Hear it pronouncedMonarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which an individual rules as head of state, often for life or until abdication. The person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch. Currently 44 nations in the world have monarchs as heads of state, 16 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognize Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as head of state.
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[ Etymology
The word monarch (Latin: monarcha) comes from the Greek μόναρχος (from μόνος, "one/singular," and ἀρχός, "leader/ruler/chief") which referred to a single, at least nominally absolute ruler. With time, the word has been succeeded in this meaning by others, such as autocrat or dictator. In modern usage the word monarch is generally used when referring to a traditional system of hereditary rulership, with elective monarchies often considered as exceptions.
[ Characteristics and role
Today, the extent of a monarch's actual powers varies:
- In an absolute monarchy, the monarch rules as an autocrat, with absolute power over the state and government—for example, the right to rule by decree, promulgate laws, and impose punishments. Absolute monarchies are not necessarily authoritarian; the enlightened absolutists of the Enlightenment were monarchs who allowed various freedoms.
- In a constitutional monarchy, the monarch is largely a ceremonial figurehead subject to a constitution. Sovereignty rests formally with and is carried out in name of The Crown but politically rests with the people (electorate), as represented by the parliament or other legislature. Constitutional monarchs have little real political power, and are constituted by tradition and precedent, popular opinion, or by legal codes or statutes. They serve as symbols of continuity and the state and carry out largely ceremonial functions. Still, many constitutional monarchs retain certain privileges (inviolability, sovereign immunity, an official residence) and powers (to grant pardons, to appoint titles of nobility). Additionally, some monarchs retain reserve powers, such as to dismiss a prime minister, refuse to dissolve parliament, or withhold Royal Assent to legislation, effectively vetoing it.
Most states only have a single monarch at any given time, although two monarchs have ruled simultaneously in some countries (diarchy), as in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, and there are examples of joint sovereignty of spouses or relatives (such as William and Mary in the Kingdom of England and Scotland)[1] A regent may rule when the monarch is a minor, not present or debilitated.
Monarchy, especially absolute monarchy, is sometimes linked to religious aspects; many monarchs once claimed the right to rule by the will of God (Divine Right of Kings, Mandate of Heaven), a special connection to God (sacred king) or even purported to be incarnations of gods themselves (imperial cult, divine king). In Islam, a caliph is a head of state that is both a temporal leader (of the caliphate, Islamic state) and a religious one (leader of the Ummah, community of believers). Many monarchs have been styled Fidei defensor (Defender of the Faith); some hold official positions relating to the state religion or established church.
Monarchs have various titles king or queen, prince or princess (Sovereign Prince of Monaco), emperor or empress (Emperor of Japan, Emperor of India), or even duke or grand duke (Grand Duke of Luxembourg). Many monarchs are also distinguished by styles, such as Royal Highness or By the Grace of God.
Monarchs often take part in certain ceremonies, such as a coronation.
Monarchy are associated with political or sociocultural hereditary rule, in which monarchs rule for life (although the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, who serves a five-year term, and others are considered monarchs although they do not hold lifetime positions) and pass the responsibilities and power of the position to their children or family when they die. Most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family (over a period of time, called a dynasty) and trained for future duties. Different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority (Salic law). While traditionally most monarch have been male, female monarchs have also ruled in history; the term queen regnant refers to a ruling monarch, while a queen consort refers to the wife of a reigning king. Form of governments may be hereditary without being considered monarchies, such as that of family dictatorships[2] or political families in many democracies.[3]
Some monarchies are non-hereditary. In an elective monarchy, the monarch is elected but otherwise serves as any other monarch. Historical examples of elective monarchy include the Holy Roman Emperors (chosen by prince-electors but often coming from the same dynasty) and the free election of kings of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Modern examples include the pope of the Roman Catholic Church (who rules as Sovereign of the Vatican City State and is elected to a life term by the College of Cardinals) and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
Monarchies have existed throughout the world, although in recent centuries many states have abolished the monarchy and becomes republics. Advocacy of republics is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called monarchism. The principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the immediate continuity of leadership, with a usually short interregnum (as seen in the classic phrase "The King is dead. Long live the King!").
The term monarchy may refer either to the people that make up the royal or imperial establishment (the royal family or dynasty, royalty or royal household).
