Specifically, monarchies in which the monarch's exercise of power is unconstrained by any substantive constitutional law. Bhutan 201316, Greece 1874, 195066, Liechtenstein 19212017, Monaco 19622017, Thailand 1975, 8390, 922005, 201113. The V-dem country experts also regard the Belgian king to have been influential in the executive sphere in the year 1959, most probably a reflection of King Baudouins active role in the independence process of Belgian Congo. 3 E.g. States in which the central government has delegated some of its powers to regional authorities, but where constitutional authority ultimately remains entirely at a national level. Yet, Boix et al. In reality, however, the Swedish monarchs had been gradually stripped of their powers during the nineteenth century and lost all their influence on government formation already in 1918. ( 2017, p. 691). However, three countries, all of which have powerful monarchs at the time of writing, contradict this rule. Table 2. The president is elected by parliament and holds a parliamentary seat, much like a prime minister, but is immune from a vote of no confidence (but not their cabinet), unlike a prime minister. There is generally no prime minister, although if one exists, in most cases they serve purely at the discretion of the president. It is particularly noteworthy that all three long-lasting semi-constitutional monarchies are characterised by their extreme smallness. In the present contribution, I have made use of V-dems dataset. However, as Corbett et al. First, since powerful hereditary heads of states do not sit well with democratic principles it is natural to consider systems with powerful monarchs as anomalies, which are likely to occur especially in countries which experience a transition from autocratic monarchical rule to democracy. In Monaco, the powers of the Prince are even greater. In the subsequent years, King Constantine appointed a number of governments, all of which lasted for short periods of time. Generally, they have existed for short periods of time in former monarchies immediately after the countries in question have surpassed the threshold of democracy, for . Permission will be required if your reuse is not covered by the terms of the License. How the Constitutional Monarchy Works. Finally, I account for the ability of the monarch to dissolve the legislature, which is a power that affects the legislative sphere directly and the executive sphere indirectly (e.g. e HOG removal by other in practice (C) (v2exrmhgnp). In the V-dem dataset, the Belgian monarch is considered to have had a strong position with regard to government formation during the year 1918, the same year Belgium was liberated from German occupation. However, with the election of 1917, power shifted from the king to the prime minister when the King accepted to appoint a government which enjoyed the support of a parliamentary majority. (Citation2017) argue, is linked to two features that are likely to make monarchies persist in democratic settings, institutional fidelity and personalisation (see also Jugl, Citation2020, p. 287). For the purpose of the present study, it would, for instance, have been particularly useful to also account for to what extent the monarch is in control of foreign policy. Although this network monarchy has been challenged, in particular by prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted of power in a military coup, in 2006, it is evident that the concept is still highly relevant for describing the Thai form of governance. The following countries have presidential systems where a post of prime minister (official title may vary) exists alongside that of the president. Among 26 current monarchy countries in the world, there are as many as 10 dynasties from Europe to the Middle East who control a net . The powers of the monarch have been constitutionally weak ever since the country became independent in 1966. The next step is to assess to what extent power dimensions are cumulated in the units of analysis. Yet, the question how much powers monarchs possess has not aroused a great deal of interest among political scientists. If the head of state took actions to dissolve the legislature, would he/she be likely to succeed? (Yes = responses 2 or 3). A crowned republic, also known as a monarchial republic, is an informal term that has been used to refer to a system of monarchy where the monarch's role may be seen as almost entirely ceremonial and where nearly all of the royal prerogatives are exercised in such a way that the monarch personally has little power over . Establishing cut-off points along the power scale is highly problematic and, to a certain extent, arbitrary. Thailand changed from traditional absolute monarchy into a constitutional one in 1932, while Bhutan changed