The Best Way To Govern Dbq Analysis

The Best Way to Govern All eight documents describe the proper way for a ruler to govern their country, whether the power is held through religion, the power is shared by the people and the ruler has control of everything, or the ruler is responsible for the people and should govern with fairness. From the first document written in the 200’s BCE to the last document written in 1938, most sources agree with two main ways of governing a society; power should either be shared by the people and the ruler has control of everything, or the ruler has all of the power but is responsible for his people and should govern with fairness. In the first group (documents 1,2,8), it is clear that the power should be shared by the people and the ruler has
Ashoka’s document, written in the 200’s BCE says that all of the ruler’s men are his children, and what he desires for his own children, their welfare and happiness both in this world and in the next, he desires for his men too. Furthermore, he says that they should understand that the king will forgive those who can be forgiven, in exchange for increased religious participation; he wants them to practice more Dhamma so that they can attain the happiness that he wants to give them. The quote “I am telling you this so that I may discharge the debts I owe, and that in instructing you, that you may know that my vow and my promise will not be broken. Therefore acting in this way, you should perform your duties and assure the people that, “The king is like a father. He feels toward us as he feels towards himself. We are to him like his own children.”” shows that according to Ashoka, the proper way to govern a people is to focus them on religion; tell them that if they become more religious and do more good deeds, than they’ll will be happy and thus the ruler is considered more popular and has less of a chance of being overthrown; the people will believe that he does them justice because that’s what the religion says. The seventh document, the Imperial Catechism (1806) tells the people their duties as Christians towards their emperor, Napoleon I. According to this source, all Christians owe to the princes that govern them: love, respect, obedience, fidelity, military service, and the taxes for the preservation and defense of the empire and the throne. They also need to pray for him, the country, and their safety. In answer as to why they need to do all of that, the document says that it’s the will of God himself. “...God, who has created empires and distributes them according to his will, has, by