Government 1

Absolute monarchies are closely linked to the concept of "divine right." Absolute monarchs of the 1600s and 1700s (and earlier) would ussually claim that God had chosen them to rule, and to question the monarch was to question God.

A "dictatorship" is not the best example of a government based on "divine right." More often, dictators rule with complete power not because they think God or religion has placed them there, but because they have the power to rule or because they have a "vision" of what they country should look like or do. This is an important distinction to remember.

John Locke's writing reflect the ideals of Enlightenment in that men are created with equal rights and responsibilities under the law of nature.

His idea of a social contract impacted later authors and the revolution in America and France.

Whether it is written inalienable or unalienable- either is correct- the term means "not able to be taken away"

Jefferson was pointing to the fact that those rights are "Natural Rights" that all human have bestowed on them. This is a hallmark of Enlightenment philosophy.

The "founding fathers" focused so strongly on unalienable rights being guaranteed by our government as a reaction to abuses we endured as a colony of Grate Britain.

Madison, Jefferson, and Hamilton wanted to prevent any future U.S. government from becoming as oppressive as that of Great Britain in the colonial period.

Under the Constitution, no single branch of government in the United States is given unlimited power an no individual is "above the law."

These concepts reflect the ideal of the Rule of Law in that laws are created and enforced to secure individual rights and to also serve that common good.

The concept of a social contract states that people have the natural right to replace leaders if they fail to lead as the people desire

A social contract is an unspoken agreement of the people to be governed and should the government fails to meet the need of the people, they have the right to overthrow the government. This idea is featured strongly in the Declaration of Independence.

The phrase Rule of Man describes the political condition in which a single ruler or part exercises absolute authority and is not bound by any law.

It is essentially the opposite of the legal concept of "Rule of Law"

In the Declaration of Independence these "unalienable rights" are specifically mentioned.

Specifically, The Declaration of Independence states "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.