Monarchy vs. Democracy

A monarchy is a form of government system where a certain place is ruled by one king or queen; whereas, a democracy is ran by certain elected officials to govern a location.  During the Elizabethan Age, a monarchy was the ideal form of government in England.  King Henry VIII was the most prominent monarchy leader during this time; he was best-known for the detachment of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church.  The democratic regime was first introduced to the world by the Athenians.  Although the Athenian democracy failed, the United States, today, is governed through means of democracy.  As for which form of government is more effective?  Although democracy failed in the Athenian aspect, the reign of Henry VIII proved that a democracy is a more successful means of government due to the voice of the people.

            The reign of Henry VIII was potent in the foremost aspect, but eventually it all fell to pieces. Henry decided to break away from the Roman Catholic Church and establish the Church of England when the Pope refused him a divorce from his infertile wife, Katharine of Aragon.  The wishes of King Henry VIII were to have a male heir, to carry on the crown after he passed away; since Katharine could not provide him with that, he wanted to marry another woman.  Although Henry treated Katharine very poorly, she wrote him a letter before she died stating, “The hour of my death now drawing on, the tender love I owe you forceth me, my case being such, to commend myself to you, and to put you in remembrance with a few words of the health and safeguard of your soul which you ought to prefer before all worldly matters, and before the care and pampering of your body, for the which you have cast me into many calamities and yourself into many troubles” (Primary Sources).  When news of Katharine’s death reached King Henry VIII, he celebrated it, because now he could marry another wife and have the boy he had always wanted.  The boys of the family were more likely to become leaders rather than girls because the common belief was that men were stronger than women.  As time passed, Henry received a son, but his monarchy was falling apart.  Henry was wasteful with England’s money; taxes were at all time highs, and the expansion of the navy was causing great economical problems.  In King Henry VIII’s case, the power and money really got to his head and it cost him. 

            The introduction to democracy originated in the Greek city-state of Athens.  Contrary to popular belief that the Athenian democracy was similar to the democracy performed in the United States today, the Athenian version of democracy was more direct rather than representative.  Aristotle thought of democracy this way: “The first type of democracy is particularly based on equality, where neither the rich nor the poor has pre-eminent authority, but both are similar [in their authority]. Still, since the majority rules and the “people” will be in the majority, this is a democracy” (Democracy).  This belief is contrary to the acts of the Athenian democracy.  Only men could vote in the Athenian democracy; this excluded women and slaves from the population; therefore, not everyone had a say in what occurred in Athens.  The public opinions of the citizens were swayed by the works of art and poetry during that time.  Athenians did not know what to think, so they went with what the artists thought.  The democracy of Athens crumbled so quickly because it was so unfair and the people were so ignorant.  In this case, democracy was not effective; however, in the modern United States, it all changes.

The democracy that is enforced in the modern day United States is more organized and orderly than the Athenian democracy.  Thanks to the United States Constitution, the government is well-prepared due to the organization of preset laws that are written.  The Preamble (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfdREb9Khu4) affirms the beginning of the Constitution: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America” (The United States Constitution).  Differing from the Athenian democracy, the United States democracy is representative.  Any citizen of the United States over the age of eighteen is allowed to vote.  This is the main factor as to why the representative democracy is more stable than the direct democracy.  This democracy is and will be more successful than a monarchy.

As a proved matter, a monarchy is less effective than a democracy.  Relating to the Elizabethan Age and the Ancient Athenian democracy, they were both unstable and failed.  The world has gained a better understanding of how a government should be run through the trials and tribulations of previous governments.  Although democracy failed in the Athenian aspect, the reign of Henry VIII proved that a democracy is a more successful means of government due to the voice of the people.

"Democracy in the Politics of Aristotle." The Stoa Consortium. Web. 14 May 2010. <http://www.stoa.org/projects/demos/article_aristotle_democracy?page=all&greekEncoding=/>.

"Lecture 10: The beginnings of democracy." Web. 14 May 2010. <http://languages.siuc.edu/classics/Johnson/HTML/L10.html>.

"Primary Sources - Letter of Katharine of Aragon to Her Husband, King Henry VIII, 7 January 1536." EnglishHistory.net. Web. 14 May 2010. <http://englishhistory.net/tudor/letter5.html>.

"The United States Constitution - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net." Index Page - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net.       Web. 14 May 2010. <http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Preamble>.