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what does thomas Paine suggest the problem is with monarch government
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In works like Common Sense (1776) and Rights of Man (1791), Thomas Paine argues that monarchy is fundamentally flawed. His main points:
- Concentration of arbitrary power. Monarchs hold near-absolute authority by accident of birth rather than by merit or consent, which makes tyranny more likely.
- Hereditary succession is illegitimate and irrational. Passing rule by blood produces unfit rulers and makes government depend on accident rather than competence or consent.
- Monarchy corrupts and detaches rulers from the people. A royal court and aristocratic privileges create interests opposed to the public good.
- Monarchy promotes war, expense, and oppression. Paine contends kings and aristocracies pursue their own glory and wealth at the people’s cost.
- Monarchy is unnecessary. Good government, he says, should be representative, accountable, limited by law, and based on the consent and rights of the people.
Paine’s remedy is republican government: a written constitution, regular elections, checks on power, and rule rooted in popular sovereignty rather than heredity. If you want, I can pull specific passages from Common Sense or Rights of Man that illustrate these points.
- Concentration of arbitrary power. Monarchs hold near-absolute authority by accident of birth rather than by merit or consent, which makes tyranny more likely.
- Hereditary succession is illegitimate and irrational. Passing rule by blood produces unfit rulers and makes government depend on accident rather than competence or consent.
- Monarchy corrupts and detaches rulers from the people. A royal court and aristocratic privileges create interests opposed to the public good.
- Monarchy promotes war, expense, and oppression. Paine contends kings and aristocracies pursue their own glory and wealth at the people’s cost.
- Monarchy is unnecessary. Good government, he says, should be representative, accountable, limited by law, and based on the consent and rights of the people.
Paine’s remedy is republican government: a written constitution, regular elections, checks on power, and rule rooted in popular sovereignty rather than heredity. If you want, I can pull specific passages from Common Sense or Rights of Man that illustrate these points.
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