For most of recorded history, most people lived under monarchs: kings, queens, emperors, sultans, pharaohs and tsars. A monarchy is a system in which the head of state holds the position for life, usually by inheritance. Today about forty countries have monarchs, but they range from rulers with nearly unlimited power to figureheads with almost none.

Why kings ruled

Monarchs justified their power in several ways. Many claimed religious sanction: Egyptian pharaohs were considered divine; Chinese emperors ruled by the Mandate of Heaven, which, Chinese thinkers argued, could be lost if a ruler governed badly, justifying rebellion against tyrants. In early modern Europe, some kings claimed the divine right of kings: that their authority came directly from God and that subjects could never lawfully resist them. James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, defended this view in a treatise of 1598. Monarchy also drew strength from tradition and the practical advantage of clear succession, which could prevent civil wars between rivals.

Absolute monarchy

In an absolute monarchy, the monarch holds supreme power, not limited by a constitution, parliament or independent courts. The classic European example is Louis XIV of France, who reigned from 1643 to 1715, built the palace of Versailles, and drew power away from the nobility into his own court. He is famously credited with saying “I am the state,” though historians doubt he ever said it. Absolute monarchs still had practical limits: they needed nobles, officials and armies to carry out their will, and they could provoke rebellion.

A handful of absolute or near-absolute monarchies survive today, including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Brunei and Eswatini. In Saudi Arabia, the king is head of state and government and there is no elected national legislature. Vatican City is an unusual case: an elective absolute monarchy whose ruler, the pope, is chosen for life by the cardinals.

Constitutional monarchy

In a constitutional monarchy, the monarch's powers are limited by a constitution, written or unwritten, and real political power lies with elected officials. Britain's path toward this system ran through Magna Carta, the civil wars of the seventeenth century and the Bill of Rights of 1689. Today, the British monarch is head of state but by convention acts on the advice of the prime minister, who is accountable to Parliament.

In 1867 the English writer Walter Bagehot, in The English Constitution, distinguished the “dignified” parts of government, which win the public's loyalty and reverence, such as the monarchy, from the “efficient” parts, which actually govern, such as the cabinet. He wrote that the sovereign has three rights: “the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn.”

Many democracies are constitutional monarchies: the United Kingdom, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and others. Several countries, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand, share the British monarch as their head of state. In Japan, the postwar constitution of 1947 made the emperor a “symbol of the state” without powers related to government. Sweden's 1974 constitution removed the king's remaining formal political role, even the duty to appoint the prime minister.

A king who defended democracy

Monarchs can sometimes matter in a crisis. In Spain, after the dictator Francisco Franco died in 1975, King Juan Carlos I, whom Franco had chosen as successor, helped lead a transition to democracy. On 23 February 1981, armed members of the Civil Guard stormed parliament in a coup attempt. The king appeared on television in uniform, ordering the army to support the constitution, and the coup collapsed.

The case for and against

Defenders of constitutional monarchy argue that a hereditary head of state, above party politics, can be a unifying symbol, provide continuity, and keep the ceremonial role separate from the political struggle, so that no politician can claim to embody the nation. Some studies note that several of the world's most stable and prosperous democracies are monarchies. Critics reply that hereditary privilege contradicts the principle of equal citizenship, that monarchies are expensive, and that the stability of these countries owes more to their democratic institutions than to their crowns. Republican movements in countries such as Australia continue to debate the question; Barbados became a republic in 2021.

Worked example: the hung parliament

Imagine an election in a constitutional monarchy produces no clear majority. Several party leaders claim the right to form a government. What does the monarch do?

• The rule. By convention, the monarch appoints as prime minister the person most likely to command the confidence of parliament.
• The risk. If the monarch chooses based on personal preference, the crown becomes political, threatening its neutrality.
• The solution in practice. In many countries, parties negotiate among themselves first, and the monarch formally confirms the result. Some constitutions, like Sweden's, give this role to the speaker of parliament instead.

The example shows the delicate balance of constitutional monarchy. The monarch's power is mostly symbolic, but symbolic power is real. It works best when the monarch uses it rarely and only to protect the constitution, as Juan Carlos did in 1981, rather than to choose winners.