Constitutional monarchy and Related Topics

Grassalkovich Palace in Bratislava is the seat of the President of Slovakia.

Head of state

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Public persona who officially embodies a state in its unity and legitimacy.

World's parliamentary states (as of 2022): Republics with an executive president elected by a parliament Parliamentary republics Parliamentary constitutional monarchies in which the monarch usually does not personally exercise power Presidential republics, one-party states, and other forms of government

Elizabeth II is the reigning monarch and head of state of the United Kingdom and 14 other countries

Charles de Gaulle, President and head of state of the French Fifth Republic (1959–1969)

George Washington, the first president of the United States, set the precedent for an executive head of state in republican systems of government

George V, Emperor of India, and Empress Mary at the Delhi Durbar, 1911.

Tekiso Hati, ambassador of the Kingdom of Lesotho, presenting his credentials to Russian president Vladimir Putin

Daniel B. Shapiro, U.S. ambassador to Israel, presents his credentials to Israeli president Shimon Peres on 3 August 2011

A 1992 Letter of Credence, written in French, for the Czechoslovakian Ambassador to Lithuania, signed by the President of Czechoslovakia and addressed to his Lithuanian counterpart

Albert II, King of the Belgians inspecting troops on Belgium's national day in 2011

Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France and General Jean-Louis Georgelin, Chief of the Defence Staff, reviewing troops during the 2008 Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Élysées in Paris

Francis, from March 2013 the sovereign of the Vatican City State, an ex officio role of the Pope

Abdulmecid II is the 150th and last Caliph of Islam from Ottoman dynasty

Four generations of Danish kings in 1903: King Christian IX (left), Christian (X) (back), Frederick (VIII) (right), and Frederick (IX) (front)

The National Monument to Emperor Wilhelm I in Berlin, Germany, dedicated 1897, nearly 10 years after his death. The monument was destroyed by the communist government in 1950.

Title page of 1550 Italian edition of Machiavelli's The Prince

Bodin named on title page of Discorsi politici (1602) by Fabio Albergati who compared Bodin's political theories unfavourably with those of Aristotle

Frontispiece of Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan (1651)

In parliamentary constitutional monarchies, the legitimacy of the unelected head of state typically derives from the tacit approval of the people via the elected representatives.

United Kingdom

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Sovereign country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland.

Stonehenge in Wiltshire is a ring of stones, each about 13 ft high, 7 ft wide and 25 tonnes, erected 2400–2200 BC.

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Battle of Hastings, 1066, and the events leading to it.

The Treaty of Union led to a united kingdom of all of Great Britain.

At the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, a British-led coalition under the Duke of Wellington, supported by von Blücher's Prussian army, defeated the French, ending the Napoleonic Wars.

Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme. More than 885,000 British soldiers died on the battlefields of the First World War.

Territories once part of the British Empire, with the United Kingdom and its current Overseas Dependencies and Crown Dependencies underlined in red

Leaders of EU states in 2007. The UK entered the EEC in 1973. In a 1975 referendum 67% voted to stay in it; in 2016 52% voted to leave the EU.

The United Kingdom showing hilly regions to north and west

The Palace of Westminster, seat of both houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Organisational chart of the UK political system

The Scottish Parliament Building in Holyrood is the seat of the Scottish Parliament.

The British-Irish Council comprises the UK Government, the Irish Government and the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Royal Courts of Justice of England and Wales

The High Court of Justiciary, the supreme criminal court of Scotland

and, a pair of Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy

British soldier firing during an exercise.

The Bank of England, the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based

The Mini Electric is manufactured in the UK.

Engines and wings for the Airbus A380 are manufactured in the UK.

A Watt steam engine, which was fundamental in driving the Industrial Revolution

London St Pancras International is one of London's main domestic and international transport hubs, providing commuter and high-speed rail services across the UK and to Paris, Lille and Brussels.

Energy mix of the United Kingdom over time

Wind turbines overlooking Ardrossan, Scotland. The UK is one of the best sites in Europe for wind energy, and wind power production is its fastest-growing supply.

Map of population density in the UK as at the 2011 census

Percentage of the population not white according to the 2011 census

Estimated foreign-born population by country of birth from April 2007 to March 2008

Estimated number of British citizens living overseas by country in 2006

Christ Church, Oxford, is part of the University of Oxford, which traces its foundations back to c. 1096.

