THE 13 MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MONARCHY - HISTORY - 2025

The monarchy is a form of government in which sovereignty and political power rest with a single person: the monarch, also called King or Emperor. Some examples of countries with a monarchy are Spain, England, Belgium or the Netherlands.

Power in this form of government is transferred in a hereditary way, which is why political power resides in family groups over several generations. These families are called "dynasties." On the other hand, the territory governed by monarchs is called a "kingdom" or "empire."

The word "monarchy" is made up of the Greek words monos, which means "one", and arkhein, which means "to rule, command, guide", so its meaning is interpreted as "government of one".

In the classic typologies of government forms, such as the one carried out by Aristotle in which the criterion of distinction is the number of people who exercise power, the monarchy is the ideal form of unitary government. Its degeneration or corrupt form is tyranny.

Outstanding characteristics of the monarchy

1- The monarchical power is personal and for life

The position of the monarch is unipersonal and life-long, which means that only one person exercises it until the day of his death, or until his abdication, resignation or de facto overthrow.

2- The monarchical title is hereditarily transferred

In the same way, in general, the title of King is transferred in a hereditary way between two relatives of the same royal family. This type of monarchy is called a hereditary monarchy, and it is historically the most common type.

Within the successor line to the throne, men have priority over women, and children over any other type of kinship.

In the event that a King dies and there are no children, the crown can pass to siblings, nephews or cousins. This depends on what is established according to the laws by which each monarchy is governed.

3- There are several types of monarchy

Absolutist monarchy

This is the type of monarchy in which the monarch exercises power without any political restriction.

In this model there is no division of powers, but rather the sovereign - the King - governs only according to his will. However, these monarchies used to be subject to certain Kingdom Laws.

Constitutional monarchy

In constitutional monarchies, the monarch exercises his power subject to the framework of a set of laws established by citizens in a Constitution.

In said Constitution the distribution of the political powers of the nation is delimited, as well as the functions of each of the elements that will go on to constitute the government, the monarch being one of them.

In this way, many European monarchies managed to remain standing after the fall of the Old Regime, which led to the birth of the new Republics.

Parliamentary monarchy

In parliamentary monarchies, it is constitutionally established that the King must be accountable to parliament.

In them, the parliament has a power superior to the King, to the point that it could have the power to decree a decision that is binding on him, and that he must abide by.

In parliamentary monarchies, the King's power is more limited than in constitutional monarchies. At present, within these governments the title of the King is that of Head of State, submitted to Parliament and the Head of Government (Prime Minister or President).

In both the parliamentary and constitutional monarchy, the monarch, representing traditional political power, assumes a commitment to respect the power of the people's representatives based on consensus.

Hereditary monarchy

They are those monarchies in which the title of the King is transmitted based on family ties, mainly in order of generational succession.

This system considers primarily the King's first-born as the next in line of successors to the throne.

Elective monarchy

The elective monarchy is that system in which the reigning monarch is elected by a group of people and under conditions that vary within each case.

However, some of the groups that have historically been the electors of monarchs have been the military, assemblies, members of the royal family itself, councils of nobles, councils of wise men, among others.

4- The monarch embodies the identity of his nation

Formerly, the monarchy was a symbol of identity of the kingdoms, since it was considered to be the unit thanks to which a territory was identified as one, with its own characteristics and shared by all its inhabitants.

Today modern monarchies are still considered an important part of the common identity of the nation. This is so thanks to the continuity they bring to the government despite periodic changes in the Executive and Legislative powers.

In the same way, the monarch is considered a symbol of national identity due to its mediating role between the different public powers, a function established even at the constitutional level, with a view to ensuring that this figure safeguards the defense of national interests beyond any conjuncture..

5- The figure of the monarch is linked to divinity

The monarchical government has been legitimized, throughout history, on the basis of religion, arguing that the right to rule and the sovereignty of the King come from the will of God.

Thanks to this, different monarchs have performed their functions as "Defenders of the Faith" or "Incarnations of God on Earth."

