Various Topics In Comparative Politics

DESCRIPTION

As observed by Rousseau, "The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right and obedience into duty". In the past, tradition, religion and the divine right of kings provided the legitimacy for non-democratic systems. Obedience to divine kings became a duty and to be a king became a right. This mechanism was then swept away by the process of secularization and liberalization. The source of power shifted from heaven (religions) to the earth (people, dominant classes). To be a king was not a right anymore and to obey the king was not a duty either. This system lost its power and the modern state (nationalism, democracy) took over.