parliamentary monarchy

Society

2022

We explain what a parliamentary monarchy is, its characteristics and current examples. Also, the constitutional monarchy.

Most Western European democracies are parliamentary monarchies.

What is the parliamentary monarchy?

The term parliamentary monarchy is relatively recent in most of the laws and legal frameworks, and designates the systems of government in which there is a king or monarch, whose lifetime role gives him certain powers, but at the same time is subject to the authority of the legislative power, that is, of the parliament or national assembly.

It could be said that the parliamentary monarchy is a form of constitutional monarchy, in the sense that the powers of the monarch are contemplated and limited in the law, unlike the old authoritarian or absolutist monarchies.

But in parliamentary monarchies, the crown performs representative, minor functions within the political functioning of the State, and does not control the executive power. On the other hand, the executive power it is entrusted to a Prime Minister elected from within the parliament.

However, the monarch enjoys special powers and benefits, as well as the rest of the royal family. But in a certain sense, the parliamentary monarchy is the closest thing there can be to the republic, within the range of monarchies. Most of the democracies Western Europeans are, in fact, parliamentary monarchies.

Characteristics of parliamentary monarchies

In general, parliamentary monarchies are recognized for:

  • Have a monarch for life, come to office through hereditary succession and noble lineage, whose role in leading the State is rather representative or very limited.
  • Possess full separation and autonomy from public powers, without the monarch controlling any of them at will. The greatest force within Condition it is the legislative power, that is, the parliament.
  • Grant the monarch very limited and specific powers, explicitly established in the constitution, and subject to the discretion of the parliament.
  • Assign the head of state to a Prime Minister or President, usually elected from within the legislature.
  • To function according to the precepts of the republican and democratic order.

Countries with parliamentary monarchy

Today, many nations of the world are governed through a parliamentary monarchy, such as Spain, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Japan, Monaco, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Parliamentary monarchy and constitutional monarchy

Ordinarily speaking, there is no major difference between the terms of the parliamentary and the constitutional monarchy, since the parliamentary monarchy is a specific type of constitutional monarchy.

In both cases the power of the king is delimited and established in the constitutional text, that is, it is not above the law, as it was in the absolutist monarchies of the Old Regime.

However, when the term parliamentary monarchy is used, it is generally desired to emphasize that the political leadership of the State no longer resides on the crown, which is entrusted rather with representative functions or the support of the institutions (for example, signing the laws that promulgates the parliament so that they can come into force), but resides in the legislative power.

In other words, parliamentary monarchies differ from other constitutional monarchies in that the legislative power is in charge of appointing the head of state, that is, the Prime Minister or President. The latter is in charge of the decisions of the executive branch, in accordance with the laws and the balance of political powers that exist between the parties that make up the parliament.

For the rest, the parliamentary monarchy operates like any other parliamentary republic, with separation of public powers and respect for democratic rules.

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