in 2008. In 1922, Benito Mussolini became prime minister and the short democratic period ended. Moreover, the V-dem country experts consider him to have had powers to remove the prime minister during 20132016, a period during which the main parties had difficulties in securing a majority in parliament. In addition, I include powers over domestic policy (DPP), referring to question 6 and dissolution powers (DP), referring to question 7 in the analysis. Bhutan 201417, Greece 18641914, 5566, Laos 195458, Liechtenstein 19212017, Luxembourg 190039, 442008, Monaco 19622017, Nepal 19912001, Netherlands 1945, Spain 1977, Sweden 191116, Thailand 1975, 8390, 922005, 201113, Yugoslavia 19211928. I then proceed by identifying the cases where the monarch has been powerful on the nine power dimensions of the V-dem dataset. These cases, however, refer to exceptional periods in the history of the countries. To some extent, the two strategies overlap and merely reflect differences in degree rather than in kind. The other plausible explanation for powerful monarchs in democracies is size. Sweden, again, passed the threshold of democracy in 1911, when universal male suffrage was introduced. Bhutan 201416, Greece 1874, 195566, Liechtenstein 19212017, Luxembourg 1944, Monaco 19622017, Sweden 191116, Thailand 1975, 8390, 922005, 201113, Yugoslavia 192128. Since the monarch presumably can be expected to be reluctant to give up his or her powers, a handy compromise in a democratising country would be to let the monarch continue to exercise influence along with the prime minister rather than to abruptly strip him or her of all powers. (Citation2013), Luxembourg is classified as a democratic country since 1890. Several states that are constitutional republics are in practice ruled as authoritarian states. Also, combining all the rest of the dimensions makes little sense, since many of the questions from the V-dem dataset overlap, especially with reference to the powers in the executive sphere. By closing this message, you are consenting to our use of cookies. The second option was to combine monarchical powers with democracy, or, in Huntingtons (Citation1968, p. 180) words, to institutionalize competitive coexistence in the polity of two independent sources of power. Collective presidency consisting of three members; one for each major ethnic group. Second, since a monarch in a semi-constitutional monarchy lacks democratic legitimacy (in contrast to a president in a semi-presidential system) very powerful monarchs are, by definition, not possible within democratic contexts, and the threshold must consequently be situated at low levels of the power-scale. However, Huntington was very pessimistic regarding the long-term prospects for power-sharing between monarchic rule and party government; [t]he pressures in such a system are either for the monarch to become only a symbol or for him to attempt to limit the expansion of the political system (Huntington, Citation1968, pp. Indeed, the majority of the Bhutanese population was, in fact, against the reforms (e.g. States in which the national government shares power with regional governments with which it has legal or constitutional parity. Here, I have chosen to apply a generous criterion for inclusion in the category semi-constitutional monarchies. For these countries, classifications have been made by the author for the time periods for which data is lacking (Liechtenstein 18661990, Monaco 18621993). 5758). The countries are included in the present study but their classifications along the nine power dimensions are based on other sources.Footnote3 Table 1 gives an overview of the population of cases. . Does the head of state (HOS) have more relative power than the head of government (HOG) over the appointment and dismissal of cabinet ministers? Strong monarch = 0.5 or 1. c HOS dismisses ministers in practice (C) (v2exdfdmhs, *_osp, *_ord). Permission is granted subject to the terms of the License under which the work was published. In Norway, again, article 3 of the constitution still proclaims that [t]he executive powers is vested in the King and article 12 that [t]he King himself chooses a Council', i.e. The second category consists of similar cases in which democracy did not consolidate, and the country returned to autocracy. However, it is evident that the V-dem experts have interpreted this question loosely, and included many countries where the monarch is not involved in choosing the prime minister, but only makes the final, formal, appointment. [note 12]. Particularly the death of the monarch provides a good opportunity to strip the monarch of his or her powers (see also Huntington, Citation1968, 180). After the end of the German occupation, the country was ruled by a caretaker government, appointed by the monarch