despotism

Examples of despotism in the following topics:

• Blue Water Imperialism

  • British liberals considered this framework of blue water empire to be anti-despotic—the government sought trade markets abroad in order to extend imperial influence commercially, without arbitrary territorial expansion.
  • Furthermore, Catholicism was the traditional state religion of Spain and France—nations that, according to British liberals, were traditionally ruled by authoritarian, despotic, monarchical power.
  • British Protestants thus claimed that Catholicism tended to lead to political despotism.
  • British liberals viewed representative government as a hallmark of Protestantism because it counteracted the despotic, authoritarian, and "Catholic" tendencies of monarchy and arbitrary power.
  • Broadly, the "language of liberty" includes widespread political participation, the duty of the citizen to safeguard against arbitrary despotism, and the right of citizens to life and liberty.

• Confederate Politics

  • The first conscription act in North America authorizing Davis to draft soldiers was viewed as the "essence of military despotism".

• American Republicanism

  • The belief that it was the duty of virtuous citizens to resist political despotism and corruption came to fruition during the American Revolution.
  • Parliament and George III were viewed as corrupt, despotic tyrants that were systematically destroying the fundamental liberties of their colonial subjects.

• The Anti-Federalists

  • The Anti-Federalists were composed of diverse elements, including those opposed to the Constitution because they thought that a stronger government threatened the sovereignty and prestige of the states, localities, or individuals; those who claimed that a new centralized power would only replace the cast-off despotism of Great Britain, and those who simply feared that the new government threatened their personal liberties.
  • While individualism and state autonomy were the strong elements of opposition, all anti-federalists also argued for the necessity of a bill of rights to protect individual liberties from federal despotism.

• The American Enlightenment

  • Thomas Paine's Common Sense, published at the outset of the American Revolution, drew heavily on the theories of Locke and is largely considered one of the most virulent attacks on political despotism.
  • Essentially, the Declaration of Independence, heavily inspired by Enlightenment political theory, proclaimed that the American people were fighting to maintain their essential freedoms and liberties by overthrowing despotic, irrational tyranny.

• The Limits of Democracy

  • Madison in particular worried that a small localized majority might threaten citizens' rights, and Thomas Jefferson warned that "an elective despotism is not the government we fought for."

• The Rights of Englishmen

  • As a social contract, therefore, Magna Carta represented a specific limit on arbitrary or despotic power and a protection of the people's rights and liberties.

• The Language of Liberty

  • Broadly, the "language of liberty" includes widespread political participation and the duty of the citizen to safeguard against arbitrary despotism; the right of citizens to life and liberty, and the Bill of Rights' protections from politically corrupted governance.

• The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

  • Proponents of U.S. unilateralism generally believe that a multilateral institution, such as the United Nations (UN), is morally suspect because, they argue, it treats non-democratic, and even despotic, regimes as being as legitimate as democratic countries.