Comment by kijin
4 days ago
Equating a person with the government or the nation is a common trait among autocrats. L'État, c'est moi.
4 days ago
Equating a person with the government or the nation is a common trait among autocrats. L'État, c'est moi.
Not quite...
Medieval kings were considered the embodiment of the government, but that didn't make them autocratic. Indeed, they were not only bound by a thicket of obligations and customs, but authority itself is only legitimate when it is just, a view that is traditional; it is modern legal positivism that roots authority in fiat, making it inherently tyrannical.
> Indeed, they were not only bound by a thicket of obligations and customs, but authority itself is only legitimate when it is just, a view that is traditional;
Ultimately they were bound not by tradition, but by the reality that they may lose their heads, often at the hands of a competing relative, but also at the hands of starving subjects.