Calvin and the limits of earthly power:
Calvin was not an autocratic monarchist but preferred "mixed" government combining monarchical, aristocratic and popular elements. A number of his successors developed his political theology in a more radical direction, laying the basis for popular participation and eventually movements of democratisation: believers empowered to speak and lead in the church would become citizens empowered in the polity. And Calvin's notion of divine law standing over every human institution in time prompted the idea that each institution limited the other. Contrary to popular perceptions, Calvinism can be credited with contributing to the emergence of modern constitutional democracy.
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