Louis XIV is one of the best known examples of a modern nation ruled
by a "divine right" monarch.

13. THE LIMITED MONARCHY.--When a monarch has been restricted in his
powers a limited or constitutional monarchy is said to exist. Almost
always the establishment of a limited monarchy has been preceded by a
series of struggles between king and people. In many cases these
struggles have been precipitated or intensified by the monarch's abuse
of power. A striking example is offered by English history. As the
result of his arbitrary rule, King John was in 1215 obliged to sign
the Magna Charta, by which act he gave up many important powers. The
limits thus set upon the kingly power were affirmed and extended by
the Petition of Right of 1628 and by the Bill of Rights of 1689. A
similar limiting process has gone on in other countries, either by the
framing of constitutions, or by the enlargement of the powers of
legislatures, or by both methods. To-day the absolute monarchy is
practically unknown among civilized nations.

14. THE REPUBLIC.--The republic is a form of government in which
ultimate power or sovereignty resides with the people as a whole
rather than with a single individual. Instead of a monarch there is
generally an elective president, with varying powers. The republic is
a very old form of government, but in the republics of Greece, Rome
and Venice the powers of government were exercised by a class composed
of a small minority of the people. In modern republics a larger
proportion of the adult population participates in government.

A republic may arise in any one of several ways, but most of the
republics of modern times have grown out of monarchical conditions,
either directly or indirectly. Our republic arose as a reaction