Constitutional monarchy

A constitutional monarchy is a form of monarchical government established under a constitutional system which acknowledges a hereditary or elected monarch as head of state. Modern constitutional monarchies usually implement the concept of trias politica, or "separation of powers", where the monarch is the head of the executive branch. Where a monarch holds absolute power, it is known as an absolute monarchy, and law within an absolute monarchy can often be quite different from law within a constitutional monarchy.

Constitutional Monarchies Today

Popularity

In most constitutional monarchies today, the monarchy exists only at the pleasure of the elected parliament. In many cases, a simple majority vote in parliament is considered sufficient to abolish the monarchy and replace it with some form of republican alternative. With the exception of post-war Italy, no modern, democratic constitutional monarchy has voted to abolish itself. Most have ended as a result of complications following the aftermath of war or invasion (such as Austria or Germany) or because of a violent anti-monarchial revolution (such as in Russia or Greece).

Related Topics:
Parliament - Republic - Italy - Austria - Germany - Russia - Greece

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Though many of Europe's past and present leftist parties contain anti-monarchy factions, to date few have openly declared a preference for flat-out monarchial abolition, and instead use their powers to curtail and reform alleged "un-democratic" or "prejudiced" elements of the monarchy. For example, in recent years the age-old tradition of "males first" order of succession to the throne has been abolished in most constitutional monarchies, allowing for eldest daughters to assume the throne before their brothers. The removal of formal reserve powers from the monarchy is another common measure in which a party may chose to "de-politicize" the monarchy, yet not scrap the entire institution.

Related Topics:
Leftist - Order of succession - Reserve powers

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The most likely reason why modern constitutional monarchies continue to survive is that the individual royal families themselves have remained popular. Today, most contemporary royal families go out of their way to project a modern image to the citizenry of a monarchy that is both caring and interested in the people and their country. Many members of modern royal families frequently make donations or participate in charity events, visit poor or sick citizens, and make public apperances at high profile sporting or arts events. Such moves can help make a monarchy seem contemporarily relevant, especially when the royals themselves get involved within the community. As long as a monarchy can remain popular in the public eye, there is little reason for the politicians to meddle, and those who do can easily find themselves at the receiving end of harsh public criticism.

Related Topics:
Royal families - Charity - Sport - Art

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Other defenders of constitutional monarchies argue that royal families promote tourism, and are a key tradition associated with patriotism and national pride. For example, in many constitutional monarchies the monarch's birthday is a national holidy, and an event marked with public patriotic events and parties. In recent years many royal families have also become popular targets of tabloid journalism and gossip, which although often argued as being intrusive and destructive, continues to prove that many find royals interesting simply as celebrities. A further argument speculates that abolishing a popular monarchy may be a pointless endeavor anyway, as even a "deposed" royal family could presumably still live their royal lifestyle and capture public attention, making any republican replacement seem illegitimate. Historically, when monarchies have been abolished the royal family was usually exiled to a foriegn country to prevent their presence from interfering or distracting from the new republican government. However, such moves were usually done during periods of conflict and turmoil with the monarchy. If a democratic country was to abolish its monarchy today, an exile for the royal family would likely be denounced as cruel, and would thus not be seen as a practical option.

Related Topics:
Patriotism - National holidy - Tabloid - Gossip - Celebrities - Exile

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