lpetrich
Contributor
Then discussing who might want to support hereditary leadership. Nobles / aristocrats have the same motive as monarchs for making their positions hereditary, and they would naturally support a fellow hereditary leader, even if not necessarily whichever one is currently ruling.
Opponents of hereditary privilege for leadership are often also opponents of hereditary privilege for nobilities, as is evident in the thoughts and actions of the American, French, and Russian revolutionaries. This is another reason for nobilities to line up behind monarchies.
Priesthoods may also have an interest in hereditary leadership, even if not necessarily whoever is currently in power. It may mean reliable support for them in exchange for the priesthood blessing them with assurance that the rulers of the Universe are on their side.
BSG then quotes this about Imperial China: “a perpetual see-saw between the power of the emperor to pursue his own policy through his own personal instrumentalities, and the power of either his relatives and/or the palace officials, and the central bureaucracy to pursue their own. At times the emperor is the active ruler, at others it is his entourage or officialdom that rules.”
The central bureaucracy of China was chosen by competitive examinations, involving familiarity with the classics of Chinese literature. But education in them was expensive, and it made for a de facto nobility.
"The bureaucracy was entirely happy that the country should be ruled in principle by a hereditary emperor; it just believed that the emperor should in practice do what he was told by the bureaucracy."
Then mentioning palace eunuchs, men who were neutered so that it would be safe for them to guard the an emperor's concubines, secondary wives. They were often fervently loyal to the emperors.
Opponents of hereditary privilege for leadership are often also opponents of hereditary privilege for nobilities, as is evident in the thoughts and actions of the American, French, and Russian revolutionaries. This is another reason for nobilities to line up behind monarchies.
Priesthoods may also have an interest in hereditary leadership, even if not necessarily whoever is currently in power. It may mean reliable support for them in exchange for the priesthood blessing them with assurance that the rulers of the Universe are on their side.
BSG then quotes this about Imperial China: “a perpetual see-saw between the power of the emperor to pursue his own policy through his own personal instrumentalities, and the power of either his relatives and/or the palace officials, and the central bureaucracy to pursue their own. At times the emperor is the active ruler, at others it is his entourage or officialdom that rules.”
The central bureaucracy of China was chosen by competitive examinations, involving familiarity with the classics of Chinese literature. But education in them was expensive, and it made for a de facto nobility.
"The bureaucracy was entirely happy that the country should be ruled in principle by a hereditary emperor; it just believed that the emperor should in practice do what he was told by the bureaucracy."
Then mentioning palace eunuchs, men who were neutered so that it would be safe for them to guard the an emperor's concubines, secondary wives. They were often fervently loyal to the emperors.