Constitutional monarchy: examples of countries. Countries with a constitutional monarchy: list. Modern monarchies of the world

Absolute monarchy is a form of government in which all executive, legislative, judicial and military power is concentrated in the hands of the monarch. In this case, the presence of parliament is possible, as well as holding elections to parliament by the residents of the country, but it is only an advisory body to the monarch and cannot go against him in any way.

In the world, in the strict sense, there are only six countries with an absolute monarchy. If we consider it more openly, then a dualistic monarchy can also be equated to an absolute one, and these are six more countries. Thus, there are twelve countries in the world in which power is somehow concentrated in one hand.

Surprisingly, in Europe (so loving to protect human rights and irritated by any dictators) there are already two such countries! But at the same time, it is necessary to distinguish between an absolute and a constitutional monarchy, since there are a lot of kingdoms and principalities in Europe, but most of them are a constitutional monarchy, in which the head of state is the chairman of parliament.

And so, here are these twelve countries with an absolute monarchy:

1. . A small state in the Middle East on the shores of the Persian Gulf. Dualistic monarchy, King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa since 2002.

2. (or Brunei for short). State in Southeast Asia on the island of Kalimantan. Absolute monarchy, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah since 1967.

3. . The city-state is located entirely in Rome. A theocratic monarchy, the country has been ruled by Pope Francis since 2013.

4. (full name: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan). Located in the Middle East. A dualist monarchy, the country has been ruled by King Abdullah II bin Hussein al-Hashimi since 1999.

5., a state in the Middle East, an absolute monarchy, the country has been ruled by Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani since 2013.

6. . State in the Middle East. A dualist monarchy, the country has been ruled by Emir Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah since 2006.

7. (full name: Grand Duchy of Luxembourg). The state is located in the center of Europe. Luxembourg is a dual monarchy and has been ruled by Grand Duke HRH Henri (Henry) since 2000.

8. (full name: Kingdom of Morocco) is a state located in the northwestern part of Africa. A dualist monarchy, the country has been ruled by King Mohammed VI bin al Hassan since 1999.

9. . A state in the Middle East, on the shores of the Persian Gulf. An absolute monarchy, the country has been ruled by President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan since 2004.

10. (full name: Sultanate of Oman). State on the Arabian Peninsula. An absolute monarchy, the country has been ruled by Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said since 1970.

eleven. . State in the Middle East. An absolute theocratic monarchy, the country has been ruled by King Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman al Saud since 2015.

12. . The state is located in southern Africa. A dual monarchy, the country has been ruled by King Mswati III since 1986.

Modern political science can give a complete description of any form of state (the structure of the political organization of society) based on the form of government, the form of state-territorial structure and the type of political regime.

Forms of government

A form of government is a way of organizing the supreme state power. There are two forms of government - monarchy and republic. Monarchy, in turn, can be of the following types:

• absolute (all executive, legislative and judicial powers are concentrated in the hands of the monarch);
• constitutional or parliamentary (the power of the monarch is limited by the constitution, the real executive and legislative power is in the hands of a parliament elected or formed by the people);
• dualistic (power is divided equally between the monarch and parliament);
• theocratic (power is in the hands of the spiritual leader who heads a particular denomination).

The republican form of government exists in such forms as

• presidential (power is concentrated in the hands of the elected president);
• parliamentary (the country is led by parliament or the prime minister; the president performs only representative functions);
• mixed (power is divided between parliament and the president).

Form of state-territorial structure

Forms of state-territorial structure are a way of interconnection and interaction of individual parts of the state, enshrined in the constitution. There are forms such as

• federation (a union of relatively independent entities subordinate to the political center in all important matters);
• unitary state (a single and indivisible state, consisting only of administrative units);
• confederation (a temporary union of states completely independent from each other).

Political regimes

A political regime is a set of methods and means of exercising state power. There are such types of political regimes as

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• democratic (power is in the hands of the people, civil rights and freedoms are both declared and actually work);
• undemocratic (power is in the hands of the ruling elite, a political minority, civil rights and freedoms are only declared, but do not work in practice).

A non-democratic political regime also has certain subtypes: authoritarian and totalitarian (the difference lies in the level of government control over society).

Most countries of Foreign Europe are republics of various types with democratic political regimes. The Republics of Foreign Europe are France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria.

But, despite this, there are a large number of countries in Foreign Europe with a monarchical form of government. How many are there?

Monarchies of Foreign Europe

Which states can be included in the list of “Monarchical countries of Foreign Europe”?

It can be represented as follows.

Fig.1 The ruling royal house of Windsor

The Vatican is not the only state with an elective theocratic absolute monarchy. The second state is Iran, where power was held for a long time by its spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini.

Thus, quite a large number of large European countries are monarchies. Their share is especially large in Northern Foreign Europe (if you look at their location on the map).