In some cases monarchs are dependent on other powers (see vassals, suzerainty, puppet state, hegemony). In the colonial era indirect rule under a paramount power existed, such as princely state under the British Raj.
In other cases the monarch's power is limited not due to constitutional restraits but to effective military rule. In the late Roman Empire, the Praetorian Guard several times deposed Roman Emperors and installed new emperor. The Hellenistic kings of Macedon and of Epirus were elected by the arm, which was similiar in composition to the ecclesia of democracies, the council of all free citizens; military service was often linked with citizenship) among the male member of the royal house. Military domination of the monarch has occured in modern Thailand and in medieval Japan (where an hereditary military chief, the shogun was the de facto ruler, although the Japanese emperor nominally ruled. In Fascist Italy a monarchy coexisted with a fascist party, as did Romania or Greece. Spain under Francisco Franco (was officially a monarchy, even though there was no monarch on the throne. (Upon his death, Franco was succeeded as head of state by the Bourbon heir, Juan Carlos I.
A self-proclaimed monarchy is established when a person declares himself a monarch and has no historical ties to a previous dynasty. Napoleon I of France declared himself Emperor of the French and ruled the First French Empire after previously calling himself First Consul after seizing power in the coup of 18 Brumaire. Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Empire declared himself "Emperor." Yuan Shikai crowned himself Emperor of the short-lived "Empire of China" a few years after the Republic of China was founded.
In a personal union, the same person serves as monarch of separate independent states. (In contrast to an empire, in which the monarch may have different titles in different realms but does not rule independent states).
Sometimes titles are used to express claims to territories that are not actually held (for example, English claims to the French throne) or titles not recognized (antipopes). A pretender is a claimant to an abolished throne or to a throne already occupied by somebody else. Abdication is when a monarch resigns.
Unique or unusual situations exist in several countries:
- In Malaysia, the federal king, called the Yang di-Pertuan Agong ("Paramount Ruler") is elected for a five-year term from and by the hereditary rulers (mostly sultans) of nine of the federation's constitutive states, all on the Malay peninsula.
- Andorra is the world's sole co-principality. Located in the Pyrenees between Spain and France, it has two co-princes: the Bishop of Urgell (a prince-bishop) in Spain and the President of France. It is the only situation in which an independent country's monarch is democratically elected by the citizens of another country.
[ Succession
The rules for selection of monarchs varies from country to country. In constitutional monarchies the rule of succession is generally embodied in a law passed by a representative body, such as a parliament.
In an elective monarchy, monarchs being elected or appointed by some body (an electoral college) for life. For example, Pepin the Short (father of Charlemagne) was elected King of the Franks by an assembly of Frankish leading men; Stanisław August Poniatowski of Poland was an elected king, as was Frederick I of Denmark. Germanic peoples had elective monarchies, and the Holy Roman Emperors were elected by prince-electors, although this was often merely a formalization of what was in reality hereditary rule. Three elective monarchies exists today. Two (Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates) are 20th-century creations, while one (the papacy) is ancient.
In a hereditary monarchy, the position of monarch is inherited by one's relatives according to a statutory or customary order of succession, usually within one royal family tracing its origin back to a historical dynasty or bloodline.
Sometimes the order of succession is affected by rules on gender. Agnatic succession bars females, and in oher systems a female may only inherit when the male line dating back to a common ancestor is exhausted. In 1980, Sweden became the first monarchy to declare equal (full cognatic) primogeniture, meaning that the eldest child of the monarch, whether female or male, ascends to the throne.[4] Other kingdoms (such as the Netherlands in 1983, Norway in 1990, and Belgium in 1991) have since followed suit. Sometimes religion is affected; under the Act of Settlement 1701 all Roman Catholics are ineligible to be the British monarch and are skipped in the order of succession.
Primogeniture, in which the eldest child of the monarch is first in line to become monarch, is the most common system. In the case of the absence of children, the next most senior member of the collateral line (for example, a younger brother) becomes monarch. Other systems include tanistry, which is semi-elective and gives weight to merit and Salic law. In complex cases, especially in the Middle Ages, the system of primogeniture competed with the sometimes conflicting principle of proximity of blood, and outcomes were idiosyncratic. In some monarchies, such as Saudi Arabia, succession to the throne usually first passes to the monarch's next eldest brother, and only after that to the monarch's children (agnatic seniority).
