Enlightened absolutism

Enlightened Absolutism is a form of Absolutism that, in the modern sense of the word, is almost synomynous with a Benevolent Dictatorship. Historically the term was used to apply to European Monarchs who recognised that they ruled with popular consent rather than by divine will alone and as such sought to rule in a benevolent manner, either to ensure their own power or to protect the interests of their subject. It is widely agreed that Enlightened absolutist thought began in practice with Elizabeth I of England and continued well into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Micronationally, an enlightened absolutist state would be any Monarchy that rules by popular consent in the same fashion as a Benevolent Dictatorship - many Monarchial micronations operate in such a fashion due to their close-knit communal nature.