Leviathan: Chapter 19 Summary & Analysis

There are three different forms of common-wealths. When a multitude of people are represented by one person, the common-wealth is a monarchy; a multitude of people represented by an assembly of people is known as a democracy; and when only part of a multitude is represented by any one power, this is called an aristocracy. There are no other common-wealths apart from these, as a sovereign power can be only one person, a group of people, or all the people of a common-wealth. 

In common-wealths where a sovereign power has already been determined, the subjects can elect no other power, as that power would be contrary to the first power and reduce the people to a state of war, which is counterproductive to the common-wealth. Such an absurdity has recently been seen in England, were a monarch succeeding from 600 years of sovereign power was dethroned.

It is difficult to compare the different sovereign powers, as they differ not in power but in how they wield that power. A monarch’s private interests are largely those of the public; however, this is not always the case in in a democracy or an aristocracy. Also, a monarch receives counsel from many different people, but the only people permitted to join a sovereign assembly are heard in an aristocracy or a democracy. Furthermore, a monarch’s actions and decisions are subject only to the fickleness of the monarch’s own human nature, whereas a democracy or aristocracy must endure fickleness from any number of people.   

It is also impossible for a monarch to disagree with themselves out of jealousy or self-interest, but the same cannot be said of a democracy or an aristocracy, in which disagreements to can reach the height of civil war. Of course, a monarch does have the power to deprive any one subject of all their possessions, which Hobbes admits is problematic; however, the same authority resides in any sovereign power, not just with the monarchy. Hobbes also admits it is troublesome that an infant may come into sovereign power within a monarchy, and in such cases that power must reside with another until the monarch reaches the age of reason. 

If a monarch does not have the right to pick a successor, or if the monarch dies before that successor is selected, the common-wealth dissolves and reverts back to a state of war. Therefore, the power of a monarch must exist in a line of “Artificiall Eternity” known as succession, which, in Hobbes’s opinion, is the greatest difficulty monarchies face. If a monarch dies without a successor, the people, who are now in a state of war, are incapable of electing a new monarch.

Succession is passed in a monarchy through words, and in the absence of words, succession is controlled by custom. For many monarchies, it is customary for succession to fall to the next of kin, preferably a child, followed by a sibling. It is lawful for a monarch to transfer their power to someone else, Hobbes says, as was the case with King James, the “most wise King” who tried to unite England and Scotland. Many objected to King James’s endeavor, although it likely would have prevented the civil war that is presently making both countries miserable. A foreigner can also become a sovereign power if a monarch marries a foreigner and allows the line of succession to naturally unfold, but no one argues this attempt as unlawful.