchal rule and survival is man's capacity for determining his own destiny in opposition to the power of fate, which has been interpreted as the political philosophy that one may resort to any means in order to establish and preserve total authority" ("Ni...

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• Grade Level: High School

This had challenged authority as if Christ was to rule the earth, there would be no need for a monarch which would pose a great threat to the king. ... Mixing religion with politics was a grave problem. Politics and faith are two different things and when faith influences politics it can be a disaster. ... In relation to the levellers, Morton stated that 'they had many supporters but not amongst the classes that traditionally had power.' Wealth was a great factor, as they had no source to wealth it would be hard for them to progress and due to the fact that they had no connections...

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He may be an absolute monarch of his property, but his power will last only as long as all other individuals or states leave him in peace. Locke's assertion is that no one can be subjected to the political power of another without his own consent. ... When these individuals choose to form into political and civil societies the commonwealth takes on the power of protection and punishment. ... Locke lists four limits to the power of the state all of which show a common sense, practical approach to the distribution of power and all of which are evident in modern democratic political soci...

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This reading of King Lear makes it an edifying play, but it drains it of its tragic power by oversimplifying Shakespeare's understanding of the complexities of political life. ... The Lear described in many critical essays sounds less like Shakespeare's monarch than the middle-class recreations of Lear in the nineteenth-century fiction of writers like Balzac and Turgenev. ... The powerfully tragic vision of King Lear is rooted in Shakespeare's understanding of political life, its limitations and its demands. The play turns on what I will call the disjunction of wisdom and power...

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• Grade Level: High School

Plato believed that the average person can't make good political decisions and should be left out of the decision making process. ... He believed that the power should be separated into three groups: The Counsel, The Senate, and The Tribunes. The counsel would represent the interests of the monarch, the senate would represent the interests of the aristocrats, and the tribunes would represent the interests of the people as a whole. This way advice is taken from the widest range of people without giving one group all the power. ... Locke never wanted there to be a sovereign power and that t...

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John Locke believed people formed political societies for several reasons, but first and foremost he suggested that people create political societies for protection. ... Why will he give up his lordly status and subject himself to the control to someone else's power" (Bennett 40). ... Locke explains that political bodies work best when all men subject to the laws develop and agree upon them. ... Protestants that had previously been unfairly ruled by Catholic absolute monarchs feared giving Catholics more freedom might lead to absolutism of Catholic rulers again (John McKay et. al. 5...

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With the passing of time, political views on the philosophy of government gradually changed. ... His political views were influenced by the war. Hobbes perceived that by bringing back the monarch, there would be an end to the civil war. ... Even though the power of the sovereign is accumulated from the people, the sovereign has absolute power. Locke argued that agreement to absolute political power is irrational. ...

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Rousseau helps us explore his idea of freedom while reading his work and reveals insight about what political conditions are needed for humans to realize what genuine freedom is. ... Laws, morals, rulers, leaders, monarchs, governments, etc. are jurisdictions and shape our ideas and beliefs. We believe those who are in control or have power. ... He believe there is such a thing as genuine freedom and can be obtained depending on current political conditions. ...

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MASTERWORKS OF POLITICAL THEORY Midterm Essay Niccolo Machiavelli, Martin Luther, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke were four political theorists who shared a like mind in the need for the foundation of government and the extent to which its power and authority should reach. ... Societal order and loyalty to one monarch were almost non-existent as States were constantly under attack by different factions. ... An advocate of physical power, as well as governmental power, Machiavelli stressed the need for virtu, a quality that has been translated to mean "...a union of force and ability...will...

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When he was in Paris, he published De Cive, his first major study on politics, and wrote Leviathan, published in 1651. ... He preferred to use geometry and shapes as the basis of materialism so as to explain his social and political principles. ... He means, provided that the state is formed by all people under one monarch, it is as powerful as Leviathan and it cannot be destroyed by enemies and it brings peace to all people in the country. ... The main argument of Leviathan is that the sovereign must have great power, like Leviathan, to preserve the peace. ... Thomas Hobbes is against separ...

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Some may not seem fair while other may seem to give to much power to the people. ... Jacques-Benigne Bossuet was a true supporter of "Divine Right," or that monarchs derive their right to rule from God and are accountable only to God (The American Heritage Dictionary of English Language). ... Embittered by this and compelled by the great love of his life-politics-he wrote The Prince. (Spielvogel, 234) The Prince's main points were the acquisition, maintenance, and expression of political power as means to restore and maintain order in his time. ... Pericles gave his people all the pow...

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Locke was growing up during the English Civil War, in which Parliamentary forces battled King Charles I over matters of taxation, political power, and true religion. ... Locke remained a physician, tutor, and political advisor to the Shaftesbury family until the Earl died in 1683. ... John Locke's works including the Two Treatises of Government was a wring about political philosophy. ... One is to refute the doctrine of the divine and the absolute right of the Monarch, and to establish a theory which would reconcile the liberty of the citizen with political order. ... Locke's politi...

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He found his political works too taxing; he could not cope up with it. ... Political Thought-Wayper. ... He pointed out that parental power should be equal. ... He also rebuked the power of monarchs by giving many metaphors including the Adam as one of the examples. ... Also, a man's moral equality got nothing to do with his physical power and capabilities. ...

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Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are two political philosophers; their theories were about the formation of the society and what the social contract means. ... Doubtless, both thinkers have different opinions on human nature and state of nature; the state of nature is where people were in before political government came into existence. ... One person or a group of people is given the power to protect the rest of the society. ... Conversely to Hobbes monarchial state, Locke contends that the government should be democratic. For this reason, the elected government can only rule by consent with t...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Book I of Rousseau's The Social Contract stresses that this contract will sustain liberty and/or freedom more efficiently than the state of nature, thus, paving the way for lawful and sound political power. Rousseau says that lawful political power does not exist in nature. Instead, political power becomes legitimate by the formation of contracts built between the members of society. The only legitimate political authority found in nature is that of the authority that a father holds over his child. ... Therefore, agreement would have to be the only legitimate means by which political auth...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Book I of Rousseau's The Social Contract stresses that this contract will sustain liberty and/or freedom more efficiently than the state of nature, thus, paving the way for lawful and sound political power. Rousseau says that lawful political power does not exist in nature. Instead, political power becomes legitimate by the formation of contracts built between the members of society. The only legitimate political authority found in nature is that of the authority that a father holds over his child. ... Therefore, agreement would have to be the only legitimate means by which political auth...

• Word Count: 7114
• Approx Pages: 28
• Grade Level: Undergraduate