(Citation2017) point out that smallness is likely to counteract the gloomy prospects for the monarch outlined in the kings dilemma. In many countries, the process of democratisation was slow, and the monarch was gradually divested of his or her powers. In 1922, Benito Mussolini became prime minister and the short democratic period ended. The colour-coding also appears on the following map, representing the same government categories. On a general level, there is very strong support for the assumptions laid out in the theoretical part of the study. These are systems in which the head of state is a constitutional monarch; the existence of their office and their ability to exercise their authority is established and restrained by constitutional law. Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab. In Greece, the monarchy was restored in 1935, after a referendum installed (and probably heavily rigged) by Prime minister and General Georgios Kondylis. In essence, the more powers the monarch possesses, the less democratic the country. 45 of the constitution) and the kings have come from the same family during the countrys independence, Lesotho is classified as a monarchy. However, semi-constitutional monarchies do not always exist as a transitional phase during which democracy is introduced and subsequently consolidated. However, their monarchs still rule the country according to a democratic constitution and in concert with other institutions. In Thailand, the position of the monarch was very strong until the year 1932, when a coup was launched by a relatively small group consisting of both military personnel and civilians. The king is deemed to have had considerable powers in domestic policy until 2016. 180181). Muck like Italy and Yugoslavia, neither Laos nor Nepal conforms to a model where executive power is gradually transferred from the monarch to a government responsible to parliament, after which democracy becomes consolidated. However, since this designation shall be in accordance with the customary law of Lesotho (art. Yet, the question how much powers monarchs possess has not aroused a great deal of interest among political scientists. However, it is quite plausible that physical determinants in general and size in particular can play an important role in explaining regime choice and regime survival on a more general level and future studies are accordingly advised to fully explore such patterns. Table 1. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy. Finally, the monarchs of Belgium and Netherlands have possessed powers for very short periods of time. Register to receive personalised research and resources by email. The military junta abolished the monarchy in 1973, in an attempt to consolidate its position. 1914 qualify as a long-term semi-constitutional monarchy. In practice, Governor-Generals are chosen by the parliaments and/or prime ministers of the countries and often the persons chosen to this position are local politicians or dignitaries. The power struggle culminated in 1914, when King Gustav V publicly challenged Prime Minister Karl Staaff. [1] Under its constitution, the Chinese President is a largely ceremonial office with limited power. 110111). 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. Permission is granted subject to the terms of the License under which the work was published. 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. from 1994) and Freedom House has classified the country as free since 1993. Despite being a semi-constitutional monarchy, its citizens enjoy a margin of freedom that those in other Gulf countries do not. After the liberation of Greece, there was strong opposition towards the monarchy. These cases, however, refer to exceptional periods in the history of the countries. It is therefore essential to answer the questions why these systems anomalies and anachronisms emerge and persist. This finding alone, lays good ground for further research in the field. When identifying semi-constitutional monarchic systems the task of separating democracies from autocracies is therefore crucial. In practice, the difference between the categories largely follows the dividing line between democracies and autocracies. Bhutan 201316, Greece 1874, 195066, Liechtenstein 19212017, Monaco 19622017, Thailand 1975, 8390, 922005, 201113. 4 Sometimes it is not easy to draw the line between inheritance and elections. In the population Bhutan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Lesotho, Spain, Sweden, and Tonga fully conform to such a pattern. A constitutional monarchy is different than an absolute monarchy because in absolute monarchies, the monarch is able . During the Second World War, the king was in exile. Finally, three monarchies classified as democracies are not included in the V-dem dataset, namely Liechtenstein, Monaco and Tonga. rezzacci 10 mo. As shown by Corbett et al. 3 E.g. (Citation2017), we reach the conclusion that small size appears to be very important for explaining why powerful monarchs persist in democracies. To some extent, all semi-constitutional monarchies operate in a gray area between autocracy and democracy. However, within this category of countries the powers of the monarch can still vary, which makes it necessary to apply a further categorisation. 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. In some full parliamentary systems, the head of state is directly elected by voters. A federal absolute monarchy in which, different monarchies, or in this case, sheikhdoms fulfill both the duty of president and prime minister, although in actuality they are monarchs. Monarchy countries Image: unsplash.com Source: UGC. Among the remaining cases, the monarch has possessed powers in only one or two spheres. A state governed as a single power in which the central government is ultimately supreme and any administrative divisions (sub-national units) exercise only the powers that the central government chooses to delegate. Permission will be required if your reuse is not covered by the terms of the License. Democracies with a monarch as head of state 18002017. All countries where the monarch has been in position of powers in any of the four dimensions listed in Table 3 are included. 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. The powers of the monarchs are measured with reference to nine questions in the V-dem dataset. The results show that there are five countries where the monarch has been powerful on all four dimensions: Bhutan, Greece, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Based on the few studies that have been conducted in the field, there are two plausible explanations for why powerful monarchs occur in democratic settings. The third and fourth category refer to situations where the semi-constitutional monarchic form of government has emerged from an autocratic regime without a monarch as head of state, whereas the fifth and sixth categories describe situations where the semi-constitutional monarchic system has developed from another democratic form of government, and subsequently either democratised (the second last column) or not (the last column). In almost all cases where a monarch has held powers in a democracy, the powers of the monarch are directly inherited' from or related to the pre-democratic era. 