Democracy and Monarchy Article

Monarchies and democracies were two completely different forms of government. One depended on the people voting for the office and one was up to a handful of people and whatever they wanted. They both were stable forms of governments but democracy is the form we still use today. Since monarchies have died out a lot of good things have happened. For one you the people are happier with democracies because they are the opinions of everyone and not just the opinions of the royal families. The two were very effective but democracies beat the monarchies in terms of a stable form of government.

A monarchy is a form of government where only a handful people get to make the decisions of the government (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/machiavelli-disc1-55.html). There was no such thing as voting in a monarchy. This mainly took place in England with the reign of Henry the Eighth and her daughters Mary and Elisabeth as well as his son Philip (http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/tudorbio.htm). During the 15th and 16th centuries there was no government that was a democracy. Every government in Europe was a monarchy and run by a King and Queen. The one in England was run by Henry the Eighth and Jane who were the King and Queen of England. The King and Queen were the ones who ultimately made the decisions about going to war or anything else that had to do with the government. Monarchy can also be related to dictatorship which is also a form of government. The greatest but most tragic example of this is Hitler and the Axis forces. Hitler took over Germany through force and terror. He came to power in 1933 and then took Germany by force (http://www.history.com/topics/adolf-hitler). He took most of the Jews, pixies, and other religions except Christianity and threw them in concentration camps (http://www.history.com/topics/adolf-hitler). This can be considered a form of monarchy because one person, being Hitler, made all the decision that had to do with the government. This is the form of government that they used in the Renaissance and before.


Democracy is a government based on the people’s opinion and votes. Unlike the Monarchy not one person, even the president, can make the overall decision. In a democracy the way people get things done in a democracy is by voting. The people have the upper hand in this kind of government. There are some flaws with democracy one being the promises and propaganda that comes with the voting process. There is an article in the democracy journal that states, “Fourteen months ago, the progressive breast swelled with joy and hope at Barack Obama’s ascent to power; today, much of that hope is lost, and the fault sits squarely on the shoulders of the man who raised expectations so thrillingly in 2008 and has deflated them so utterly since.” (http://www.democracyjournal.org/). This is basically saying that President Barack Obama raised the hopes of Americans by stating all these promises just so he could get elected. Now that he is elected, Obama has not really done anything that he promised. The trickery and deceit that goes along with politics in a democracy is a way to get voted for even though you do not have a lot of experience. However the democracy way of government has some up sides as well. For one since the people vote there are fewer disagreements with the outcomes of these decisions. There is also the system of checks and balances in a democracy. This is basically the separation of power between the legislative branch, the judicial branch, and the executive branch (http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_cnb.html). This system makes sure no one branch has more power than the other in decision making. Democracy may have some faults in it but the good outweighs the bad in this case.

There are many things to think about when you compare democracy and monarchy together. They are completely different ideas of a government. On one side you have one person speak for everyone, and on the other side you have a government that even has a system to make sure that does not happen. The main problem with a monarchy is that there have been revolts over time because not everyone was happy with the outcome of one man’s opinion on a matter. In Guibert de Nogent’s paper on the “Revolt in Laon, 1115” it talks about how slaves and serfs had enough so they started revolting when plague struck because everyone was weakened by the blow (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/guibert-laon.html). In Gregory of Tour’s “Enslaving Noble Families” it is basically a flip flop of power between the slaves and their masters (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/511Noblslav.html). When war struck and noble families were captured they had to serve as slaves or be killed (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/511Noblslav.html). There is also some problems with democracy in the fact that there is scandal and propaganda out there that makes people want to vote for certain political leaders but they actually do not want to. The voters think that leaders hold all their promises that they make. If only life was that simple and easy.

These types of governments are so different it is almost impossible to compare them. They both have flaws and advantages but democracy comes up on top because the people are a majority vote based on what they want. Since they live in the country they should have the rules be brought up to them before the government passes them. A monarchy is a one woman or man government with one final opinion only. In a democracy the President can't even make a decision without the people’s consult and approval. This is why democracy is a more effective and efficient government for any country.

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"Medieval Sourcebook: Guibert De Nogent: The Revolt in Laon, 1115." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 15 May 2010. <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/guibert-laon.html>.

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