Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, Chapter 19 summary

What happens

1. The narrator defines monarchy, democracy, and aristocracy, treating hostile names such as tyranny as expressions of dislike rather than separate forms.
2. He argues that competing representatives divide sovereign authority and threaten the peace that government exists to secure.
3. He favors monarchy through comparisons involving private interest, advice, stable decisions, internal conflict, favorites, and guardianship.
4. He distinguishes genuine sovereigns from limited or elective rulers and explains how one people can govern another monarchically.
5. He places succession under sovereign control and explains its operation in democracies, aristocracies, and monarchies.
6. He identifies declarations, custom, and presumed affection as guides to succession, then defends a monarch’s right to choose a foreign successor.

Quick check