Part 2 Chapter 19 Summary and Analysis

There are three types of commonwealth: monarchies, democracies, and aristocracies. The difference between these three types is in the ease or ability to produce peace and security of the people. In a monarchy, only one man has power. In a democracy, power is given to all who will come together. In an aristocracy, only part of the population becomes the assembly.

In a monarchy, the riches, power, and honor arise only from the strength of his subjects, "For no kind can be rich, nor glorious, nor secure; whose subjects are either poor, or contemptible, or too weak through want or dissension to maintain a war against their enemies." A monarch receives counsel from someone he or she has usually appointed whenever he or she wants it, and usually receives it in private. On the flip side, a democracy and...