and functional for a short period, when the parliament had not yet become functional after the occupation. When identifying semi-constitutional monarchic systems the task of separating democracies from autocracies is therefore crucial. The head of state is ordinarily called a president and (in full parliamentary republics) is separate from the head of government, serving a largely apolitical, ceremonial role. Table 4. [online] Retrieved February 10, 2019, from, Hellenic Parliament. However, based on our theoretical proposition we would expect that the crucial differences are the ones that exist between very small entities and larger ones. Before Franco died in 1975, he had appointed the then Prince Juan Carlos as his successor. Semi-constitutional monarchies exhibit fewer parliamentary powers or simply monarchs with more authority. Greece was then ruled as a semi-constitutional monarchy until the military coup in 1967. The state does not have a coronation. Whereas, the relationship between presidents and prime ministers has been widely discussed in the literature on semi-presidentialism (e.g. The parliament has always been dominated by one party (although not always the same), which has been loyal to the monarch. In some cases, the prime minister is also leader of the legislature, while in other cases the executive branch is clearly separated from legislature (although the entire cabinet or individual ministers must step down in the case of a vote of no confidence). 180181) prediction. Register to receive personalised research and resources by email. h HOS veto power in practice (C) (v2exdfvths, *_osp, *_ord) (yes = responses 2, 3, 4). In semi-constitutional monarchies, however, the monarch retains power that is analogous to the power of a president in a republican system. In the long run, the monarch faced a zero-sum game; either try to retain his or her powers as an absolute monarch or be stripped of all powers and, at best, continue as a ceremonial head of state of a democracy. Nevertheless, there are many examples of political systems, classified as democracies by most reputable categorizations or indices, where the monarch has, or has had, more or less the same position as a president in semi-presidential systems. Bhutan 200917, Greece 18641914, 1935, 5066, Liechtenstein 19212017, Lesotho 200216, Luxembourg 190039, Monaco 19622017, Spain 1977, Thailand 1975, 8390, 922005, 201113, Belgium 190013, 191939, 4458, 602017, Denmark 19012017, Japan 19522017, Lesotho 2017, Netherlands 18881939, 19462017, Norway 190939, 19452017, Spain 19782017, Sweden 19182017, United Kingdom 18852017, Bhutan 200917, Liechtenstein 19212017, Luxembourg 19002017, Greece 18641914, Italy 191921, Nepal 19912001, Thailand 1975, 8390, 922005, 1113, Yugoslavia 192128. Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine. The first one is made up of countries where the monarch has inherited at least some of his or her powers when the country transited from autocracy to democracy, after which democracy has become consolidated. Bhutan 201416, Greece 1874, 19551966, Liechtenstein 1921-2017, Monaco 19622017, Thailand 1975, 198390, 19922005, 201113. By institutional fidelity they refer to the fact that the birth and existence of small states are linked to actions taken by monarchs at crucial moments in history, which means that there is a tendency to consider the monarchy an essential component of the identity of the state (Corbett et al., Citation2017). V-dem dataset. In a constitutional monarchy, a king or queen is the official head of state.However, their powers are limited by a constitution and they usually do not have much real power, as the legislative branch is the primary governing body. g HOS dissolution in practice (C) (v2exdfdshs, *_osp, *_ord). In a directorial system, a council jointly exercise the powers and ceremonial roles of both the head of state and head of government. The introduction of a republic form of government in 1974 constitutes an example of a case where the monarch gradually loses his legitimacy among the population by stretching his constitutional prerogatives to its limit. A constitutional monarchy is a form of monarchy. The study is global and encompasses the time period 18002017. (Citation2017), we reach the conclusion that small size appears to be very important for explaining why powerful monarchs persist in democracies. First, whereas there is already a quite extensive literature on executive power sharing between presidents and prime ministers, similar studies regarding the power-sharing arrangements between monarchs and prime ministers are, with very few exceptions, conspicuous by their absence. Whereas Greece has switched between republic and monarchic forms of governments, Thailand has remained a monarchy, but oscillated between democracy and military rule. Although the dataset is useful for cross-country studies, it certainly has its limitations. A monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged in an individual, who is the head of state, often for life or until abdication. If we disregard the exceptional cases of Belgium and the Netherlands dealt with above, Greece is the only country where the powers of the monarch have not been directly inherited from the pre-democratic period. However, since this designation shall be in accordance with the customary law of Lesotho (art. On a general level, there is very strong support for the assumptions laid out in the theoretical part of the study. 