The doctrine of the divine legitimacy of the King, who was also the only sovereign, allowed them not to have to render accounts of their decisions to their people or members of the nobility. The only one to whom they were accountable was God.

6- At present, it has the form of a parliamentary monarchy

After the liberal and democratic revolutions experienced between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, the monarchies that remain to this day - especially the European ones - acquired the form of parliamentary monarchies or constitutional monarchies.

This means that they have restricted their powers to the parameters established in the constitutional texts, according to which they have also delegated many of their functions to the nascent institutions.

In this way they have been able to maintain their power, managing to overcome civilist approaches contrary to monarchical power, and coexisting with republican and democratic institutions, such as direct, secret and universal elections and the division of public powers into Legislative, Executive and Judicial.

7- If at the time of obtaining the title the King is a child, he is assigned a regent

In the event that the succession of the throne to a new King takes place, and whoever is responsible for assuming it by law is a child or a minor, a person is appointed under the title of Regent.

The function of the Regent is to assume the administration of the kingdom or of the matters that correspond to the monarch until he fulfills all the necessary requirements for the exercise of his functions.

The figure of the regent is also used in cases of absence or incapacity of the King.

8- A monarch can rule in several kingdoms simultaneously

A monarch can be the Head of State of different countries, that is, of different States constituted with different sovereignties, territories, nationalities and laws. This is the case, for example, of the members of the Kingdom of the Commonwealth of Nations - the Commonwealth of Nations, in English.

Currently the monarch of the Commonwealth of Nations is Queen Elizabeth II of England, which is why he is the Head of State of the 52 kingdoms that currently comprise it.

These nations are independent of each other in their internal affairs and in the conduct of their foreign relations, but they are united in community through the crown.

9- It is one of the oldest forms of government

The monarchy is one of the oldest forms of government, since its existence dates back to at least three thousand years before Christ with the first emperors of Ancient Egypt.

Similarly, until the 19th century it was the most widely implemented form of government in the world.

10- It can be self-proclaimed

Historically, a monarchy could also be established through the self-proclamation of a person who had no ties to any royal family.

Generally this was achieved through the seizure of political power through force or violence. This was the case, for example, of Napoleon Bonaparte, who proclaimed himself "Napoleon I of France."

11- Exceptionally two or more monarchs may rule

Although in point one it was said that the monarchy was personal and for life, there have been some cases in which one two (diarchy), three (triumvirate) or four people (tetrarchy) have led a state.

For example, in the Inca Empire, two people have been appointed to lead the nation or in ancient Rome there were two periods of triumvirate to rule the empire.

12- They can direct principalities

In the Middle Ages, the principality was one of the most frequent system of government. They were small territories that, in most cases, were a subdivision of a kingdom, but with some privileges different from the rest of the territories that made up the kingdom.

Currently there are few principalities, the best known being Monaco, Andorra or Liechtenstein, each with its prince regent and independent of any sovereign state.

However, there are also principalities that belong to a monarchical country and where it is the king who has power within it. These are the cases of the Principality of Asturias, ruled by the King of Spain and the Principality of Wales, belonging to the British monarchy.

13- They are military leaders

The custom since ancient times is that the King is the highest position in the army of a nation. There may even be cases in which the monarch has his personal militia, independent of the country's armed forces.

References

1. BBC (nd). Divine Rights of Kings. Retrieved July 19, 2017 on the World Wide Web: bbc.co.uk
2. BBC World (2012). Sixty years of monarchy in a changing world. Accessed July 19, 2017 on the World Wide Web: bbc.com
3. BOBBIO, N. (1980). State, Government and Society. Accessed July 19, 2017 on the World Wide Web: academia.edu
4. LARIO, A. (2005). History and Monarchy. Current Historiographic Situation.. Retrieved July 19, 2017 on the World Wide Web: redalyc.org
5. Digital Freedom (2007). The Crown, symbol of unity and permanence. Consulted on July 19, 2017 on the World Wide Web: libertaddigital.com
6. The Commonwealth (nd). About us. Retrieved July 19, 2017 on the World Wide Web: thecommonwealth.org
7. Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 19, 2017 on the World Wide Web: wikipedia.org.