Types of Monarchy in the Current World

A hundred years ago, the world’s geopolitical order was kept in the hand of colonisers under the banner of different kingdoms and monarchies. However, time-shifted towards different motions, democracy prevailed over monarchies in most parts of the world today. Despite the change of time and order in society, economy, and politics, forty-three monarchies still exist across the continents. The following article discusses the types of monarchy and their forms and functions in present-day contexts.

Types of Monarchy

Monarchies in the world are mainly distinguished by two primary characteristics. The absolute monarchy, the classic form of ruling a state or nation by a queen or king, holds unquestionable supreme power to rule.  Second are the limited monarchies, in which the power of the monarchy is limited by the people’s representatives in parliament, the Government, or the Constitution. These limited states of monarchies are characterised differently, such as constitutional monarchy,  mixed monarchy and federal monarchy. This article discusses all those types of monarchy and their characteristics below. 

Absolute Monarchy in the World

Presently there are seven states in the world in which the head of the state holds the supreme power to rule, such as Brunei, Eswatini, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Vatican City, and the United Arab Emirates. 

Afghanistan and the Vatican city are ruled by the elected ruler. Vatican City is ruled by the Pope as its absolute ruler, but he is elected by the body of members. Interestingly a pope can be elected from a different country other than Vatican city. Pope Francis is the current sovereign of the Vatican City, but he is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. On another side of the globe, Emir Hibatullah Akhundzada is the current de facto ruler of present-day Afghanistan. He captured the power of the state by toppling down the previous Afghan government in 2021 by Taliban forces.

Where the rest of the fives states’ monarchies are hereditary, they obtained power by their lineage. The United States of Arab emirates itself is a federation of seven different emirates or monarchy states.

Limited Monarchies in the World

Constitutional monarchy is the most popular form of monarchy in the contemporary world. Meanwhile, there are examples of federal and mixed monarchies in the recent list of monarchy countries 2021 and 22. 

Constitutional Monarchy

In the constitutional monarchy system, Queens and Kings are officially the head of the state, but their administrative and political power is limited within the frame of the constitution.  Monarchs mostly play ceremonial roles as head of the state on different occasions in their tenure. The biggest example of a constitutional monarchy is the commonwealth realm. Queen Elizabeth II is currently head of fifteen different independent states of the commonwealth realm. 

The Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state with different independent states that came under one integral part of the sovereign system to remark the legacy of the British empire all over the world. Commonwealth nations are independent, but they still consider Queen Elizabeth their Queen ‘by the grace of god’ and head of the state. Like the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, etc. But does not hold any actual political power as head of the state. Rather her role is limited to ceremonies, official titles and honorariums decided by the constitution, government, or an agreement. 

Apart from the Commonwealth state, a few constitutional monarchies still exist in different countries. The Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Netherlands, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Japan, the Kingdom of Bhutan, and the Kingdom of Thailand and their monarchs enjoy restricted power, mostly limited to ceremonies, official events, and tours. 

Mixed Monarchy

A mixed monarchy state is not a totally autocratic or entirely democratic state. The power hangs between two types of government bodies. Liechtenstein and Monaco are prime examples of mixed monarchies. The monarch holds substantial power in the political and administrative system in those countries. 

In Liechtenstein, the prince has the power to veto any law that parliament proposes and another way around. This right is secured by the 2003 constitutional referendum. Even the prince has the right to appoint or dismiss any elective member or government official. However, people have the power to call a referendum to end the prince’s reign. In Monaco, the prince of Monaco enjoys and plays similar kinds of roles. He has the power to select judges, ministers, and members of governing councils. However, he has no power to hire or dismiss any officials like the prince of Liechtenstein.

Federal Monarchy

In the federal system, the different states or territories have the right to apply localised rules and regulations for the state independently. In most federal structures, there is a central body of government, which unites other different states within a centralised rule. But state governments do enjoy individual systems to regulate their power in their states. In a federal monarchy, these individual states address their monarchs as their heads of the state. Malaysia has a federal monarchy. 

Conclusion

Freedom of expression, freedom of practising religion, and freedom of the press are barred in countries that practice monarchy. Now it is intriguing to see in this time of rapid globalisation how long these different types of monarchy find themselves fit in a system to rule absolute supremacy.