For the sake of validity, I have complemented the dataset by Boix, Miller and Rosato by making use of V-dems Liberal democracy index (D) (v2x_libdem). Ever since, the country has hovered between democracy and autocracy. 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. Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Monaco have had powerful monarchs operating within a democratic context for many decades. Before Franco died in 1975, he had appointed the then Prince Juan Carlos as his successor. However, it is evident that the V-dem experts have interpreted this question loosely, and included many countries where the monarch is not involved in choosing the prime minister, but only makes the final, formal, appointment. Note: this chart represent de jure systems of government, not the de facto degree of democracy. The present work has pinpointed the need to put more focus on two largely overlooked research areas in political science. 1914 qualify as a long-term semi-constitutional monarchy. In some cases, the prime minister is also leader of the legislature, while in other cases the executive branch is clearly separated from legislature (although the entire cabinet or individual ministers must step down in the case of a vote of no confidence). 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. Yet, Boix et al. What local authorities do exist have few powers. In the V-dem dataset, the Belgian monarch is considered to have had a strong position with regard to government formation during the year 1918, the same year Belgium was liberated from German occupation. [32][33][dubious discuss] The head of state is a constitutional monarch who normally only exercises his or her powers with the consent of the government, the people and/or their representatives (except in emergencies, e.g. In effect, "presidents" in this system function the same as prime ministers do in other parliamentary systems. - Is the presidency powerful in China? The unique symbiosis between the monarchy and the military has secured the position of the monarch, both in democratic and authoritarian eras. A new constitution was adopted in 1978, and from that year, the Spanish monarch no longer possesses any significant powers. On a general level, there is very strong support for the assumptions laid out in the theoretical part of the study. In a parliamentary republic, the head of government is selected or nominated by the legislature and is also accountable to it. Based on purely constitutional provisions it can, indeed, be questioned whether Monaco actually qualifies as democracy (e.g. Accordingly, all democracies where the monarch has held executive powers, legislative powers, powers over domestic policy, or powers to dissolve the legislature are defined as semi-constitutional monarchies and the rest of the cases, where the monarch is powerless on all dimensions, are conferred to the category constitutional monarchies. The country surpassed the threshold of democracy in 1864, and is the first example of executive power sharing. A constitutional monarchy is a monarchy that is ruled by a written constitution. Applying a higher threshold, say 0.5. would be too strict in comparison with Boix, Miller and Rosato's threshold for inclusion in the category of democracies, and would, for instance, mean that the following countries, all classified as democracies by Boix et al. However, semi-constitutional monarchies do not always exist as a transitional phase during which democracy is introduced and subsequently consolidated. a constitutional crisis or a political deadlock). 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 other words, it reflects a complete transformation of power, where the monarch is confined to the position as a ceremonial head of state. It has elements of intergovernmentalism, with the European Council acting as its collective "president", and also elements of supranationalism, with the European Commission acting as its executive and bureaucracy. According to Huntington, there were three options available for a monarch confronted with this dilemma: transformation, coexistence, and maintenance. Greece was then ruled as a semi-constitutional monarchy until the military coup in 1967. Based on the definition by Corbett et al. The following countries have presidential systems where a post of prime minister (official title may vary) exists alongside that of the president. In some constitutional monarchies, like in Japan or Norway, the monarch is only a symbolic head of state without . In this respect, the Greek case provides an excellent illustration of how difficult it is for the monarch to coexist with party government, very much in line with Huntingtons (Citation1968, pp. In this kind of setup, the monarch has influence over the state almost to the degree of an absolute monarchy. Based on a study of Bhutan, Liechtenstein, and Tonga, Corbett et al., Citation2017 (pp. 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. Nevertheless, there are many examples of political systems, classified as democracies by most reputable categorizations or indices, where the monarch has, or has had, more or less the same position as a president in semi-presidential systems. (Citation2013; Citation2018), who make use of a dichotomous qualitative scale, classifying more than 200 countries as either democracies or autocracies on a yearly basis for the time period 18002015. The head of state is ordinarily called a president and (in full parliamentary republics) is separate from the head of government, serving a largely apolitical, ceremonial role. 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. Bhutan 200917, Greece 18641914, 1935, 5066, Liechtenstein 19212017, Luxembourg 190039, Monaco 19622017, Spain 1977, Thailand 1975, 8390, 922005, 201113. Thus, much in line with Corbett et al. When measuring monarchical powers it is therefore advisable to rely on political practice rather than constitutions. 334335). This restoration of the monarchy is best explained from a political actor perspective. In order to remove a prime minister or their cabinet from power, the president may dismiss them or the parliament can remove them by a vote of no confidence. The president is elected by parliament and holds a parliamentary seat, much like a prime minister, but is immune from a vote of no confidence (but not their cabinet), unlike a prime minister. Semi-constitutional monarchies exhibit fewer parliamentary powers or simply monarchs with more authority. 