Can There Be Aristocracy Without Servitude?

China, India, and Rome all shared the idea of monarchy. Although Rome went through a phase of having a republic, all three empires accepted the rule of one supreme leader. The governmental system of monarchy showed up in most ancient civilizations all the way back to Mesopotamia and Egypt. Something about a single leader appealed to these people and to all people all the way up into the 1700s. Not to say that monarchies don’t exist anymore, they do. China held onto monarchy from the Tang Dynasty, past the Han dynasty. Han China worked similarly to the dynasty before it: the Qin. In India, both the Mauryan Empire as well as the later Gupta Empire, both functioned under the rule of an emperor. Although both Indian empires had different ideas and laws, the basic governmental structure

Monarchies have lasted in a society, because of the king taking order of the people. There is a lack of trust between a

In this form of government, there is a rigid social structure that makes class mobility near impossible. This fixed position leads to “[each citizen] always see[ing] a man above himself whose patronage is necessary to him, and below himself another man whose co-operation he may claim.” (Tocqueville, 78) This was not the only form of government seen however. Democracy was becoming increasingly popular, where “duties of each individual to the race are much more clear, devoted service to any one man becomes more rare; the bond of human affection is extended, but it is relaxed.”

The society is centered around the autocratic-hereditary government that runs the country. The ruler follows the influence of their families’ ideas and thoughts with very little original ideas being implemented. Despite the system of government, the society has many freedoms and liberties to do as they please. Slightly lower in ranking than the family that runs the society, the upper class can be found. The members of this class are composed of people who are craftsmen, mining operations heads, and trading company owners. A majority of the wealth is spread throughout this class and, as a result, most of the economic power and

The Big Man societies follow the rule that the more prestige you gain, the higher your political power and status will be. The chiefdoms, however, do not follow this rule. Instead, they follow a ranked system based on the

No human social organization can function without some degree of obedience to authority, as the alternative would be anarchy leading to total chaos. Hence we find some sort of a hierarchy in both the most underdeveloped and the most civilized societies where certain individuals exercise authority over others. Almost everyone will agree that some degree of authority in certain individuals or groups (and their obedience by other groups) is desirable for the proper functioning of a society. The problem arises when the obedience to authority is taken to extremes. Unfortunately, history has shown that this happens time and again, usually with undesirable results. It is this blind obedience to authority that

Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince contains a very unique section entitled "Princely Virtues" in which Machiavelli takes on a how-to approach in regards to becoming a prince. The instructional qualities of the novel lead its reader to create in themselves an image of not the most virtuous, but in Machiavelli's eyes, the most effective prince. In the selections found in chapters 15-26, Machiavelli teaches his intended princely students the necessary political skills that a prince must possess in order to maintain his position on top. Machiavelli paints the illusionary portrait of the perfect prince. The prince must take great pains to keep up this virtuous front in order to maintain command as well as respect of his people.

Oligarchy is the rule of a small group of men, mostly by those in the elite crowd. If monarchy was on one end of the political spectrum and democracy was on the other, oligarchy would be in the middle which seemed to work for the Spartans. The men who lead Sparta were known as the “Council of Elders—28 men over the age of sixty, [and] they served for life.” With age comes wisdom, at least most of the time. Having the 28 elders serve for life would mean that they would have grown accustomed to what they were expected to do for each other and for the people they were supposed to

The ruling of the privileged has been around since the conception of organized society. “The state is nothing but an instrument of oppression of one class by another - no less so in a democratic republic than in a monarchy.” This is a quote from social scientist Fredrich Engels that shows the outlook of most people towards a privileged ruling; this system was deemed unfair to the majority, which led to monarchies, the main representative of minority ruling, losing their power. Although we believe the true power in modern democratic societies’ rests on the majority, it truly rests with the powerful elite.

People in power can be replaced by the people’s choice. One piece of evidence that Orwell from Animal Farm has that supports this is : “No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal….decided to follow Snowball...who we now know,

Feudalism makes sure everyone gets and gives what they need, making it an organized structure. The system made it easier to protect land and assured everyone had a role. When the wealthier people can't protect their land that they own, a problem arises. Why should lesser people be the ones taking the land? Enter, feudalism. The lesser people can now work for the manor and contribute to it's success instead of stealing other’s land and just being unproductive in general. Well, isn't it just a great day to be a serf? Instead of living your life for yourself, you now have to help somebody else live their life (King, Armstrong). Serfs, such as farmers and bakers, would spend time working for the lord or for the manor in general. They received food

First, let's start out with Oligarchy. There are few men who are in ruling power. They are very wealthy and enjoy a nice easy and simple life. The Oligarchs spent their day hunting and being apart of chariot races, at night they drink wine while laying on the couch and relaxing. But Oligarchy was not so simple as it looks, if you were not one of the few Oligarch you spent your day working all day long in the fields. The textbook says,” The hardworking poor saw the difference between there lives...and they thought it was very unfair,”(Frey,255). The difference of the two live styles never changed they only got worse. The Oligarchs only got richer while the poor only got more poor, and they started to hate the Oligarchs. Eventually the

Elitism is a stress on material power. Those who have resources must be successful and rightful rulers, or else that resource would not have gotten into their possession. Superiority in the elites is the premise for the Elite Theory. Whoever has achieved must be of a higher mental capacity, and therefore are the only ones who are worthy of a position of power. To Elitists, the common people are common due to a lack of superiority. Elitism recognizes the need for people to be governed, and decides that elitists should rule because of all the material power around, they have the most, and therefore have the most to be lost in the event of an unsuccessful social contract. By making those with the most possession the ones in power, it is theorized that there will be order due to the elites keeping it together in order to sustain their foothold in

Aristocratic Government – the rule by few elites. Its success is depended on the people that rule. It however degenerates into oligarchy which is when men of property take over government.

Anyone that considers themselves a student of history understands that the world has always been ruled by a few "powerful" people. Sometimes it is very overt and in our face, like when a country is ruled by a dynasty of kings, queens, emperors or pharaohs coming from the same bloodline. Sometimes it is very covert and hidden like it is today with a variety of oligarchies running the show from behind the scene. But the constant theme has been that very few people have ruled this planet for a very long time.