1 The basic strategy has been to compare Freedom Houses scores with Boix, Miller and Rosatos classifications during the period 20122015 and thereafter check if Freedom Houses scores have changed during the years 20162017. The result is that monarchs are not remote or distant figures, thus undermining the potential for the regime to become a symbol of oppression. The council is elected by the parliament, but it is not subject to parliamentary confidence during its fixed term. His current research focuses on regime classifications and regime transitions. The constitution allocates the rest of the government's power to the legislature and judiciary. (Citation2013; Citation2018), who make use of a dichotomous qualitative scale, classifying more than 200 countries as either democracies or autocracies on a yearly basis for the time period 18002015. Based on a study of Bhutan, Liechtenstein, and Tonga, Corbett et al., Citation2017 (pp. One important difference between Liechtenstein and Monaco is that the principle of parliamentarism is not recognised in the Monegasque constitution (Grinda, Citation2007, p. 76, 88). These regimes lack a constitutional basis. Regarding the other dimension of interest, I apply six categories. Monarch in control over domestic policy, Bhutan 200917, Greece 18641914, 1935, 195066, Lesotho 200216, Liechtenstein 19212017, Luxembourg 190039, Monaco 19622017, Spain 1977, Thailand 1975, 198390, 922005, 201113, Bhutan 201316, Greece 1874, 194666, Italy 191921, Liechtenstein 19212017, Luxembourg 1944, Monaco 19622017, Sweden 191116, Thailand 1975, 198390, 922005, 201113, Tonga 20122017, Yugoslavia 192128, Bhutan 200916, Greece 18641910, Italy 191921, Laos 195458, Liechtenstein 19212017, Luxembourg 190039, 442008, Monaco 19622017, Nepal 19912001, Netherlands 1945, Spain 1977, Thailand 1975, 19831990, 922005, 201113, Tonga 20122017, Yugoslavia 19211928, Bhutan 200917, Greece 18641914, 1935, 194666, Italy 191921, Laos 195458, Liechtenstein 19212017, Monaco 19622017, Nepal 200001, Norway 190508, Sweden 191116, Yugoslavia 192128. The dataset does not contain extensive information on regime characteristics for the European miniature states Liechtenstein and Monaco. The powers of the monarchs are measured with reference to nine questions in the V-dem dataset. In reality, however, the Norwegian monarch has not had any influence in the government formation process since 1928 (Narud & Strm, Citation2000, p. 172). (Citation2017, p. 691). Carsten Anckar is professor of political science (comparative politics) at Abo Akademi University, Finland. In 1967, the military coup ended the monarchy and when Greece returned to democracy in 1974 it adopted a republican parliamentary system in which the president effectively had very few powers. However, he is limited in some small respect, perhaps by a pro-monarchist constitution. The monarchs of Liechtenstein and Monaco still possess extensive powers. Based on the definition by Corbett et al. States that have a system of government that is in transition or turmoil. I then proceed by excluding republics and independent countries ruled by the monarch of another country. In Lesotho, the college of chiefs determine who will be the next person in line for succession as monarch. The main reason for Kondylis support of the return of the monarchy was apparently strategic; his ambition was to follow the example of Benito Mussolini, and merely retain the monarchy as a means of legitimising his actions. Although monarchy is a system of government with a single sovereign, monarchy took . Monarchical reign has often been linked with military authority. This leaves us with 16 possible power combinations, presented in Table 3. Semi-constitutional monarchies with a ceremonial monarch, but where royalty still hold significant executive or legislative power Absolute monarchies where the monarch leads the executive One-party states (in principle republics) Countries where constitutional provisions for government have been suspended In Greece, the monarchy was restored in 1935, after a referendum installed (and probably heavily rigged) by Prime minister