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. Corbett et al. The basic logic behind this statement is simple: a leader who has not been elected by the people has little or no legitimacy to rule in a democratic polity. a government led by a prime minister. During the Second World War, the king was in exile. Register a free Taylor & Francis Online account today to boost your research and gain these benefits: Constitutional monarchies and semi-constitutional monarchies: a global historical study, 18002017, Department of Political Science, Abo Akademi University, Turku, Finland, A structured review of semi-presidential studies: Debates, results, and missing pieces, Classifying political regimes 18002016: A typology and a new dataset, A complete data set of political regimes 18002007, Why monarchy persists in small states: The cases of Tonga, Bhutan and Liechtenstein, Digithque dematriaux juridiques et politiques. The monarch acts as both head of state and head of government. In general, empirical findings strongly supported these propositions. The exact political character of the European Union is debated, some arguing that it is sui generis (unique), but others arguing that it has features of a federation or a confederation. Nevertheless, the monarch continues to have extensive powers, especially in the legislative sphere. Absolute monarchies are systems where the monarch, the hereditary ruler, possesses powers to such an extent that the countries in question do not qualify as democracies. Permission is granted subject to the terms of the License under which the work was published. A monarchy which has its power limited by a constitution is called a constitutional monarchy. One question for Semi Constitutional/Absolute Monarchists from non monarchy countries. During the period 18091974, the Swedish constitution stipulated that executive powers were conferred to the monarch whereas legislative powers were shared by the monarch and the legislature. 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. A committee of the nation's military leaders controls the government for the duration of a state of emergency. 10271028). The second category consists of similar cases in which democracy did not consolidate, and the country returned to autocracy. The dataset does not contain extensive information on regime characteristics for the European miniature states Liechtenstein and Monaco. The following list includes democratic and non-democratic states: Nations with limited recognition are in italics. In the long run, the monarch faced a zero-sum game; either try to retain his or her powers as an absolute monarch or be stripped of all powers and, at best, continue as a ceremonial head of state of a democracy. It can be readily assumed that the issue of how the powers of the monarch in relation to the prime minister should be measured will be crucial in future research efforts. (also Dahl & Tufte, Citation1973, pp. The issue of executive power sharing in democratic countries with a monarch as head of state has received little scholarly attention. Thus, much in line with Corbett et al. I also include a question measuring the influence of the monarch over domestic policy. The old constitution, the Statuto Albertino, was still in force and gave the monarch far reaching powers. 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. Such cases include former British colonies in which the British monarch formally acts as head of state but where she is represented by a Governor-General. 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". The result is that monarchs are not remote or distant figures, thus undermining the potential for the regime to become a symbol of oppression. Since the dataset does not cover the period 20162017, I have for these two years classified the countries of the world into the categories democracy or autocracy.Footnote1 Countries classified as democracies by Boix, Miller and Rosato are included in the study. In essence, this system makes it possible for the monarch to exercise his powers behind the scenes, for instance by working through proxies such as privy councillors and trusted military figures (McCargo, Citation2005, p. 501). 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. Democracies with a monarch as head of state 18002017. No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). 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. There is generally no prime minister, although if one exists, in most cases they serve purely at the discretion of the president. Table 2. [online] Retrieved March 9, 2019, from, A new political system model: Semi-presidential government, Freedom House. Moving on, the results showed that In Luxembourg, Sweden, Spain and Yugoslavia the monarch has been in possession of powers in three out of four power dimensions. 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. For these countries, classifications have been made by the author for the time periods for which data is lacking (Liechtenstein 18661990, Monaco 18621993). 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. After a short power struggle with holdovers from the Franco regime, democratic elections were held in 1977, and during this year, the monarch possessed considerable powers. In Monaco, it is rather difficult to compare constitutional provisions with political practice, as there have been few conflicts between the Prince and the parliament. A combined head of state and head of government in the form of an executive president is either elected by the legislature or by voters after candidates are nominated for the post by the legislature (in the case of Kiribati), and they must maintain the confidence of the legislature to remain in office. [12] Full parliamentary republican systems that do not have a directly elected head of state usually use either an electoral college or a vote in the legislature to appoint the president. The categorisation is based on (Anckar & Fredriksson, Citation2019 and the V-dem dataset). Huntington (Citation1968, pp. Bhutan 201316, Greece 1874, 195066, Liechtenstein 19212017, Monaco 19622017, Thailand 1975, 8390, 922005, 201113. King Constantine II was highly controversial. Which of the following bodies would be likely to succeed in removing the head of government if it took actions (short of military force) to do so? (Yes = 5, head of state). Still, with regard to the other prerogatives, the cells are far from empty. In reality, however, the Norwegian monarch has not had any influence in the government formation process since 1928 (Narud & Strm, Citation2000, p. 172). The smallest category, then, is made up of states with a population of less than 1 million. However, the relationship between the king and the prime ministers has been conflict-ridden in the past. Second, physical factors have generally played a surprisingly subordinate role in comparative politics. aDisregarding periods of occupation during WW1 and WW2. Under other classification systems, however, these systems may instead be classed as semi-presidential systems (despite their weak presidency). 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). Semi constitutional monarchy. However, he is limited in some small respect, perhaps by a pro-monarchist constitution. 3099067 Monarchical powers in democracies. When monarchies form the object of research, focusing exclusively on constitutional provisions is likely to aggrandise the powers of the monarch. Other constitutional monarchies include Belgium, Cambodia, Jordan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Thailand. Kailitz, Citation2013; Magaloni, Citation2008). Confederacy (Confederation) - a union by compact or treaty between states, provinces, or territories, that creates a central government with limited powers; the constituent entities retain supreme authority over all matters except those delegated to the central government.