Rice. 2 Political map of Overseas Europe

Almost all modern dynasties are connected by blood ties. The royal house of Great Britain, the Windsors, are representatives of both the Saxon-Coburg - Gothic dynasty and the Glucksburg dynasty. The oldest uninterrupted dynasty is the princely house of Grimaldi. The throne has been passed down in a direct line from father to son for 700 years.

Fig.3 Head of the ruling house of Monaco - Prince Albert II Grimaldi

What have we learned?

Most of the monarchical countries of Foreign Europe are constitutional monarchies. This means that all legislative, executive and judicial powers are in the hands of parliament and the elected prime minister or chancellor. The monarch plays a representative role, although he can speak out on key issues of foreign and domestic policy. In some countries, such as Great Britain, the monarch is a significant figure in the political arena. Elizabeth II, the reigning queen, actively intervened in the activities of many prime ministers: Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and others.

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Note: KM is a constitutional monarchy;

AM – absolute monarchy;

ATM is an absolute theocratic monarchy.

Republican form of government originated in antiquity, but became most widespread during the periods of modern and recent history. In 1991, there were 127 republics in the world, but after the collapse of the USSR and Yugoslavia, their total number exceeded 140.

Under a republican system, legislative power usually belongs to parliament, and executive power to the government. At the same time, a distinction is made between presidential, parliamentary and mixed republics.

Presidential republic characterized by the significant role of the president in the system of government bodies, combining in his hands the powers of the head of state and head of government. It is also called a dualistic republic, thereby emphasizing the fact that strong executive power is concentrated in the hands of the president, and legislative power in the hands of parliament.

Distinctive features of this form of government:

· extra-parliamentary method of electing the president (either by the population - Brazil, France, or by the electoral college - USA),

· extra-parliamentary method of forming a government, that is, it is formed by the president. The president is both formally and legally the head of the government (there is no post of prime minister, as, for example, in the USA), or he appoints the head of government. The government is responsible only to the president, and not to parliament, since only the president can dismiss him,

· in general, with this form of government, the president has much greater powers compared to a parliamentary republic (he is the head of the executive branch, approves laws by signing, has the right to dismiss the government), but in a presidential republic the president, as a rule, is deprived of the right to dissolve parliament , and parliament is deprived of the right to express no confidence in the government, but can remove the president (impeachment procedure).

The United States of America is a classic presidential republic. The US Constitution is based on the principle of separation of powers. According to this constitution, legislative power belongs to Congress, executive power to the President, and judicial power to the Supreme Court. The president, elected by an electoral college, forms a government of persons belonging to his party.

Presidential republics are common in Latin American countries. This form of government is also found in some countries in Asia and Africa. True, sometimes in these countries the power of the head of state actually goes beyond the constitutional framework, and, in particular, Latin American presidential republics were characterized by researchers as super-presidential.

Parliamentary (parliamentary) republic characterized by the proclamation of the principle of the supremacy of parliament, to which the government bears full responsibility for its activities.

In such a republic, the government is formed through parliamentary means from among the deputies of the parties that have a majority of votes in parliament. It remains in power as long as it has the support of a parliamentary majority. This form of government exists in countries with developed, largely self-regulating economies (Italy, Turkey, Germany, Greece, Israel). Elections in this system of democracy are usually held according to party lists, that is, voters vote not for a candidate, but for a party.

The main function of parliament, in addition to legislation, is control over the government. In addition, the parliament has important financial powers, since it develops and adopts the state budget, determines the paths of the country's socio-economic development, and resolves the main issues of the state's domestic, foreign and defense policy.

The head of state in such republics, as a rule, is elected by parliament or a specially formed broader board, which, along with members of parliament, includes representatives of the constituent entities of the federation or representative regional bodies of self-government. This is the main type of parliamentary control over the executive branch.

In Italy, for example, the president of the republic is elected by members of both chambers at their joint meeting, but three representatives from each region, elected by regional councils, participate in the elections. In the Federal Republic of Germany, the President is elected by the Federal Assembly, consisting of members of the Bundestag and the same number of persons elected by the Landtags of the states on the basis of proportional representation. In parliamentary republics, elections can also be general, for example, in Austria, where the president is elected by the population for a term of 6 years.

Under this form of government they talk about a “weak” president. However, the head of state has fairly broad powers. He promulgates laws, issues decrees, has the right to dissolve parliament, formally appoints the head of government (only the head of the party that won the elections), is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and has the right to grant amnesty to convicts.

The President, being the head of state, is not the head of the executive branch, that is, the government. The prime minister is formally appointed by the president, but can only be the head of the faction with a parliamentary majority, and not necessarily the head of the winning party. It should be noted that the government is competent to govern the state only when it enjoys the confidence of parliament.

