POLS1102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Term Of Office, Liberal Democracy, Protestantism
Document Summary
1. 2 - emergence of the liberal democratic state. Origins in ancient greece but not recognisable as modern democracy. Voting rights restricted to males who owned property and were not slaves (approx 10% of population) Points to important debates in emergence of liberal democratic tradition. "how do we ensure the state behaves itself?" What is the best institutional structure for democracy (presidential v parliamentary, term lengths etc) Long term economic planning incompatible with term length democracy. St augustine: the city of god and the city of men. Debates intensified by the protestant reformation (1520s onward) and the break from papacy by many northern european states. Protestants rejected control exercised by the pope over "secular" affairs. Started the process of questioning the source of political authority. Magna carta (1215) = a foundational document establishing limits on monarchical power, including trial by jury and protection from arbitrary imprisonment (habeas corpus) https://www. bl. uk/magna-carta. Henceforth, kings had to go to parliament to ask for money.