and General Georgios Kondylis. Registered in England & Wales No. I also include a question measuring the influence of the monarch over domestic policy. Type of monarchy. The long reign of King Bhumibol also meant that he could gradually consolidate his position as Pater Patriae. To some extent, all semi-constitutional monarchies operate in a gray area between autocracy and democracy. one: to protect their independence, constitutional monarchs are in many jurisdictions forbidden by law or custom from making public comments that could be interpreted as politically controversial. This finding alone, lays good ground for further research in the field. Second, physical factors have generally played a surprisingly subordinate role in comparative politics. Register a free Taylor & Francis Online account today to boost your research and gain these benefits: Constitutional monarchies and semi-constitutional monarchies: a global historical study, 18002017, Department of Political Science, Abo Akademi University, Turku, Finland, A structured review of semi-presidential studies: Debates, results, and missing pieces, Classifying political regimes 18002016: A typology and a new dataset, A complete data set of political regimes 18002007, Why monarchy persists in small states: The cases of Tonga, Bhutan and Liechtenstein, Digithque dematriaux juridiques et politiques. Systems in which a prime minister is the active head of the executive branch of government. This cut-off point makes sense for two reasons. However, their monarchs still rule the country according to a democratic constitution and in concert with other institutions. 2 The motivation for choosing 0.4 as a cut-off point is to make sure that no relevant case is left out from the study. The third strategy available for the monarch was to try to maintain his or her power, for instance by allowing persons with a middle-class background to receive high positions in the government, by fighting modernisation or by intensifying repression. A monarchy is a kind of government where the leader of a group, usually a family, inherits leadership by birth and rules a state or a polity for the entirety of his/her life or until abdication. Unlike in Sweden and Spain, where the monarch retained some powers during a transitional phase as democracy consolidated, the Yugoslavian monarch gradually increased his powers, and in 1929, he abolished the constitution and concentrated powers into his own hands, thus returning Yugoslavia to the category of autocratic systems. Although the current constitution still formally grants the Grand Duke a leading role in the executive sphere and the power to appoint and dismiss members of the government as well as the power to dissolve the legislature at will, the monarch of Luxembourg possesses significantly less powers in practise. Constitutional provisions for government are suspended in these states; constitutional forms of government are stated in parentheses. The fact that the monarch generally has exercised influence from behind the scenes is another important factor for the stability of the monarchy, as it has meant that he has not been accountable for unpopular decisions. When measuring monarchical powers it is therefore advisable to rely on political practice rather than constitutions. berg & Sedelius, Citation2018; Brunlc & Kubt, Citation2019; Cheibub et al., Citation2010; Duverger, Citation1980; Elgie, Citation1999; Sartori, Citation1997; Schleiter & Morgan-Jones, Citation2009), the issue of executive power sharing in democratic monarchies has been more or less completely neglected. However, the relationship between the king and the prime ministers has been conflict-ridden in the past. Monarchy countries Image: unsplash.com Source: UGC. [30] They may or may not also hold a seat in the legislature. The results show that there are five countries where the monarch has been powerful on all four dimensions: Bhutan, Greece, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Veenendaal (Citation2013, p. 58) notes that [i]n both countries, executive and judicial power is traditionally located in the hands of the Prince, who delegates this power to selfappointed government ministers and judges. The results also showed, that while semi-constitutional monarchic forms of government tend to emerge in rather similar settings and under similar circumstances (i.e. The constitution adopted the same year gave King Alexander I extensive powers. Corbett et al. a HOS appoints cabinet in practice (C) (v2exdfcbhs, *_osp, *_ord). In practice, does the head of state have the power to appoint or is the approval of the head of state necessary for the appointment of cabinet ministers? Yes= Responses 3 or 4. b Relative power of the HOS (D) (v2ex_hosw). [21] The term "parliamentary monarchy" may be used to differentiate from semi-constitutional monarchies. For the next four decades, Thailand was ruled by the military, a period that ended when Thailand surpassed the threshold for democracy in 1974. Finally, the monarchs of Belgium and Netherlands have possessed powers for very short periods of time. The monarch acts as both head of state and head of government. In this tradition, the king is believed to be meritorious, meaning that he is in possession of vast reservoirs of merit accumulated in past lives, which can be translated into the improvement of this-worldly conditions of those who are linked with them (Keyes, Citation1977, p. 288). 