King's College (right) and Clare College (left), both part of the University of Cambridge, which was founded in 1209

The Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, an NHS Scotland specialist children's hospital

The Chandos portrait, believed to depict William Shakespeare

A photograph of Victorian-era novelist Charles Dickens

The Beatles are the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed band in popular music, selling over a billion records.

J. M. W. Turner self-portrait, oil on canvas, c. 1799

Alfred Hitchcock has been ranked as one of the greatest and most influential British filmmakers of all time.

The Art Deco facade of Broadcasting House in London, headquarters of the BBC, the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world

Wembley Stadium, London, home of the England national football team, is the fifth most expensive stadium ever built.

The Millennium Stadium of Cardiff opened for the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

Wimbledon, the oldest Grand Slam tennis tournament, is held in Wimbledon, London every June and July.

St Andrews, Scotland, the home of golf. The standard 18 hole golf course was created at St Andrews in 1764.

The Statue of Britannia in Plymouth. Britannia is a national personification of the UK.

Test launch of a Trident II nuclear missile by a Vanguard-class submarine

The United Kingdom is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy.

Richard I of England being anointed during his coronation in Westminster Abbey, from a 13th-century chronicle.

Monarchy

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Form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication.

The Weld-Blundell Prism, inscribed with the Sumerian King List

King George III of the United Kingdom, Portrait by Allan Ramsay, 1762.

King Salman of Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarch.

Postcard of ruling monarchs, taken in 1909
between February (accession of King Manuel II of Portugal) and November (death of Guangxu Emperor)

King Leopold I, an elected founder of the hereditary monarchy of Belgium

Pope Francis, Sovereign of the Vatican City State

Current European monarchies by succession method:
Absolute primogeniture
Male-preference cognatic primogeniture, to be changed to absolute primogeniture
Male-preference cognatic primogeniture
Agnatic primogeniture
Elective

The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy), to fully autocratic (absolute monarchy), and can expand across the domains of the executive, legislative, and judicial.

Monarchy of the United Kingdom

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The English Bill of Rights of 1689 curtailed the sovereign's governmental power.

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Norman Conquest of 1066.

In 1603 James VI and I became the first monarch to rule over England, Scotland, and Ireland together.

England and Scotland were united as the Kingdom of Great Britain under Queen Anne in 1707.

The union of Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom occurred in 1801 during the reign of King George III.

Charles, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne

Buckingham Palace, the monarch's principal residence

Holyrood Palace, the monarch's official Scottish residence

The coat of arms of Elizabeth II in the United Kingdom. The design, in use since the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837, features the arms of England in the first and fourth quarters, Scotland in the second, and Ireland in the third. In Scotland a separate version is used (shown right) whereby the Arms of Scotland take precedence.

The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Isle of Man) and the British Overseas Territories.

Malaysia

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Country in Southeast Asia.

"Malaysia" used as a label for the Malay Archipelago on a 1914 map from a United States atlas

The Malacca Sultanate played a major role in spreading Islam throughout the Malay Archipelago.

The Dutch fleet battling with the Portuguese armada as part of the Dutch–Portuguese War in 1606 to gain control of Malacca

Statue of Francis Light in the Fort Cornwallis of Penang, the first British colony in what was to become Malaysia

The Parliament of Malaysia, the building that houses the members of the Dewan Rakyat

The Perdana Putra houses the office of the Prime Minister.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya, 2018

Examples of the Malaysian Armed Forces weaponry assets. Clockwise from top right:, PT-91M MBT tank, Malaysian Army paratrooper with M4, and Su-30MKM fighter aircraft.

Malaysia is within the equatorial region, where a tropical rainforest climate is apparent all year round.

Mount Kinabalu, the highest summit in the country

Native species in Malaysia, clockwise from top-right: oriental pied hornbills, hawksbill sea turtle, proboscis monkey, Malayan tiger.

Some species of Rafflesia can grow up to 1 m in diameter, making them the largest flowers in the world.

Development of real GDP per capita, 1870 to 2018

A proportional representation of Malaysia exports, 2019

The Proton company is a Malaysian car manufacturer.

The percentage distribution of Malaysian population by ethnic group based on 2010 census

Population density (person per km2) in 2010

The percentage distribution of Malaysian population by religion based on 2010 census

A traditional house being built in Sabah

A craftsman making batik. Malaysian batik is usually patterned with floral motifs with light colouring.

