CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY

HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS

The institution of monarchy is as old as recorded history. In the past the power of the monarch was absolute and unlimited. Within the system of government known as absolute monarchy, the ruler does not exercise his power according to any law because as the bearer of sovereignty his wishes are the rules. But in 1215 the king of England, John without Land, had to grant the guaranty of English liberties to the Lords and to the bourgeoisie in the Carta Magna, so making a limitation to his power. In 1688 the Glorious Revolution of Great Britain led their system to a constitutional monarchy restricted by laws such as the Bill of Rights, 1689, and the Act of Settlement, 1702.

Constitutional Monarchy occurred in continental Europe after the French Revolution when General Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed himself as embodiment of the nation, rather than as a divinely-appointed ruler. For those years, the Montesquieu’s thesis about the division of the power was determining the political structures of Europe and the new world; for that reason Emperor Napoleon was a new type of monarch.
As originally conceived, a constitutional monarch was quite a powerful figure, the head of the executive branch even though his or her power was limited by the constitution and the elected parliament. So the monarch was not the sole source of the political power any more.

MODERN CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY

A constitutional monarchy is a form of government where the hereditary monarch is the Head of State and has the attributions given by the constitution, whereas the Prime Minister is the Head of Government according to the parliamentarian system. Depending of the country that has a constitutional monarchy, the Head of State can be a king, a queen, a grand duke, an emperor, a prince, a sultan or some other person with a traditional title of nobility. The Head of Government, who holds the day to day powers of the country’s administration, is the most voted parliamentarian who, depending of the country, can be a Prime Minister as in United Kingdom or a President of the Government as in Spain.

In this system the monarchs are primarily titular heads of state and do not in fact possess important powers of government, they reign but do not rule. A constitutional monarch can act only on advice of the ministers and as the head of state he can stand above the political controversies of the moment. When a monarch does act, political controversy can often ensue, partially because the neutrality of the crown is seen to be compromised in favor of a partisan. His most important function is to serve as an object of national pride and loyalty and a symbol of the nation’s unity. For example Queen Elizabeth II, reign the United Kingdom and the 16 commonwealth realms under her. In the specific case of the UK, she is the Head of State and Prime Minister Gordon Brown is the Head of Government, who holds his office by virtue of the fact that his party commands the support of a majority in the popularly elected House of Commons.

In present terms, the difference between a parliamentary democracy that is a constitutional monarchy, and the republics, is considered more a difference of detail than of substance, particularly in the common case in which the head of state serves the traditional role of embodying and representing the nation and the real administrator who governs the country is the politician that gets to be the Head of Government.

CURRENT EXAMPLES

Some countries with constitutional monarchies are: United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zeeland, Norway, Spain, Luxembourg, Sweden and Thailand.

Countries that have a stronger constitutional monarchy with high political participation of the monarch are: Monaco and Andorra.

Nations where the monarch exercises real powers of government are: Jordan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.