Introduction
Political power is often ideas on government and society that have captured the minds of a culture, or at least a certain section of one.  Ideologies such as Absolutism, Fascism, and Communism have influenced nations, started wars, and attempted to dominate the world.  Political power is also military force, or more correctly put, the will to use such force.  Leaders and their nations have since the beginning of history attempted to subjugate others with their way of thinking.  While political power has shifted to different places, classes, and ideologies, it is still the thing that makes the world go around.

Ideologies

Absolutism
Absolutism is the complete centralization of power into the hands of one leader.  These leaders have few, if any restraints on what they can do within their borders.  Absolutism appears in various places throughout history, most notably in India under Akbar the Great in the 16th century, Spain under Charles V and Philip II also in the 16th century, France under Louis XIV in the 17th century, and in Russia under Peter the Great in the late 17th - early 18th centuries. These leaders exercised complete control over all aspects of their populations lives.  Reaction to this form of government was often violent, many times resulting in revolutions seeking greater political, social, and economic freedoms.

Enlightenment
The Enlightenment developed as an extension of the Scientific Revolution.  During the Scientific Revolution, Europeans discarded traditional beliefs and began using reason to explain the world around them.  While the Scientific Revolution focused on the physical world, the Enlightenment attempted to explain the purpose of government, and describe the best form of it.  The most influential Enlightenment thinkers were Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Voltaire, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau.

The writings of these men has had a tremendous impact on the way government works.  Most democratic nations today can trace their ideological origins to the Enlightenment.  Political thought in this case is power, in that it changed the behavior of government. Enlightenment ideas also helped to stimulate people's sense of individualism, and the basic belief in equal rights.  This in turn led to the Glorious Revolution is Britain, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Latin American Revolutions. Some of these revolutions resulted in government based upon the ideas of the Enlightenment.

Elsewhere, a few monarchs retained absolute control of their countries while also enacting reform based on Enlightenment ideas.  These monarchs are called Enlightened Despots.  In Austria, Maria Teresa and her son Joseph II both introduced reforms based on Enlightenment ideas.  They reduced the tax load on the peasants, provided free education, and ended censorship in their empire.  In Russia, Catherine the Great introduced similar reforms.  She enacted laws for religious toleration and free education, and also sought the advice of nobles and peasants in the running of government. However, these reforms seldom outlived the monarchs who had enacted them.

Communism
Karl Marx was a German socialist during the 19th century who co wrote a book with another German socialist by the name of Friedrich Engels.  The book was called The Communist Manifesto, and put forth the new political ideology of scientific socialism, commonly referred to as communism.  Marx and Engels believed their theory to be based on scientific principals and the study of history.  They state that human life has consisted of a  struggle between the people who have economic wealth, and those who do not.  The people who have, called the bourgeoisie, are always in power and use the "have nots", called the proletariat, to stay there. Marx and Engels predicted that capitalism would make the proletariat poorer, which would result in a revolution.  They predicted an end to capitalism and the creation of a classless society where all had what they needed.

Communist revolutions occurred throughout as a result of this ideology.  Most notably, Russia and China became communist states replacing long standing monarchies.  However, communism did not developed as Marx and Engels predicted.  Instead, most communist countries develop into totalitarian regimes, with a small, elite class of people running everything.

Fascism
Fascism is totalitarian rule that is imperialistic, nationalistic, and anti-communist.  The anti-communist part is interesting as both regimes share many of the same ideas. Fascism appeared in Italy and Germany after World War I as both countries struggled with political and economic ruin.  Benito Mussolini in Italy and Adolf Hitler in Germany used this new ideology to gain power and control over their countries.  Their rise in power resulted in the greatest war in human history, World War II, as both countries had imperialistic ambitions.  In the end, only the combined strength of the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, were able to defeat the Fascists.
 

Modern Democracy
The evolution of modern democracy is really a study in the evolution of British democracy and the political thoughts of the Enlightenment thinkers. Since this time, modern democratic government has become the goal of most peoples around the world.  Modern democracies operate under the principals of human rights and freedoms, limited government, and participation in government. While practiced in many parts of the world, truly free democracies only exist in a few countries, such as Great Britain, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, as well as others.
 

League of Nations
The League of Nations began as an idea of United States President Woodrow Wilson following the first World War.  The Treaty of Versailles created a League with over 40 different countries joining. Interestingly enough, the United States was not one of them.  The League of Nations was to be an international body that would settle future problems through negotiations instead of warfare.  The member nations were to work cooperatively through economic and military means to enforce its decisions.  However, since the United States did not join, the League never achieved its intentions.  While the League did attempt to halt the aggressiveness of Hitler's Germany, their inherent weakness prevented them from stopping World War II.

United Nations
The United Nations was formed after World War II with the same intentions as the earlier League of Nations. This time the United States did join, and the U.N. has grown into a major power in world affairs.  The U.N.'s power is manifested through the cooperation of its member nations.  Since 1945, the U.N. has sent peacekeeping forces around the world to stop war, terrorism, and abuse of human rights.  U.N. forces, lead by the United States, pushed communist forces out of South Korea during the Korean War, attempted to halt the war in Bosnia, protect the Kurds in Iraq, and end the reign of warlords in Somalia.