129. - Monarchy

Summary

The outward forms of different states, whether monarchies (monarchiae), aristocracies, democracies, or theocracies, are very elastic according to Spinoza. At the close of Chapter 7 of the TP, “On Monarchy,” Spinoza concludes that “a people can preserve quite a considerable degree of freedom under a king, provided that it ensures that the king’s power is determined only by the people’s power and depends on the people for its maintenance” (TP7.31). Spinoza evaluates the monarchies he analyzes – Aragon, Castile, England, and especially the ancient Israelite kingdom and that of ancient pre-republican Rome – less in terms of how efficient they may have been in their administration, upholding law and order, fighting wars, or defending their realms, than in terms of how effective their constitutional provisions were in restraining the power of the monarch. In his eyes the relevant measure was always how far the people remain the real sovereign power (potentia) behind the throne, and so how good the monarchies are at curbing tyranny and upholding the common good. He ends his chapter on monarchy by remarking “And this was the only Rule I followed in laying the foundations of a Monarchic state” (TP7.31).