Mixed Republic(also called a semi-presidential, semi-parliamentary, presidential-parliamentary republic) is a form of government that cannot be considered a type of either a presidential or a parliamentary republic. Among the modern ones, the fifth republic in France (after 1962), Portugal, Armenia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Slovakia are mixed.

A special form of government - socialist republic (which arose in the 20th century in a number of countries as a result of the victory of socialist revolutions). Its varieties: Soviet republic and people's democratic republic (former USSR, countries of Eastern Europe before 1991, as well as China, Vietnam, North Korea, Cuba, which remain socialist republics today).

The republican form of government can be considered the most progressive and democratic. It was chosen not only by economically developed states, but also by most Latin American countries, which freed themselves from colonial dependence in the last century, and almost all former colonies in Asia, which gained independence in the middle of this century, as well as African states, most of which achieved independence only in the 60-70s of the XX century. and even later.

At the same time, it must be borne in mind that such a progressive form of government does not at all unify the republics. They differ quite significantly from each other in political, social and other respects.

It should be noted that there is a unique form of government - interstate associations: Commonwealth, led by Great Britain (Commonwealth) And Commonwealth of Independent States(CIS, which includes Russia).

Legally, the British Commonwealth of Nations was formalized back in 1931. Then it included Great Britain and its dominions - Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Newfoundland and Ireland. After the Second World War and the collapse of the British colonial empire, the Commonwealth included the vast majority of Britain's former possessions - about 50 countries with a total territory of more than 30 million km 2 and a population of over 1.2 billion people located in all parts of the world.

Members of the Commonwealth have the unconditional right to unilaterally withdraw from it whenever they wish. It was used by Myanmar (Burma), Ireland, and Pakistan. All states included in the Commonwealth have full sovereignty in their internal and external affairs.

In Commonwealth states that have a republican form of government, the Queen of Great Britain is proclaimed "the head of the Commonwealth... symbol of the free association of its independent member states." Some members of the Commonwealth - Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia (Australia), New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, Mauritius, Jamaica and some others - are officially referred to as “states within the Commonwealth”. Supreme power in these countries formally continues to belong to the British monarch, who is represented in them by the Governor-General, appointed on the recommendation of the government of the given state. The highest body of the Commonwealth is the Conference of Heads of Government.

In 1991, simultaneously with the signing of the Belovezhsky Accords on the dissolution of the USSR, it was decided to create Commonwealth of Independent States(Russia, Ukraine, Belarus). Subsequently, all the former republics of the USSR, except the three Baltic states, joined the CIS. Goals: to promote the integration of the CIS member countries in the economic, political and humanitarian fields, to maintain and develop contacts and cooperation between the peoples and state institutions of the Commonwealth countries. The CIS is an open organization for other countries to join. Over the years, subregional associations have emerged within the CIS: the Central Asian Economic Community (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, with Russia, Georgia, Turkey and Ukraine accepted as observers) and GUUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Moldova). In 1996, the Customs Union was created, uniting the economic space of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan (later Tajikistan joined them. In October 2000, the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) was formed on the basis of the customs union. They continue to form among the member countries CIS and military-political associations (for example, the Collective Security Treaty) In September 2008, after the conflict in South Ossetia, Georgia announced its desire to leave the commonwealth.

Form of government(administrative-territorial structure of states) is an important element of the political map of the world. It is directly related to the nature of the political system and the form of government, reflects the national-ethnic (in some cases also religious) composition of the population, and the historical and geographical features of the formation of the country.

There are two main forms of administrative-territorial structure - unitary and federal.

Unitary state - is a single integral state entity, consisting of administrative-territorial units that are subordinate to the central authorities and do not possess signs of state sovereignty. In a unitary state, there is usually a single legislative and executive power, a single system of government bodies, and a single constitution. There are an overwhelming majority of such states in the world.

Federation - a form of organization in which several state entities, legally possessing a certain political independence, form one union state.

Characteristic features of the federation:

The territory of the federation consists of the territories of its individual subjects (for example, states - in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, India, USA; provinces - in Argentina, Canada; cantons - in Switzerland; lands - in Germany and Austria; republics, as well as other administrative entities (autonomous okrugs, territories, regions - in Russia);

Federal subjects are usually given the right to adopt their own constitutions;

The competence between the federation and its subjects is delimited by the union constitution;

Each subject of the federation has its own legal and judicial systems;

In most federations there is a single union citizenship, as well as the citizenship of the union units;

A federation usually has unified armed forces and a federal budget.

In a number of federations, the union parliament has a chamber representing the interests of members of the federation.

However, in many modern federal states the role of general federal bodies is so great that they can essentially be considered unitary rather than federal states. Thus, the constitutions of such federations as Argentina, Canada, the USA, Germany, Switzerland do not recognize the right of members of the federation to leave it.

