semi constitutional monarchy countries
To begin with, I exclude the power to appoint the prime minister from further analysis for the reason outlined above. Despite being a semi-constitutional monarchy, its citizens enjoy a margin of freedom that those in other Gulf countries do not. I have chosen to also include countries with scores equalling or exceeding 0.4 on the scale.Footnote2 Regarding the few countries not included in the V-dem dataset, they have been included in the study if they are classified as free by Freedom House. Particularly the death of the monarch provides a good opportunity to strip the monarch of his or her powers (see also Huntington, Citation1968, 180). The prime minister is the nation's active executive, but the monarch still has considerable political powers that can be used at their own discretion. Note: EP=Executive powers; LP=Legislative powers; DPP=Domestic policy powers; DP=Dissolution powers. Still, with regard to the other prerogatives, the cells are far from empty. e HOG removal by other in practice (C) (v2exrmhgnp). The president is still both the head of state and government and the prime minister's roles are mostly to assist the president. The period 1688 to 1914 is bookmarked by a period of stagnation in the semi-absolutist Stuart period, and decline in the Windsor period. The present work has pinpointed the need to put more focus on two largely overlooked research areas in political science. 699700). Thresholds within the size category are, to some extent, always arbitrary. 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. Most of the monarchies that exist in the world today are limited monarchies. States in which political power is by law concentrated within one political party whose operations are largely fused with the government hierarchy (as opposed to states where the law establishes a multi-party system but this fusion is achieved anyway through electoral fraud or simple inertia). Quintino, Citation2018; Sinpeng, Citation2007). Bhutan 201416, Greece 1874, 195566, Liechtenstein 19212017, Luxembourg 1944, Monaco 19622017, Sweden 191116, Thailand 1975, 8390, 922005, 201113, Yugoslavia 192128. The constitution transformed Bhutan into a constitutional monarchy as the monarch gave up a significant part of his powers. 180181). 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. (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). 3099067 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. Constitutional provisions for government are suspended in these states; constitutional forms of government are stated in parentheses. Establishing cut-off points along the power scale is highly problematic and, to a certain extent, arbitrary. [21] The term "parliamentary monarchy" may be used to differentiate from semi-constitutional monarchies. Following Corbett et al. 4 Sometimes it is not easy to draw the line between inheritance and elections. 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. In the new constitution, adopted in the same year, the powers of the monarch were reduced substantially. 180181) prediction. Whereas Greece has switched between republic and monarchic forms of governments, Thailand has remained a monarchy, but oscillated between democracy and military rule. The other plausible explanation for powerful monarchs in democracies is size. The death of King Bhumibol in 2016 has brought the question of monarchic powers to the fore in Thailand. V-dem dataset. Accordingly, we can expect that the time period during which a monarch is in possession of powers is limited, and that pressures for reducing the powers of the monarch will grow as democracy consolidates. However, the monarch continued to be an influential (although not dominant) actor in Laotian politics until the end of the monarchy in 1975, when the communists came to power. Although the dataset is useful for cross-country studies, it certainly has its limitations. Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab. The aim of the present study is to study to what extent the occurrence of semi-constitutional monarchies, i.e. 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. Country. This cut-off point makes sense for two reasons. 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. Corbett et al. V-dem database. The results of the present study has demonstrated that there is a strong relationship between population size and the stability of semi-constitutional monarchies. In a parliamentary republic, the head of government is selected or nominated by the legislature and is also accountable to it. Systems in which a prime minister is the active head of the executive branch of government. (Citation2017, p. 691). The king is deemed to have had considerable powers in domestic policy until 2016. Liechtenstein, a microstate landlocked between Austria and Switzerland, is a semi-constitutional monarchy, with a hereditary prince as its head of state. 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. Around the globe, there are also still a dozen countries which are absolute or semi-constitutional. In 1935, military strongman Georgios Kondylis forced Prime Minister Tsaldaris to resign and reinstalled the semi-constitutional monarchic system. During the Second World War, the king was in exile. At the same time, monarchies are not on the verge of extinction; currently there are approximately 30 democracies with a monarch as head of state and among authoritarian regimes, monarchies in particular have been shown to be very stable (e.g. For these countries, classifications have been made by the author for the time periods for which data is lacking (Liechtenstein 18661990, Monaco 18621993). (Citation2017) point out that smallness is likely to counteract the gloomy prospects for the monarch outlined in the kings dilemma. Bhutan 201417, Greece 18641914, 5566, Liechtenstein 19212017, Luxembourg 190039, Monaco 19622017, Spain 1977, Thailand 1975, 8390, 922005, 201113. However, three countries, all of which have powerful monarchs at the time of writing, contradict this rule. The majority of states in the world have a unitary system of government. 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. Altogether, 20 monarchies are classified as democracies during the time period 18002017 and the number of yearly observations amounts to 1,243.Footnote4. In the subsequent years, King Constantine appointed a number of governments, all of which lasted for short periods of time. The military junta abolished the monarchy in 1973, in an attempt to consolidate its position. 