Limitations Of Political Power : The Limits Of Political Power

As you have read, many things attributed to the rise of the Empire. Many things also attributed to its fall as well. These included poor leadership, economic trouble, as well

When looking into the ideas of political theorists it is important to the use of political concepts that may play an important role in what the theorists are suggesting and also how they may affect the relationship between to state and the individuals living within a state. The concepts that will be looked at within this essay are: power, authority and also accountability.

The six documents provided in the appendix can be grouped together in many different ways. Although all of the documents imply ways their respective empires exerted political power, there were some distinctions between them. Additionally, all of the documents incorporate their respective cultures’ beliefs into their governments and methods for exerting political power. Document 1, for example, shows that the Persians incorporated their value of bravery into their method of exerting political power, military conquests. The Greeks and Romans in Documents 2 and 6 incorporated their value of freedom into their methods of exerting political power. The Greeks incorporated freedom by boating about their free democracy while the Romans included the

Two major factors in the Roman Empire’s downfall were the misfortunate events of disasters and diseases. A massive earthquake struck the Roman Empire, thus starting the chaos that would lead to the waters both receding and then coming back in a massive flood. Edward Gibbon wrote in the book

Imagine you are in the Roman empire and about every year your emperor dies from either an assassination or suicide. Your military and government are starting to grow a plentiful amount of problems which are progressively getting worse leading to Rome's fall.The primary reasons for the fall of Rome were political assassinations, military problems, and foreign invasions.

The emperor ruled over everything and when this fell, the concept of one man ruling the world still remained. It was this aspiration to rule over everything that perpetuated the darkness of the times. Lords from all over Europe were engaged with each other in battles for land and power. This battle lasted centuries and it meant a constant drain of resources and a standstill in cultural growth.

What started as one of the most powerful forces, the Roman empire, started taking turns for the worst. The empire slowly fell apart from the inside out as its leaders became weak and corrupt; their military became lazy; and the plague spread, devastating the Roman population. The empire that had conquered anyone around was soon being invaded by everyone.

The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires all contributed to create what is known as the Age of Gunpowder Empires between 1450-1800 (Islamic Empires). Although these empires were thought to be extremely different, the vast amount of similarities within their actions and methods proved to be almost identical. These empires focused their power on military and used new technological advances with firearms; this included the cannon and small arms. The Empires even took it upon themselves to develop a centralized administration. Each administration dealt with the finance, army, and natural resources necessary in order to purchase gunpowder.

In fact, many of the same factors played heavily in the eventual collapse or power change of the empires. For example, internal issues such as disease and corruption dramatically affected both. Both the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire suffered from political issues in their declines. Corrupt bureaucracies that did nothing to hinder the deterioration of the state plagued both the Empires. The Roman Empire’s major political failure is the Empire’s inability to choose effectively the proceeding emperor, which resulted in a series of poor leaders. In reaction to this, the military attempted to intervene, only to fail to resolve anything, worsening the situation more than before. An example of the military’s unsuccessful intervention was an auction of the throne. This meant that the throne did not to a leader capable of running an Empire, but to a crazy, profligate man who focused more on partying than leading.

In the early modern and modern periods, the Ottoman Empire had been viewed as an accomplished and robust Muslim dynasty (P.159, Fisher and Oschenwald). With the introduction of gun-powdered weaponry, the Ottomans maintained control over large parts of land.

The sultans became less involved in the government and allowed their ministers to exercise more power so he became the servant of the ruling class. The sultan controlled his bureaucracy through an imperial council conducted by the grand vezir. Later, the central bureaucracy lost its links with rural areas, local officials grew corrupt, and taxes rose. The decline of the empire was evident.

The Ottoman empire began at the end of the thirteenth century when Othman united the decentralized, lawless clans. The expansion that occurred after the Mongols, instituted the Ottoman conquering technique, defeat than tax. Religious tolerance was granted within the empire, but there was a jizya, special tax, for non-Muslims. Every aspect of the complex Ottoman social order was connected, and Sufism was intertwined into some of the social groups, mainly merchants. The pattern of Sufism lead to kinship among the merchants which facilitated trade. With the psychological intimidation of gunpowder weapons and aggressive expansion, some of the Ottomans emperors even gained respect that rivaled Caesar’s. That respect was not only from a political view but also a religious view, for the emperor was also the pope. For the first time in Islamic history, a ruler of a primarily Muslim region had a role mirroring the Caesaropapism of Rome.

The rise of the Ottoman Empire started in Turkey and spread through most of the Middle East. Their military practice and successful transition to the use of gun powder made them one of the most successful ruling bodies in the Middle East. The Ottoman Empire which ruled until modern times had great influence on the Middle Eastern world. Their political and economic abilities astonished the western world. Their religious views and fears were instilled into any non-Muslim and helped the western world to find new trade. The rise of Christianity in the western world provided new ways to preserve the dead and ended the need for frankensence, the main export of the Ottoman Empire. This

Theories are used in many fields of science, but in no field are they more prevalent than Political Science. These theories are often used and researched upon to try and attempt to discern how states interact with one another. Offensive Realism, a new branch of realist political theory, is brought forth in John Mearsheimer’s book, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. This theory focuses on the key aspects of realism, while adding a twist as to why war is an option. In his book, Mearsheimer explains the history of great powers, and predicts that China, the world’s current rising great power, will not gain hegemony in Asia peacefully. With the rise of China, he asserts the US will form coalitions with multiple states throughout Asia, to contain their growing power. This rise in power, and subsequent reactions by the US, are based on his theory Offensive Realism, which is used to predict China’s future actions. The rise of powers, and the reactions of other powers, is historically analyzed, beginning in the late 18th century, all the way to modern times. These analyzes each attempt to support his overall claim that China will rise through non-peaceful means, and shows significant support with historical examples. While the theory often meets an exception when the usual non-European power, Japan, is mentioned, Mearsheimer’s theory introduces a solid new aspect to the realm of Political Science, and presents enough evidence and information to be considered integral to

The just exercise of political power is conceived of as resting upon constitutional principles. Constitutional principles are a position from which we operate justly. However, what constitutes as just? Throughout history political power derived from many historical foundations that were deemed just based on the society that upheld those principles. This notion is evident throughout the development of constitutional doctrines in Greek democracy, Aristotle’s political theory, Roman Republicanism, and English Constitutionalism.