Federations are built on territorial (USA, Canada, Australia, etc.) and national characteristics (Russia, India, Nigeria, etc.), which largely determine the nature, content and structure of government.

Confederation - it is a temporary legal union of sovereign states created to ensure their common interests (members of the confederation retain their sovereign rights in both internal and external affairs). Confederate states are short-lived: they either disintegrate or turn into federations (examples: the Swiss Union, Austria-Hungary, as well as the USA, where a federation of states was formed from a confederation established in 1781, enshrined in the US Constitution of 1787).

Most states in the world are unitary. Today only 24 states are federations (Table 4).

- (Greek, from monos one, and archo I rule). A sole-power state, i.e., where the state is ruled by one person, the monarch. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. MONARCHY Greek. monarchia, from monos, one, and... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

MONARCHY (from the Greek μον κρχία autocracy) is one of the forms of monocracy and the name of the state system headed by the monarch. From other forms of monocracy (dictatorship, presidential rule, party leadership) ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

Monarchy- (from the gr. monarchia autocracy; English monarchy) a form of government in which, unlike oligarchy and democracy, the supreme state power is concentrated in the hands of the individual head of state ... Encyclopedia of Law

- (gr. monarchia autocracy) a form of government in which the head of state is the monarch. In the modern world, two historical types of monarchy remain: absolute monarchy and constitutional monarchy. The latter exists in two forms, differing... Legal dictionary

A form of government in which supreme state power belongs to the monarch (king, prince, sultan, shah, emir) and is inherited. A monarchy can be absolute when the power of the monarch is almost unlimited (Brunei, Bahrain, Qatar, ... ... Geographical encyclopedia

MONARCHY, monarchies, women. (Greek monarchia autocracy) (book, political). The most despotic form of government, dominant in the era of feudalism, in which supreme power belongs to one person, the monarch; autocracy... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

- (Greek monarchia - autocracy) - one of the forms of government. The essential characteristic of a monarchy is concentration, the concentration in the hands of one person - the monarch - of supreme power, which is inherited. Distinguish... ... Political science. Dictionary.

Monarchy- Monarchy ♦ Monarchie The power of one person, but subject to laws (as opposed to despotism, which does not recognize any norms and rules). When these laws themselves depend on the will of the monarch (called an autocrat), we speak of absolute... ... Sponville's Philosophical Dictionary

Women rule, where supreme power is in the hands of one person, monarchical truth, one or the power itself. | The state is monarchical. Russian monarchy. Monarch husband sole sovereign or autocrat. Monarch female autocrat; spouse... ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

Absolutism, despotism, autocracy, kingdom, monocracy Dictionary of Russian synonyms. monarchy noun, number of synonyms: 5 absolutism (7) ... Synonym dictionary

MONARCHY, a state whose head is a monarch (for example, king, king, shah, emir, kaiser), who receives power, usually by inheritance. There are unlimited (absolute) monarchies and limited (so-called... ... Modern encyclopedia

Books

• , Smolin Mikhail Borisovich. Mikhail Smolin’s book “Monarchy or Republic?” consists of texts that served as the basis for the “White Word” program, which the author hosted on the Tsargrad TV channel. The book is based on answers to...
• Monarchy or republic? Imperial letters to neighbors, M.B. Smolin. Mikhail Smolin's book Monarchy or Republic? consists of texts that form the basis of the program White Word, which the author hosted on the Tsargrad TV channel. The book is based on answers to current...

A monarchical state or, in other words, a monarchy is a state in which power, in whole or in part, belongs to one person - the monarch. This could be a king, king, emperor or, for example, a sultan, but any monarch rules for life and passes on his power by inheritance.

Today there are 30 monarchical states in the world and 12 of them are monarchies in Europe. A list of monarchy countries located in Europe is given below.

List of monarchy countries in Europe

1. Norway is a kingdom, a constitutional monarchy;
2. Sweden is a kingdom, a constitutional monarchy;
3. Denmark is a kingdom, a constitutional monarchy;
4. Great Britain is a kingdom, a constitutional monarchy;
5. Belgium – kingdom, constitutional monarchy;
6. The Netherlands – kingdom, constitutional monarchy;
7. Luxembourg – duchy, constitutional monarchy;
8. Liechtenstein – principality, constitutional monarchy;
9. Spain is a kingdom, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy;
10. Andorra is a principality, a parliamentary principality with two co-rulers;
11. Monaco – principality, constitutional monarchy;
12. The Vatican is a papal state, an elective absolute theocratic monarchy.

All monarchies in Europe are countries in which the form of government is a constitutional monarchy, that is, one in which the power of the monarch is significantly limited by the elected parliament and the constitution adopted by it. The only exception is the Vatican, where absolute rule is exercised by the elected Pope.