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. For the sake of parsimony, I restrict the analysis to four power dimensions. A second category is composed of somewhat larger countries, with a population ranging from 1 to 3 millions, whereas all other countries are considered large. 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. 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 issue of executive power sharing in democratic countries with a monarch as head of state has received little scholarly attention. The power struggle culminated in 1914, when King Gustav V publicly challenged Prime Minister Karl Staaff. Permission will be required if your reuse is not covered by the terms of the License. Semi-constitutional monarchies exhibit fewer parliamentary powers or simply monarchs with more authority. If several bodies were involved in the appointment process, select the one that exerted the most critical impact on the decision (Yes = 6, head of state). in 2015, would fall below the threshold of democracy in 2015: Albania, East Timor, El Salvador, Guyana, India, Mexico, Moldova, Nepal, and Solomon Islands. The are allowed to take sides politically but still bound by a constitution that limits what it can do with those unearthed political views. Britain became a constitutional monarchy under the Whigs. The president does not have the right to dismiss the prime minister or the cabinet. I then proceeded by testing the assumption that semi-constitutional monarchies would emerge primarily in countries which transit from autocratic monarchies to democracies and that small size was conducive for the survival of the regime type in question. Laos gained its independence in 1953 but the semi-constitutional monarchic constitution had been adopted several years earlier, namely in 1947, in close cooperation with French officials. In the second alternative, the monarch preserves a substantial part of his or her powers, but coexists with democratic institutions, and, very explicitly, with a prime minister who emerges from and/or is responsible to parliament. 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. In other words, it reflects a complete transformation of power, where the monarch is confined to the position as a ceremonial head of state. In full presidential systems, the president is both head of state and head of government. I understand that you are either fed up with the hopeless democratically elected leaders of your country or are under some other form of shitty government like a military dictatorship or an oligarch influenced country. 174225; Corbett et al., Citation2017, pp. Bhutan 201416, Greece 1874, 19551966, Liechtenstein 19212017, Luxembourg 1944, Monaco 19622017, Sweden 191116, Thailand 1975, 8390, 922005, 201113, Yugoslavia 192128. Monarchical powers in democracies. Although the constitution was parliamentary and the prime minister was the dominant political actor, the king continued to exercise significant influence in the executive field. Therefore, their statuses resemble more a president in parliamentary systems than a monarch in a hereditary monarchy. The categorisation is based on (Anckar & Fredriksson, Citation2019 and the V-dem dataset). However, since this designation shall be in accordance with the customary law of Lesotho (art. Theravada Buddhism is the dominant religion in Thailand. Quite to the contrary, there are many indications that the new king is eager to increase his powers (Mrieau, Citation2017). The meaning of CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY is a system of government in which a country is ruled by a king and queen whose power is limited by a constitution. One natural dividing line emerges impromptu, as there is a cluster consisting of the five miniature states Bhutan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, and Tonga. It is noteworthy that some scholars in the People's Republic of China claim that the country's system of government is a "semi-presidential system combining party and government in actual operation". 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 . It is somewhat difficult to assess the influence of the monarch in Thai politics. People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read. After the liberation of Greece, there was strong opposition towards the monarchy. Yet, the results of the present study show, that monarchs have possessed significant powers in a substantial part of the democratic countries with a monarch as head of state. (Citation2017), I therefore introduce an additional category labelled semi-constitutional monarchy. A monarchy which has its power limited by a constitution is called a constitutional monarchy. A constitutional monarchy is a form of monarchy. The second category consists of similar cases in which democracy did not consolidate, and the country returned to autocracy. 110111). Belarus, Gabon and Kazakhstan, where the prime minister is effectively the head of government and the president the head of state, are exceptions. ", "Semi-Presidentialism-Duverger's Concept A New Political System Model", "Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive and Mixed Authority Patterns", "Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive And Mixed Authority Patterns", "Semi-Presidentialism and Democratisation in Poland", " ", "Presidentialism, Parliamentarism and Semi-Presidentialism: Bringing Parties Back In", "Bulgaria's Constitution of 1991 with Amendments through 2015", "Croatia's Constitution of 1991 with Amendments through 2010", "Iceland's Constitution of 1944 with Amendments through 2013", "Ireland's Constitution of 1937 with Amendments through 2012", "San Marino: Freedom in the World 2021 Country Report", "Kiribati's Constitution of 1979 with Amendments through 1995", "South Africa's Constitution of 1996 with Amendments through 2012", "Micronesia (Federated States of)'s Constitution of 1978 with Amendments through 1990", "Europe:: Norway The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency", "Chad's President Idriss Dby dies 'in clashes with rebels', "Army colonel on Guinean TV says govt dissolved, borders shut", "Guinea coup attempt: Soldiers claim to seize power from Alpha Cond", "Mali president arrested: Mutiny leaders for Mali coup 2020 don close borders, impose curfew afta resignation of Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keta", "Myanmar Junta's Political Prisoners Since Coup Now Number 10,000", "Analysis: Year post-coup, cracks in Sudan's military junta", "EU: Provisional Taliban government does not fulfill promises", "Yemen president cedes powers to council as Saudi Arabia pushes to end war", Countries categorized by system of government in 20th century at Historical Atlas of 20th Century, A Chronology of political history based on Government form, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_countries_by_system_of_government&oldid=1152138156, No constitutionally-defined basis to current regime, Ministry is subject to parliamentary confidence, Presidency independent of legislature; ministry is subject to parliamentary confidence, Monarch personally exercises power in concert with other institutions, Presidency is elected by legislature; ministry may be, or not be, subject to parliamentary confidence, All authority vested in a committee of the nation's military leaders for the duration of a state of emergency; constitutional provisions for government are suspended, Power constitutionally linked to a single political movement, This page was last edited on 28 April 2023, at 12:54. Thus, by vesting powers into the hands of a loyal monarch the French most likely wanted to ensure that its influence in the country continued. As shown by Corbett et al. [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]. Democracies with a monarch as head of state 18002017. In addition, the dataset does not account for all possible power prerogatives. In the data set by Boix et al. 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. Commonly, monarchies are classified into absolute monarchies and constitutional monarchies, but since this classification essentially is based on the powers the monarch possesses, the difference between the categories is one of degree rather than kind. Kailitz, Citation2013; Magaloni, Citation2008). A new constitution was adopted in 1978, and from that year, the Spanish monarch no longer possesses any significant powers. The 1947 constitution stipulated that Laos was not to become fully independent but to remain within the French Union. When monarchies form the object of research, focusing exclusively on constitutional provisions is likely to aggrandise the powers of the monarch. The list is colour-coded according to the type of government, for example: blue represents a republic with an executive head of state, and red is a constitutional monarchy with a ceremonial head of state. Bhutan had been a hereditary monarchy since 1907 when the country enacted a new constitution in 2008. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy. 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. In reality, however, the Norwegian monarch has not had any influence in the government formation process since 1928 (Narud & Strm, Citation2000, p. 172). 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. [online] Retrieved May 30, 2016, from, Constitution-making in Bhutan: A complex and sui generis experience, Country size and the survival of authoritarian monarchies: Developing a new argument, Classifying political regimes revisited: Legitimation and durability, Introduction: Understanding Thailands politics, Millennialism, Theravada Buddhism, and Thai Society, Credible power-sharing and the longevity of authoritarian rule, Center for Systemic Peace, George Mason University, Network monarchy and legitimacy crises in Thailand, Seeking more power, Thailands new king is moving the country away from being a constitutional monarchy, More inequality, more killings: The Maoist insurgency in Nepal, Portugals semi-presidentialism (re)considered: An assessment of the presidents role in the policy process, 19762006, The Kingdom of Bhutan: A democracy by obligation, Review article: Citizens, presidents and assemblies: The study of semi-presidentialism beyond Duverger and Linz, Semi-presidential systems: Dual executive and mixed authority patterns, Democracy from above: Regime transition in the Kingdom of Bhutan, Different types of data and the validity of democracy measures. 10271028). 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. In general, the evidence supports Huntingtons argument in the sense that powerful monarchs have not been long-lived in democracies. In Greece, regime developments during the last 150 years have been a real roller-coaster ride. It provided for a democratic form of government albeit with a hereditary monarch with powers to chair cabinet meetings and considerable veto powers in the legislative sphere (Digithque dematriaux juridiques et politiques). King Juan Carlos, however, was determined to liberalise Spain. To begin with, some conceptual clarifications are needed. However, the relationship between the king and the prime ministers has been conflict-ridden in the past. We use cookies to improve your website experience. The unique symbiosis between the monarchy and the military has secured the position of the monarch, both in democratic and authoritarian eras. According to Huntington, there were three options available for a monarch confronted with this dilemma: transformation, coexistence, and maintenance. In many countries, the process of democratisation was slow, and the monarch was gradually divested of his or her powers. In mixed republican systems and directorial republican systems, the head of government also serves as head of state and is usually titled president. Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine. 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. Based on purely constitutional provisions it can, indeed, be questioned whether Monaco actually qualifies as democracy (e.g. His current research focuses on regime classifications and regime transitions. It is therefore essential to answer the questions why these systems anomalies and anachronisms emerge and persist. Every case listed under any of questions 14 is categorised as meeting the criterion of monarchic executive powers (EP), and every case listed under questions 8 or 9 is considered to fulfil the criterion of monarchic legislative powers (LP). When identifying semi-constitutional monarchic systems the task of separating democracies from autocracies is therefore crucial. The parliament has always been dominated by one party (although not always the same), which has been loyal to the monarch. In Lesotho, the college of chiefs determine who will be the next person in line for succession as monarch. 66109). 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. In Monaco, the powers of the Prince are even greater. Type of monarchy. I also include a question measuring the influence of the monarch over domestic policy. Registered in England & Wales No. Based on the V-dem dataset I identified seventeen countries that qualified as semi-constitutional monarchies during the last two centuries. A constitutional monarchy is different than an absolute monarchy because in absolute monarchies, the monarch is able . These systems bear more resemblance to semipresidential systems than to parliamentary ones and therefore the label semi constitutional monarchy is used to denote them.