Appointment by the current monarch is another system, used in Jordan. In this system, the monarch chooses his own successor, who may or may not be a relative.
- See also: jure uxoris
[ History
Monarchy is one of the oldest forms of government, with echoes in the leadership of tribal chiefs.
Since 1800, most of the world's monarchies have been abolished, and most of the nations that retain monarchs are constitutional monarchies. Among the few states that retain aspects of absolute monarchy are Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland and the Vatican City. The monarch also retains considerable power in Jordan and Morocco. In 2003 the regnant prince of Liechtenstein was given the constitutional power to dismiss the government at will. The most recent nation to abolish its monarchy was Nepal, which became a republic in 2008.
[ Africa
Pharaohs ruled ancient Egypt over the course of three millennia (c. 3150 BCE to 31 BCE) until Egypt was absorbed by the Roman Empire. In the same time period, several kingdoms flourished in the nearby Nubia region. The Kanem Empire (700-1376) was in central Africa. In East Africa, the Aksumite Empire and later the Ethiopian Empire (1270-1974) were ruled by a series of monarchs. Haile Selassie, the last Emperor of Ethiopia, was deposed in a coup d'état. Kingdoms such as the Kingdom of Kongo (1400–1914) existed in southern Africa.
As part of the Scramble for Africa, Europeans conquered, bought, or established African kingdoms and styled themselves as a monarch.
[ Europe
Dozens of monarchies have existed in European history. Many no longer have a monarch: Some monarchies dissolved into independent states (Austria-Hungary), others were dismantled by revolution (the Russian Empire ended after the Russian Revolution of 1917), and still others merged into a unified crown (for example, the Crown of Aragon and Crown of Castile became the Kingdom of Spain.)
Today in Europe, there remain seven kingdoms, three principalities (Liechtenstein, Wales and Monaco), a duchy (the Channel Islands, of the Duchy of Normandy), a grand duchy (Luxembourg), and a sovereign city-state (Vatican City State). Additionally, there is the peculiar case of Andorra (in which the Bishop of Urgell and the elected President of France are co-princes).
[ Asia
In China, "king" is the usual translation for the term wang (王), the sovereign before the Qin dynasty and during the Ten Kingdoms period. During the early Han dynasty, China had a number of small kingdoms, each about the size of a county and subordinate to the Emperor of China. The Japanese monarchy is now the only monarchy to still use the title of Emperor.
[ The Americas
Monarchies existed among the indigenous peoples of the Americas long before the European colonization.
Pre-Columbian titles used in the New World included Cacique (in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico) Tlatoani (Nahuatl term for the ruler of an altepetl, Aztec polity), Ajaw (Maya), Sapa Inca (Inca Empire), Morubixaba (Old Tupi for "chief")
The Age of Discovery and European colonization brought extensive territory to European monarchs. Some colonies broke off and declared independence (such as the United States in the American Revolution and the Hispanic American wars of independence in Latin America). Canada and several other colonies in British West Indies, become self-governing while remaining under the British monarchy as Commonwealth realms or British overseas territories. (See Canadian Confederation). Between 1931 and 1983 nine previous British colonies, including Canada, attained independence while remaining under a personal union with the UK.
Independent monarchs also emerged. Augustin I declared himself Emperor of Mexico in 1822, after colonization. Maximilian I ruled as Mexican emperor from 1863 to 1867. Two members of the House of Braganza, Pedro I and Pedro II, ruled Brazil as emperors from 1822 to 1889.
[ References
- ^ Other examples of joint sovereignty include Tsars Peter I and Ivan V of Russia and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Joanna of Castile of the Crown of Castile.
- ^ Examples include Kim il-Sung and Kim Jong-il in North Korea, the Somoza family in Nicaragua, François Duvalier and Jean-Claude Duvalier in Haiti, Hafez al-Assad and Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and Oliver Cromwell and Richard Cromwell in the Commonwealth of England.
- ^ For example, the Kennedy family in the United States and the Nehru-Gandhi family in India. See list of political families.
- ^ SOU 1977:5 Kvinnlig tronföljd, p.16.
[ See also
- Abolished monarchy
- Archontology
- Family as a model for the state
- King of Kings
- List of current monarchs
- List of living former sovereign monarchs
- List of monarchies
- List of monarchs by nickname
- List of subnational monarchs
- List of usurpers
- Maharaja
- Personal union
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