What percent of traditionalists would you say are monarchists? How about geocentrists? I would have thought most, especially regarding the former, but this sadly does not seem to be the case
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I have to imagine it depends a lot on how you define it. I think few traditionalists are actively trying to restore any of the dynastic lines. I think most traditionalists are sympathetic to monarchy as the preferred form of government, though.
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Sometimes I find that traditionalists confuse anti-republicanism with monarchism. I've run into a few-- don't know how it abstracts into a global percentage-- whose 'monarchism' is really just the rejection of republicanism but in terms of an actual governmental reform to replace republicanism, they haven't thought any further than what amounts more to a dictatorship.
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Think of Henry VIII's England. That's called a monarchy, but really, it was a (bad) dictatorship. Henry consolidated an unprecedented amount of power into his own hands (and I
don't just mean the spiritual jurisdiction he presumed to usurp). His whim was law. Henry's monarchy didn't at all work the same way that the earlier monarchies had worked, as those earlier monarchies did not centralize power on the king. In fact, depending on the monarchy, the king's power was relatively little compared to the power that lower lords had over their lands. I think that (more decentralized) monarchy is the most ideal model, as it much better accounts for the needs of the kingdom-- which are going to vary by different areas and cultures. To effectively govern, rulers have to be close to the people so that they understand their needs, their economies, their concerns, etc. A King who directly rules over a large country simply does not and cannot have that proximity, and as a result his subjects are dehumanized into a source of tax and conscription (which is precisely what happened in Anglican England). This need for proximity was understood quite well by early medieval Europe, and they organized their societies accordingly. I think that republicanism can simulate that kind of early feudalism, but only if it remains very local. Which, as we know, it hasn't.
Topic: Monarchy (Read 496 times)