Malaysia's largest Buddhist temple—Kek Lok Si in Penang—illuminated in preparation for the Lunar New Year

Traditional sports such as the martial art style Silat Melayu persist alongside modern sports.

Topographic map of Malaysia; Mount Kinabalu is the highest summit in the country.

Köppen climate classification of Malaysia. The country is within the equatorial region, where a tropical rainforest climate is apparent all year round.

Kuala Lumpur, the financial centre of Malaysia

The distribution of language families of Malaysia shown by colours:
(click image to enlarge)
Malayic
Bornean
Aslian
Land Dayak
Sama–Bajaw
Philippine
Chinese
Areas with multiple languages

The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malaysia.

Elizabeth II

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Queen of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms.

In Auxiliary Territorial Service uniform, April 1945

Elizabeth (far left) on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with her family and Winston Churchill on 8 May 1945

Posing for photographs at Buckingham Palace with new husband Philip after their wedding, 1947

Coronation portrait with husband Philip, 1953

Elizabeth's realms (light red and pink) and their territories and protectorates (dark red) at the beginning of her reign in 1952

With Commonwealth leaders at the 1960 Commonwealth Conference

Seated with Philip on thrones at Canadian parliament, 1957

With President Tito of Yugoslavia in Belgrade, 1972

Leaders of the G7 states, members of the royal family and Elizabeth (centre), London, 1977

Riding Burmese at the 1986 Trooping the Colour ceremony

Riding at Windsor with President Reagan, June 1982

Philip and Elizabeth in Germany, October 1992

At the opening of the second Session of the Scottish Parliament, 2003

Greeting NASA employees at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland, May 2007

Visiting Birmingham in July 2012 as part of the Diamond Jubilee tour

Opening the Borders Railway on the day she became the longest-reigning British monarch, 2015. In her speech, she said she had never aspired to achieve that milestone.

In a virtual meeting with Dame Cindy Kiro during the COVID-19 pandemic, October 2021

Meeting children in Brisbane, Australia, October 1982

Sandringham House, Elizabeth's private residence in Norfolk

With then British prime minister Tony Blair, and former prime ministers Margaret Thatcher, Edward Heath, James Callaghan and John Major during her Golden Jubilee in 2002

Elizabeth has reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and the United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities and withdrawal from the European Union.

Thailand

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Country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of Mainland Southeast Asia, spanning 513120 km2, with a population of almost 70 million.

SPPM Mongkut Rex Siamensium, King Mongkut's signature

Map showing geographic distribution of Tai-Kadai linguistic family. Arrows represent general pattern of the migration of Tai-speaking tribes along the rivers and over the lower passes.

Taksin the Great enthroned himself as a Thai king, 1767.

United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, Red Shirts, protest in 2010

Thailand map of Köppen climate classification.

The population of Asian elephants in Thailand's wild has dropped to an estimated 2,000–3,000.

Sappaya-Sapasathan, the current Parliament House of Thailand

King Bhumibol Adulyadej in a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, 18 November 2012

The HTMS Chakri Naruebet, an aircraft carrier of the Royal Thai Navy

A proportional representation of Thailand exports, 2019

Sathorn in Bangkok is a skyscraper-studded business district that is home to major hotels and embassies.

Development of real GDP per capita, 1890 to 2018

A proportional representation of Thailand's exports

Thailand has long been one of the largest rice exporters in the world. Forty-nine percent of Thailand's labour force is employed in agriculture.

The BTS Skytrain is an elevated rapid transit system in Bangkok

Hill tribes girls in the Northeast of Thailand

Samanera of Theravada Buddhism, the most practised religion in Thailand.

Chulalongkorn University, established in 1917, is the oldest university in Thailand.

Thailand is a country where school uniform is mandatory.

Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, the oldest and largest hospital in Thailand.

Thai women wearing sabai, Jim Thompson House

People floating krathong rafts during the Loi Krathong festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Scene from the Ramakien depicted on a mural at Wat Phra Kaew.

Two sculptures guarding the eastern gate to the main chapel of Wat Arun.

Sculptures of Phra Aphai Mani and the Mermaid from the epic poem Phra Aphai Mani, a work of Sunthorn Phu.

