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Divine Right and Democracy: An Anthology of Political Writing in Stuart England (Penguin Classics)

af David Wootton

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The seventeenth century was England's century of revolution, an era in which the nation witnessed protracted civil wars, the execution of a king, and the declaration of a short-lived republic. During this period of revolutionary crisis, political writers of all persuasions hoped to shape the outcome of events by the force of their arguments. To read the major political theorists of Stuart England is to be plunged into a world in which many of our modern conceptions of political rights and social change are first formulated. David Wootton's masterly compilation of speeches, essays, and fiercely polemical pamphlets--organized into chapters focusing on the main debates of the century--represents the first attempt to present in one volume a broad collection of Stuart political thought. In bringing together abstract theorizing and impassioned calls to arms, anonymous tract writers and King James I, Wootton has produced a much-needed collection; in combination with the editor's thoughtful running commentary and invaluable Introduction, its texts bring to life a crucial period in the formation of our modern liberal and conservative theories.… (mere)
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As a perspective of how people’s ideas and perspectives regarding the relative roles of ruler and subject changed during the seventeenth century, David Wootton’s book offers a broad sampling of the field. In his preface, Wootton confronts his central problem as editor and compiler, that of discrimination and selection. The material available is daunting, yet Wootton manages to assemble what he believes to be a representative group of writings. He explains what guided his selection as follows:
I have concentrated on three problems which seem to me to be of central importance: Why did most English people in the early seventeenth century believe that they were ruled by an absolute monarch, and when and why did they stop believing this? When and how did the doctrine of popular sovereignty, the foundation of any democratic theory, become established? When and how did people come to believe that the purpose of political society was not so much to create a god-fearing community as to provide the framework within which individuals could compete in the pursuit of private wealth, and, in so doing, cooperate in creating national prosperity?

Wootton begged the question regarding the first problem he listed, “Why did most English people . . . believe that they were ruled by an absolute monarchâ€?, in that he did not establish any proof that most English people did have that belief. His documents relate more to parliament, middle and upper class people; while it may very well be true that most English people held the belief he mentions, he does not adequately support that assertion. He does, however, provide ample evidence why Englishmen might have arrived at that belief. The writings of James VI and I show a man ardently convinced of the divine nature of monarchs. James’s interest was in preserving his position on the throne of England, and the future of his dynasty. He was a learned scholar and had no hesitation in bringing divine authority to bear to add weight to his stance.
Wootton’s third question, how did society move from expecting the monarch’s primary focus to be religious leader to looking to the government to provide economic stability, raised the most interesting aspects of the book. At the beginning of the Stuart rule in England, the Reformation was still under way and the great religious wars in Europe still lay ahead. By the time of Queen Anne, the Anglican church was solidly established and few worried too much about a possible Catholic usurpation of the government. Parliament and the monarchy had come to terms, through the two revolutions and the civil war; each side settled, more or less comfortably into its niche. People became much more interested in making a decent living, improving their lot in life and getting on with their business than in fighting about religion. Furthermore, they no longer looked to the government, monarch or Parliament, to impose on people’s private beliefs, in the same deep and pervasive way that was characteristic of the beginning of the century. Wootton’s selections capture this change in attitudes. Locke and Hobbes, though passionate and persuasive, have little of the air, almost medieval air, of King James.

Wootton’s anthology affords a valuable look at how a nation transformed in the course of a century, sometimes gracefully, sometimes painfully. Fundamental shifts in cherished and long-established perspectives do not come without cost. The monarch, parliament, and the people in general all had to undergo a shift in paradigm of the relationship between monarch and subject. As long as a majority of people disagree about that paradigm, instability or revolution manifests; but when most people reach a consensus, and that consensus reflects what government is actually doing, satisfaction and cooperation show themselves. Wootton shows the reader the entire arc of this process.

Alex Hunnicutt ( )
  AlexTheHunn | Dec 14, 2005 |
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The seventeenth century was England's century of revolution, an era in which the nation witnessed protracted civil wars, the execution of a king, and the declaration of a short-lived republic. During this period of revolutionary crisis, political writers of all persuasions hoped to shape the outcome of events by the force of their arguments. To read the major political theorists of Stuart England is to be plunged into a world in which many of our modern conceptions of political rights and social change are first formulated. David Wootton's masterly compilation of speeches, essays, and fiercely polemical pamphlets--organized into chapters focusing on the main debates of the century--represents the first attempt to present in one volume a broad collection of Stuart political thought. In bringing together abstract theorizing and impassioned calls to arms, anonymous tract writers and King James I, Wootton has produced a much-needed collection; in combination with the editor's thoughtful running commentary and invaluable Introduction, its texts bring to life a crucial period in the formation of our modern liberal and conservative theories.

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