Limited and Unlimited Governments

What is a monarchy?• It is a government led by a king or queen.

• During the 1600s and 1700s, monarchs ruled much of Europe.

What does it mean to have absolute power?

• The ruler of a country has total power.

• This would make the ruler an unlimited ruler.

Unlimited Government• There is virtually no ability to limit

the actions of the government

• In an unlimited government, individual rights and freedoms are restricted and citizens are expected to display total obedience to the government as the ruler or rulers make all decisions.

• The government may be tyrannical.

• Why would rulers think they could do whatever they wanted?

What is divine right?

• It is the idea that rulers receive their power directly from God and are responsible only to God.

• Decisions made by the rulers were therefore not questioned by the citizens.

Unlimited Government• France and Russia are examples of

countries that had unlimited governments at this time.

• All power was held by the monarch.

• Rights and freedoms were severely limited and the few which did exist could be cast aside through the actions of the monarch.

• Ways they displayed their authority included raising taxes, dissolving the legislative body, and using the military to enforce its policies.

What does it mean to have a limited government?

• It is a system in which the power of a ruler is restricted by the people.

• Citizens are given individual rights and can participate in government decisions.

Give an example of limiting the power of a

ruler.

The Magna Carta• In 1215, King John of England was forced to sign

the “Great Charter.”

• The Magna Carta stated that the king was not above the law.

• What do you think that means?

• The Magna Carta also limited the power of the king by establishing Parliament.

Describe how Louis XIV was an absolute monarch.

• He banned the French assembly.

• He took rights away from Protestants.

• He controlled taxes, military, and business.

King Louis XIV

How did Czar Peter I increase his power?

• He made himself head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

• He controlled peasants more closely.

• He built up the Russian military and expanded Russia’s borders.

Peter the Great

Why do you think

Catherine the Great was the

last of Europe’s

major absolute

monarchs?

Democracy

• Any system of government in which the people hold power, usually through the vote.

Republic• A form of government in which the leader is

a person, or people, elected by citizens.