Khon show is the most stylised form of Thai performance.

Since 2019, it has been nominally a parliamentary constitutional monarchy; in practice, however, structural advantages in the constitution have ensured the military's hold on power.

Sweden

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Country in Northern Europe.

A Vendel-era helmet, at the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities

The Tjängvide image stone dating from 800 to 1099, example of Viking art

Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala), a site of religious and political importance in the early days of Sweden

Skog tapestry, made most probably during the late 13th century.

Gustav I liberated Sweden from Christian II of Denmark, ending the Kalmar Union. He established the House of Vasa which ruled Sweden and Poland until the 17th century

Gustavus Adolphus at the Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631.

The Swedish Empire between 1611 and 1815, with its absolute peak between 1658 and 1660.

The Battle of Poltava in 1709. In the following years, Russia and her allies occupied all Swedish dominions on the Baltic coast and even Finland.

Illustration of starvation in northern Sweden, Famine of 1867–1869

Swedish emigrants boarding ship in Gothenburg in 1905

A Swedish soldier during World War II. Sweden remained neutral during the conflict.

Tage Erlander (left), Prime Minister under the ruling Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1946 to 1969.

Sweden joined the European Union in 1995 and signed the Lisbon Treaty in 2007.

Second day of the Stockholm Husby riots. The picture shows three cars on fire in the Stockholm suburb of Husby, 20 May 2013

View of the Stora Sjöfallet National Park

Köppen climate classification types of Sweden using the 0°C isotherm

Köppen climate classification types of Sweden using the -3°C isotherm

Map of Sweden's five major vegetation zones

The current King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, and his consort, Queen Silvia

Rosenbad, in central Stockholm, has been the seat of the Government since 1981.

The Riksdag chamber, at the time of a vote, in 2009

The party leaders lined up before the start of the televised live debate on 12 September 2014.

Kingdoms of Svear (Sweonas) and Götar (Geats) in the 12th century, with modern borders in grey

The Riksdag, the Swedish Parliament in 2014

Bonde Palace in Stockholm, seat of the Supreme Court of Sweden

The EU parliament in Brussels. Sweden is a member state of the European Union.

Development aid measured in GNI in 2009. Source: OECD. As a percentage Sweden is the largest donor.

The Saab JAS 39 Gripen is an advanced Swedish multi-role fighter aircraft of the Swedish Air Force.

The Infantry fighting vehicle CV90, which is produced and used by Sweden

Gross regional product (GRP) per capita in thousands of kronor (2014)

A proportional representation of Sweden exports, 2019

Sweden is home to Volvo Cars, an automobile company with its headquarters in Gothenburg

Sweden is part of the Schengen Area and the EU single market.

Nordstan is one of the largest shopping malls in northern Europe

Ringhals Nuclear Power Plant, located south of Gothenburg

The Öresund Bridge between Malmö and Copenhagen in Denmark

Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite and institutor of the Nobel Prize

Population density in the counties of Sweden.
people/km²

Distribution of speakers of the Swedish language

The Protestant Katarina Church in Stockholm

The second oldest mosque in Sweden is the Malmö Mosque, inaugurated in 1984

Historical development of life expectancy in Sweden

The Swedish band ABBA in April 1974, a few days after they won the Eurovision Song Contest

Headquarters of Sveriges Television in Stockholm

The writer and playwright August Strindberg

Cinnamon rolls originated in Sweden and Denmark.

Former World No. 1 tennis player Björn Borg

Sweden is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, with legislative power vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag.

Constitution

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Aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.

Constitution of the Kingdom of Naples in 1848.

Detail from Hammurabi's stele shows him receiving the laws of Babylon from the seated sun deity.

Diagram illustrating the classification of constitutions by Aristotle.

Third volume of the compilation of Catalan Constitutions of 1585

The Cossack Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk, 1710.

A painting depicting George Washington at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution

Constitution of May 3, 1791 (painting by Jan Matejko, 1891). Polish King Stanisław August (left, in regal ermine-trimmed cloak), enters St. John's Cathedral, where Sejm deputies will swear to uphold the new Constitution; in background, Warsaw's Royal Castle, where the Constitution has just been adopted.

Presidential copy of the Russian Constitution.

It led to the system of Constitutional Monarchy, with further reforms shifting the balance of power from the monarchy and nobility to the House of Commons.