Models of Sovereignty
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Absolutism/ˈæbsəluːtɪzəm/ | Absolutism |
| Constitutionalism/ˌkɒnstɪˈtjuːʃənəlɪzəm/ | Constitutionalism |
A new question after 1648
- The struggle for sovereignty within and among states resulted in varying degrees of political centralisation.
- Different models of political sovereignty affected the relationship among states and between states and individuals.
- The second sentence is new: unit 1 asked how much authority a state gathered; this unit asks what kind it was.
This unit's new question, compared with unit 1, is...
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The answer is a model, not a quantity.
Two answers, not one
- Absolutism 绝对主义 answers that sovereignty rests in the ruler, exercised through a central administration.
- Constitutionalism 宪政主义 answers that it is shared, and that some rights stand against the ruler.
- Both are answers to the same seventeenth-century question, and the unit compares them rather than ranking them.
Select both relationships the CED says models of sovereignty affected.
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The second is the one students skip.
Between states and individuals
- The CED's phrase between states and individuals is the one students skip.
- A model of sovereignty determines whether a subject has rights a court can enforce against the crown.
- So the constitutional question is not abstract: it decides whether property, trial and religion are secure.
Absolutist, constitutional, or the shared pressure?
Sort each feature by the model it belongs to.
____ places sovereignty in the ruler, exercised through a central administration.
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Constitutionalism shares it and asserts rights against the ruler.
Unit 1 asked how much authority; this unit asks what kind. The CED's new sentence is that *different models of political sovereignty affected the relationship among states and between states and individuals * — so the answer is a model, not a quantity.
Select all the pressures every state faced.
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Industrial competition belongs to unit 6.
And among states
- A state's internal model shapes what it can do abroad: an absolutist state can commit resources without consent.
- A constitutional state must persuade a body that controls taxation, which is slower and more durable.
- 3.6's balance of power is where those two capacities meet.
The unit ranks absolutism as more successful than constitutionalism.
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False. The unit compares the two models rather than ranking them; both are answers to the same seventeenth-century question.
Context for a comparison
- The objective is the context in which different forms of political power developed from 1648 to 1815.
- Conditions: the wars of unit 2, the fiscal demands of 3.6's military revolution, and a nobility with something to defend.
- Every state faced the same three pressures, and the different answers they gave are what 3.8 compares.
Two states both need money for an army. One raises it by decree; the other must ask a body that can refuse. Both may end up with the same sum, and they are not the same kind of state — which is exactly the distinction the CED's second sentence introduces.
The struggle for sovereignty produced varying degrees of political centralisation, and different models of political sovereignty affected the relationship among states and between states and individuals. Unit 1 asked how much authority; this unit asks what kind. Absolutism places sovereignty in the ruler; constitutionalism shares it and asserts rights against the ruler.