177191) launched the expression the kings dilemma in order to describe the challenges monarchs faced when trying to reconcile monarchic rule with strives for modernisation. In Liechtenstein the Prince Regnant appoints the government, which must enjoy the confidence of both the legislature and the Prince Regnant. Monarchy can be categorised into many types in this modern era: semi-constitutional monarchy, absolute monarchy, commonwealth realms, and subnational monarchy. All countries where the monarch has been in position of powers in any of the four dimensions listed in Table 3 are included. It is notable that the constitution did not even contain a provision that the government must enjoy the confidence of parliament, although the principle was accepted implicitly (Caciagli, Citation2010, pp. from 1994) and Freedom House has classified the country as free since 1993. After a short power struggle with holdovers from the Franco regime, democratic elections were held in 1977, and during this year, the monarch possessed considerable powers. The president chooses a prime minister and cabinet from the parliament with approval from the parliament, however only the parliament may remove them from office with a vote of no confidence. Lesotho, again, meets the criteria of democracy since 2002. In general, the evidence supports Huntingtons argument in the sense that powerful monarchs have not been long-lived in democracies. It can be readily assumed that the issue of how the powers of the monarch in relation to the prime minister should be measured will be crucial in future research efforts. This restoration of the monarchy is best explained from a political actor perspective. In Nepal, the democratic constitution of 1990 was adopted reluctantly by King Birendra, after it had become apparent that he would otherwise have faced a rebellion (Nepal et al., Citation2011, p. 887). One question for Semi Constitutional/Absolute Monarchists from non monarchy countries. In the present study, countries must be democratic in order to qualify as semi-constitutional monarchies. Absolute monarchies are systems where the monarch, the hereditary ruler, possesses powers to such an extent that the countries in question do not qualify as democracies. The most obvious example of this shortcoming concerns the link between size and democracy. 45 of the constitution) and the kings have come from the same family during the countrys independence, Lesotho is classified as a monarchy. Since the coding is based on expert surveys among a large number of country experts it is evident that the coding criteria can vary substantially between the experts (e.g. To request a reprint or commercial or derivative permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below. Kanchoochat and Hewison (Citation2016, p. 377), for instance, maintain that the groups[making up] the network monarchy were energised by the rise of Thaksin and became united in opposition to pro-Thaksin governments. The categorisation is based on (Anckar & Fredriksson, Citation2019 and the V-dem dataset). In the population Bhutan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Lesotho, Spain, Sweden, and Tonga fully conform to such a pattern. The authors define as semi-constitutional monarchies 'systems in which the actions of monarchs are circumscribed by a constitution, but in which monarchs, as independent and autonomous political actors, nonetheless have the capacity to exert a large measure of political influence' Corbett et al. In addition, the dataset does not account for all possible power prerogatives. The issue of executive power sharing in democratic countries with a monarch as head of state has received little scholarly attention. Italy turned to democratic rule in 1919. During his reign, it appears as the monarch has strengthened his powers, a fact which became apparent at the latest in August 2017, when the King dissolved the legislature, thereby indirectly dismissing the prime minister. Other constitutional monarchies include Belgium, Cambodia, Jordan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Thailand.
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