What term describes the belief that a ruler's authority comes from God and is above the law?

• A. Divine right
• B. Social contract
• C. Feudal obligation
• D. Machiavellian power

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is the divine right of kings. This belief holds that a ruler’s authority comes directly from God, not from the people or from any human institution, and that the ruler’s commands are above ordinary law. Because power is seen as a sacred grant, challenging the king is seen as challenging God, which helps explain why monarchs who endorsed this idea could justify absolute control and resist limits from parliaments or courts. Historically, this justification was used to legitimize centralized, undivided authority in some early modern European monarchies.

The other concepts describe different sources of authority or political ideas: a social contract is about legitimacy arising from the people’s consent; feudal obligation concerns duties and loyalties within the medieval lord–vassal system; Machiavellian power focuses on pragmatic, sometimes manipulative political strategy rather than divine sanction.