American Empire Part 1
American Empire Part 2
A Study in Authority
All power structures are prone to internal rivalry. Rivalry can, in some cases, be anticipated and controlled for. Rivalry, properly harnessed, can strengthen a system rather than weaken it. Stable rivalry requires three points of contact, balancing the Sovereign Authority, the means of enforcement, and the source of legitimacy.
First, regarding Sovereign Authority, it must be broad enough to allow effective rule but limited in such a way as to prevent it from becoming absolute. A Sovereign whose authority is very restricted cannot exercise that authority effectively. A sovereign whose authority is totally unrestricted quickly becomes a tyrant, ruling absolutely. So some balance on the authority of the sovereign is important.
The Sovereign only exercises authority through decisions to enforce or not enforce their edicts. A Sovereign cannot act unilaterally to enforce their authority, they must utilize some enforcement mechanism. This can be the military, a police force, typically some body of people. Any number of means of enforcement are available to the Sovereign. However, this body has it’s own authority unto itself, and is governed by a will of its own. This body must be loyal to the sovereign, to enforce their edicts. They must also be loyal to the subjects, unwilling to enforce tyrannical edicts. This is the second balance which must be struck. The Sovereign must be able to rely on the enforcement mechanism to obey their will but also reject actual abuses.
Finally, the Sovereign is only able to exercise authority if they have a legitimate claim to that authority. Legitimacy is typically derived from some source, and must also be accepted. The source of legitimacy must be objective and unquestionable; the acceptance of legitimacy must be preserved. If the source of legitimacy is in doubt, the ability to enforce edicts is weakened and the effective exercise of authority is diminished. If the acceptance of legitimacy is lost, the authority of the sovereign is undermined.
These three forces, Scope of Authority, Enforcement of Authority, and Legitimacy of Authority, serve to balance the various stakeholders in a nation.
Case Studies in Rivalry
The Kings of Rome had, initially, a balanced system. The King could not unilaterally extend the scope of their authority without consent of the Senate. The military would enforce edicts, but was an essential control against sovereign overreach. The failure of Roman Monarchy was manifold: The Senate was the source of legitimacy for the King, and they began to withdraw their acceptance and consider themselves the legitimate rulers. The last King of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, undermined the source of legitimacy by having senators killed and refusing to replace them. He was cruel in his enforcement, losing the acceptance of both the senate and favor of the populace. The last straw was his crime of raping a woman: The senate took control of the enforcement mechanism, with the support of the people, and overthrew him. The Sovereign, from inception and across seven kings, gradually extended and allowed the sovereign to be cruel and unjust. Each of the pillars was gradually undermined, and ultimately collapsed.
For pre-revolutionary British monarchs, the collapse was a little more overt. Legitimacy was assured by birthright, and the legislature enabled the growing tyranny of King George III. The result was that the Legitimacy of the monarch ceased to be accepted by the people, and the chosen enforcement mechanism, self governance of the remote colonies, outright failed. The Legitimate monarch of the British colonies was rejected by the colonial population in favor of self rule.
Consequences of Rebellion
In both cases, a singular sovereign was replaced by a collective sovereign in the form of a powerful, elected legislature. In the Roman case, they simply removed the Monarch and took all the accidents of authority and power unto themselves. In the American case, it took some time before the nation coalesced into the burgeoning young republic. In both cases, we have arrived at the Republic phase of these nations.
Times-Dispatch of Vichy Earth 