WI: Mandate of Heaven the most common political theory?

Say that, instead of democracy, political leaders instead appealed to the mandate of heaven to legitimise their rule. What effects would this have, both of the internal political cultures of their countries, and on the way they viewed the wider world and conducted diplomacy with their neighbours?

ETA: By "mandate of heaven", I meant the idea that heaven/God gives good rulers the right to rule, and takes it away from bad ones. It doesn't have to be adopted from China; it would be quite within the bounds of the OP for Christian and Islamic societies to independently invent and adopt the idea.
 
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scholar

Banned
Say that, instead of democracy, political leaders instead appealed to the mandate of heaven to legitimise their rule. What effects would this have, both of the internal political cultures of their countries, and on the way they viewed the wider world and conducted diplomacy with their neighbours?
You would need to have Confucian and Doaist political and ethical theory to spread far and gain acceptance in order for this to happen.
 
You would need to have Confucian and Doaist political and ethical theory to spread far and gain acceptance in order for this to happen.

I don't see why that's necessary. It wouldn't be too difficult to incorporate mandate of heaven-style ideas into a Christian framework. Islamic too, probably, although I know a lot less about Islamic thought on such matters than I do about Christian.
 

scholar

Banned
I don't see why that's necessary. It wouldn't be too difficult to incorporate mandate of heaven-style ideas into a Christian framework. Islamic too, probably, although I know a lot less about Islamic thought on such matters than I do about Christian.
It wouldn't be too difficult, but in order for anyone to feel the need to do so, the theories and concepts need to be around and influential enough to have people want to co-opt them as useful tools, or even natural reflections of the religious principles. Europeans and Muslims will not feel any need to adopt the principle if China and its political thoughts remain isolated in the East, and worse if China itself is declining in comparison to them.
 
"...the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

Boom, there you go, just mix up Divine Right of Kings with Noblesse oblige and there you have it.
 
I can't see a wholesale adoption, but I can see a possible expansion to the divine right of kings, to include something similar.
 
ETA: By "mandate of heaven", I meant the idea that heaven/God gives good rulers the right to rule, and takes it away from bad ones. It doesn't have to be adopted from China; it would be quite within the bounds of the OP for Christian and Islamic societies to independently invent and adopt the idea.

This doesn't seem all that different from how OTL unfolded. Most European monarchs argued at one time or another that their rule came from God. When they ruled effectively, the nobles and commoners accepted them. When they didn't, there were revolts against their rule.
 
"...the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

Boom, there you go, just mix up Divine Right of Kings with Noblesse oblige and there you have it.
excellent basis for the Western concept.

This doesn't seem all that different from how OTL unfolded. Most European monarchs argued at one time or another that their rule came from God. When they ruled effectively, the nobles and commoners accepted them. When they didn't, there were revolts against their rule.
But there was very little 'He ruled badly, so God replaced his dynasty' in the European view. Occasionally 'He ruled badly, so God replaced him', but not the whole dynasty.

I like Strategos' Risk's idea. Have a few more revolts in hard times that involve a new ruling dynasty, and it could get established.
 
To an extent it did exist, especially in Protestant political thinking. Calvin, while not endorsing revolution, argues that God can bring about the demise of a tyrannical ruler.
Demise of A ruler. Probably not the whole dynasty.

edit: That having been said, the groundwork has been laid. Which may be what you meant, anyway.
 
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