Forms of Government: Monarchy

Monarchy is a form of government that is ruled by one person. That person is usually referred to as a king/queen, prince/princess, emperor/empress, or duke/grand duke/duchess. This was the most common form of leadership in ancient & medieval times & continues to be a common form today. According to Wikipedia, there are currently 44 nations that have this form of government, 16 of which are Commonwealth nations of Britain.

Most postings to monarch are inherited but some, as in the case of the Pope in the Vatican, are elected.

Now, there are different degrees of monarchy. The most strict type is absolute monarchy. With this form, the monarch has complete authority over every aspect of his subject’s lives. There is no constitution or legal restriction over this monarch. Some examples of this type of rule would be Louis XIV of France, the Tsars of Russia (until 1905), and James I & Charles I of England. Some of the nations that claim absolute monarchy today include Vatican City, Swaziland, Brunei, Oman, Qatar, & Saudi Arabia.

Another form of monarchy is constitutional monarchy. As the name states, with this type of monarchy, the leader must act within the parameters of a constitution or rule of law. According to Wikipedia, “Most constitutional monarchies employ a parliamentary system in which the monarch is the ceremonial head of state & a directly- or indirectly-elected prime minister is the head of government & exercises effective political power.” Countries that use this form of government include Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Thailand & the UK.