What Is Absolute Monarchism?
Absolute monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the sovereign is the sole source of political power, unconstrained by constitutions, legislatures or other checks on their authority. Part of the Conservative family.
Definition
Absolute monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the sovereign is the sole source of political power, unconstrained by constitutions, legislatures or other checks on their authority.
Definition quoted from Wikipedia: Absolute monarchy (text available under CC BY-SA 4.0; checked October 20, 2026).
Core ideas
- Undivided authority of the monarch.
- Divine right or hereditary legitimacy.
- No binding constitutional limits.
Origins
Early modern Europe.
Associated thinkers and leaders
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Thomas Hobbes
Core ideas, origins and thinkers: Atlas summary.
Where Absolute Monarchism sits on the Atlas maps
| Map dimension | Score (0–100) | Position | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economic Collective / planned ↔ Market | 67 | toward market | |
| Social Progressive ↔ Traditional | 99 | strongly toward traditional | |
| Authority Libertarian ↔ Authoritarian | 88 | strongly toward authoritarian | |
| National identity Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist | 96 | strongly toward nationalist | |
| Foreign policy Non-intervention ↔ Intervention | 51 | near the center |
All nine underlying dimensions
| Dimension | Score | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Economic ownership Collective ownership ↔ Private ownership | 80 | toward private ownership |
| Civil liberties Civil liberty ↔ State restrictions | 75 | toward state restrictions |
| National identity Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist | 96 | strongly toward nationalist |
| Social and cultural values Progressive ↔ Traditionalist | 100 | strongly toward traditionalist |
| Political governance Democratic ↔ Autocratic | 100 | strongly toward autocratic |
| Equality and hierarchy Egalitarian ↔ Hierarchical | 100 | strongly toward hierarchical |
| Economic management Free market ↔ State planning | 54 | near the center |
| Military intervention Non-intervention ↔ Intervention | 51 | near the center |
| Religion and government Secular state ↔ Religious authority | 96 | strongly toward religious authority |
These positions are estimates on the Atlas’s nine-dimension scale, produced by running the tradition’s core principles through the same questions and scoring used for test-takers. They are interpretations for comparison, not objective measurements. How scores are made.
Estimated positions on key questions
| Statement | Position | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| The means of production should ultimately be owned collectively. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| A single ruling party can govern more effectively than a competitive multiparty system. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Central economic planning is preferable to decentralized market decisions. | Disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| National borders should become less important over time. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Traditional values should guide what society considers right and wrong. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| The government should be able to restrict how certain religions are practiced, such as their places of worship, clothing or schools. | Agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| National security can justify restrictions on what journalists publish. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Society works best when established social hierarchies are respected. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Non-intervention should be the default even when allies request military assistance. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Religious organizations should pay the same taxes as other organizations. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
Related ideologies
Main differences from the closest ideologies
- Compared with Authoritarian Conservatism, Absolute Monarchism sits 8 points further toward authoritarian on the authority dimension.
- Compared with Theocracy, Absolute Monarchism sits 19 points further toward market on the economic dimension.
- Compared with Christian Reconstructionism, Absolute Monarchism sits 13 points further toward collective / planned on the economic dimension.
Figures with the closest estimated positions
Closeness of estimated positions only; this does not mean these people identify with Absolute Monarchism.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Absolute monarchy
- Wikipedia: Absolute Monarchism (Wikipedia search)
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Conservatism
Position last reviewed: not yet reviewed individually.