The Roman Republic was not an effective form of democracy because it was not a democracy. We tend to think of government nowadays as fitting into one of two major categories - democracies and dictatorships The only stable type of government, per Aristotle, was one that would combine all three.
Colbert was unable to rein in louis XIV's huge expenses because Louis XIV held absolute royal power. Louis XIV was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who reigned as King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715.