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. Personalisation, again, stems from the assumption that relations between the people and the rulers become more intimate in small entities. Therefore, their statuses resemble more a president in parliamentary systems than a monarch in a hereditary monarchy. This is notably the case regarding the power to appoint the prime minister. 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. The second category consists of similar cases in which democracy did not consolidate, and the country returned to autocracy. In Monaco, the powers of the Prince are even greater. One natural dividing line emerges impromptu, as there is a cluster consisting of the five miniature states Bhutan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, and Tonga. Results are presented in Table 2 and they tell us that the number of cases and countries where a monarch possesses powers is surprisingly high. [6] This turbulent period paved the way for the military takeover in 1967. The following year the new king postponed the scheduled elections indefinitely and concentrated executive powers into his own hands, whereby Nepal returned to authoritarian rule. Such freedom can be seen in how Kuwaiti writers and thinkers speak their minds about the most important issues in their country and in the region. Constitutional monarchies and semi-const . https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2020.1824360, http://mjp.univ-perp.fr/constit/la1949.htm, http://www.hellenicparliament.gr/en/Vouli-ton-Ellinon/To-Politevma/Syntagmatiki-Istoria/, http://theconversation.com/seeking-more-power-thailands-new-king-is-moving-the-country-away-from-being-a-constitutional-monarchy-71637, https://doi.org/10.33167/2184-2078.RPCP2018.10/pp.65-76, Thailand 1975, 198390, 19922005, 201113, 2.Relative power of monarch equals or is stronger than power of PM, Belgium 1918, 1959, Liechtenstein 19212017, Luxembourg 1944, Monaco 19622017, Netherlands 1945, Sweden 191116, Yugoslavia 192128, Bhutan 2016, Greece 18641914, Laos 195458, Liechtenstein 19212017, Luxembourg 1944, Monaco 19622017, Nepal 19912001, Netherlands 1945, Sweden 191117, Thailand 1975, 198390, 922005, 201113, Yugoslavia 192128, Bhutan 201417, Greece 18641907, 191114, 195566, Laos 195458, Lesotho 201316, Liechtenstein 19212017, Luxembourg 190039, 442017, Monaco 19622017, Nepal 19912001, Spain 1977, Thailand 1975, 198390, 19922005, 201113, Yugoslavia 192128, Belgium 18941913, 191839, 19462017, Denmark 190142, 19452017, Greece 186499, 1935, 194666, Italy 191921, Japan 19522017, Luxembourg 190039, 19442017, Monaco 19622017, Nepal 19912001, Netherlands 18881939, 1945, Norway 190539, 19452017, Spain 19772017, Sweden 191175, United Kingdom 18852017, Yugoslavia 192128, 6. It has generally been pointed out that the case of Bhutan is unique in the sense that democratic reforms were voluntarily initiated by the king and not reluctantly, as a result of popular protests or demands. The present work has pinpointed the need to put more focus on two largely overlooked research areas in political science. The 1947 constitution stipulated that Laos was not to become fully independent but to remain within the French Union. 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). 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. However, already in 1936, Greece returned to authoritarian rule under Ioannix Metaxas and the country remained autocratically ruled until 1946, when parliamentary elections were held and the semi-constitutional monarchic system was effectively restored. democratic regimes in which power is shared between a prime minister and a monarch, can be explained by reference to Huntingtons notion of the Kings dilemma and the size of countries. 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. Consequently, democratic reforms could not take place until Tupou IV died in 2006 and was succeeded by Tupou V. A new constitution, which restricted the powers of the monarch, was adopted in 2010. After the fall of the military regime, voters approved the introduction of a republican form of government by a clear majority. Ever since, the country has hovered between democracy and autocracy. The president does not have the right to dismiss the prime minister or the cabinet. We use cookies to improve your website experience. a government led by a prime minister. People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read. [3], Certain states have been defined as having more than one system of government or a hybrid system for instance, Poland possesses a semi-presidential government where the President appoints the Prime Minister or can veto legislation passed by parliament, but its Constitution defines the country as a parliamentary republic and its ministry is subject to parliamentary confidence.[4][5][6][7][8][9]. In the present study, countries must be democratic in order to qualify as semi-constitutional monarchies. One question for Semi Constitutional/Absolute Monarchists from non monarchy countries. Bhutan 200917, Greece 18641914, 1935, 4666, Italy 191921, Laos 195458, Liechtenstein 19212017, Luxembourg 190039, 442008, Monaco 19622017, Nepal 19912001, Netherlands 1945, Norway 190508, Spain 1977, Sweden 191116, Tonga 201217, Thailand 1975, 8390, 922005, 201113, Yugoslavia 192128. 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. East and Southeast Asian constitutional monarchies. The democratic era of Laos ended in 1959, after the military forced Prime Minister Sananikone to resign. Table 3. 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. Britain became a constitutional monarchy under the Whigs. This depiction is somewhat qualified by authors who have pointed out that there was indeed some pressure for democratic reforms particularly from external actors (e.g. Patterns of emergence and consolidation of semi-constitutional monarchies 18002017. The head of a monarchy is called a monarch.It was a common form of government across the world during the ancient and medieval times.. The president is head of state and the prime minister is head of government, although the prime minister generally works under the discretion of the former more so than in a premier-presidential system. Jordan - Semi-Constitutional Monarchy Monarch: King Abdullah II Like Bahrain, Jordan has a king who has more power than a conventional constitutional monarch, but there is a government beneath him that also has the power to independently make decisions.
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