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Enlightenment

Constitutional Monarchy: A king or queen with the inherited right to rule but has limited power from laws made by parliament.

  • Pros: people have a say in the political leaders in parliament, monarch has limited power

  • Cons: The head of state is inherited, and acts of parliament require the monarch’s signature

Democracy: Leaders are voted on by the people, and representatives have limited power

  • Pros: people get a say in the government, guaranteed rights and liberties for all citizens

  • Cons: disagreements on much individual freedom should be given up, and lengthy voting processes

Dictatorship: A dictator makes all laws and suppresses any opposition and may gain power through violence. The dictator will typically rule through fear

  • Pros: fast decision making, lower crime rates

  • Cons: limited speech, press, and religion, unchecked power, tensions between government and the people

Absolute Monarchy: The monarch has an inherited right to rule with unlimited power

  • Pros: Fast decision making, arts were well-funded

  • Cons: Unchecked power could lead to corruption or tyranny; people have no say

Oligarchy: A few people share the power typically gained through wealth or the military. Elections are held, but are normally false

  • Pros: greater access to information, greater ability to communicate with organization members, political skill development

  • Cons: reduced economic growth, increased government corruption

The Age of Enlightenment: A cultural and intellectual movement with a focus on reason, science, and individual rights that disagreed with traditional authority. Basic principles were that humans behave according to natural laws based on reason, human beings can and should be educated so they can reason on their own, religions that relied on faith or refused to tolerate diversity were wrong, and society's goals should center on improvements in material and social life

Natural Rights: The inherited and inalienable rights that all citizens have the right to, no matter what. They should not be violated by the government or society and should be protected.

State of Nature: A state of chaos with no rules or laws to provide structure to society.

Social Contract: An agreement between the government and the people where the government provides protections and security if the people give up certain personal freedoms.

  • Hobbes: State of Nature

    • Works: The Leviathan

    • Human Nature: People are born cruel and selfish; if they are not controlled, they will fight, rob, and oppress

    • Government: Believed in the Social Contract, the government should impose law and order and protect the people from themselves

    • Impact: His ideas helped shape what the role of government in the US should be. He believed in the social contract and the need for a strong government, and those ideas were used in the development of the US government.

  • Locke: Known for his ideas on Natural Rights and the Purpose of Government

    • Works: Two Treatises of Government

    • Human Nature: People are inherently good

    • Government: Limited power, decided by the people, people have the right to revolt if the Social Contract is broken

    • Impact: The US Constitution mentions the natural rights of all citizens as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It also helped influence the protections of individual rights listed in the Bill of Rights. 

  • Montesquieu: Branches of government

    • Works: Spirit of Laws

    • Human Nature: Saw humans as naturally selfish, driven by passion, and easily able to abuse power. He did believe that humans can reason and establish order through laws and institutions. 

    • Government: separation of powers and checks and balances, disagreed with absolute power

    • Impact: The US Government today is divided into three branches with their own separate powers. The branches are the legislative, executive, and judicial. Each branch can check the other branches if they feel their exercise of power is unconstitutional. 

  • Rousseau: Most controversial with his ideas that the government should bring people into harmony

    • Works: Social Contract and Emile

    • Human Nature: People are naturally good and make good decisions

    • Government: The Sovereign should carry out the general will (what the people vote on)

    • Impact: In today's government, elections are held to select representatives. This gives the people power to choose who will make decisions are their behalf. It's up to the representative to carry out the wishes of the people who voted them in. 

  • Wollstonecraft: Women can reason just as well as men. Women should have equal rights and education opportunities.

    • Works: A Vindication of the Rights of Women

    • Human Nature: All humans can reason just women are not given the education to do so. 

    • Government: She believed in a republican form of government and believed in the importance of individual rights and formal equality. The government should protect the rights of all citizens and promote a fair society. 

    • Impact: Helped influence early activists for women's rights. She helped to advocate for political change in a woman’s status in society. This includes education and employment. Later helped women's rights activists get the 19th Amendment added to the Constitution. 

  • Voltaire: Greatest thinker and had a strong dislike of the Catholic Church

    • Works: Manner of Spirits of Nation and Candide

    • Human Nature: He believed humans were capable of good and evil, and should strive to be good. 

    • Government: religious freedom and judicial reform, wanted to end bigotry and tyranny, hated the slave trade and religious prejudice

    • Impact: In the Bill of Rights under the First Amendment, the people have the freedom of religion, so they can practice the religion of their choosing. 

  • Diderot:

    • Works: 28-volume Encyclopedia set

    • Human Nature: Humans have the potential to be good and evil. He also believed humans were tied to the physical world and were governed by natural laws. 

    • Government: influence and change the general way of thinking, challenged the Divine-Right Theory

    • Impact: His ideas on reason, natural rights, and knowledge impacted the Founding Fathers as they created the government for the US. They used his ideas to justify the American Revolution. He also supported the separation of powers, which is seen in the US government today.