Elective monarchy
An
elective monarchy is a
monarchy whose reigning king or queen is elected in some form.
In the ancient
Kingdom of Rome, the kings were elected by the
Assemblies. The
Holy Roman Empire was another example of this, in which the Emperor was elected by a small council of nobles called
prince-electors.
In
Gaelic Order Ireland, a Rí, or king was elected to rule clan lands both large and small. While Rí (king) is used regardless of the size of the territory, in English, the lesser rulers are more commonly called chieftains. The Ard Rí na hÉireann, or
High King of Ireland was also elected from among the provincial kings.
A system of elective monarchy existed in
Anglo-Saxon England (see
Witenagemot),
Visigothic Spain, and medieval
Scandinavia.
In
Poland, after the death of the last
Piast in
1370, Polish Kings were initially elected by a small council; gradually, this privilege was granted to all members of the
szlachta (Polish nobility). Kings of Poland during the times of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (
1569-
1795) were elected by gatherings of crowds of nobles at a field in
Wola, today the neighbourhood of
Warsaw. Every one of an estimated 500,000 nobles could potentially have participated in such elections in person. During the election period, the function of the king was perfomed by an
interrex (usually in person of the
primate of Poland). This unique Polish election was termed the
free election (
wolna elekcja).
At the start of the
20th century, first monarchs of several newly-independent nations were elected by parliaments:
Norway is the prime example. Previously, following precedent set in newly-independent
Greece, new nations without a well-established hereditary
royal family, often chose their own monarchs from among the established
royal families of Europe rather than elevate a member of the local power establishment, in the hope that a stable
hereditary monarchy would eventually emerge from the process. The now-deposed royal families of
Greece,
Bulgaria and
Romania were originally appointed in this manner.
Other monarchs, such as the
Shah of Iran, have been required to undergo a parliamentary vote of approval before being allowed to ascend to the throne.
An attempt to create an elective monarchy in the
United States failed.
Alexander Hamilton argued in a long speech before the
Constitutional Convention of 1787 that the
President of the United States should be, in effect, an elective monarch, ruling for "good behavior" (i.e. for life, unless
impeached) and with extensive powers. His proposal was resoundingly voted down in favor of a four-year term with the possibility of reelection.
Elective succession has been, in its various forms, the most common official system of succession in monarchies. Arguably the world's oldest method to determine succession was that for the military leader who ascended to power through some sort of election. Elective monarchies were once common, although usually only a very small portion of the population was eligible to vote.
Most kingdoms were officially elective long into historic times, though the candidates were usually, or always only from the family of the deceased monarch. Hereditary systems came into being mostly in order to avoid the instability and discontinuity which is inherent in elective systems, where a powerful leader might use violence, raise a coup d'etat or otherwise manipulate the election.
As the impact of this archaic democracy diminished, many elected monarchies eventually introduced
hereditary succession, guaranteeing that the title and office stayed within the royal family. Today, almost all monarchies are
hereditary monarchies in which the monarchs come from one
royal family with the office of sovereign being passed from one family member to another upon the death or
abdication of the incumbent.
In monarchical government, the desire to ensure continuity has resulted in having some formalized order of succession.
interregna and also, for example, disputed elections have seriously affected the efficacy of the monarchical form of government, which more or less precise succession laws try to ameliorate with varying degrees of success.
Female rulers have almost never succeeded in an elective monarchy. Hereditary monarchy seem to give females more opportunities than elective monarchy.
Currently, the world's only true elective monarchies are:
*
Vatican City, where the
Pope is elected to a life term by (and usually from) the
College of Cardinals*
Malaysia, where the
King or
Yang di-Pertuan Agong is elected to a five-year term. Nine hereditary rulers from the
Malay States form a
Council of Rulers who will determine the next
King. They use a system of rotation, originally based on seniority, and varied by the council and the decision is made via a secret ballot amongst the council members.
*
Samoa, where the eventual successor will be selected by the legislature for a 5-year term.
*The Kingdom of
Cambodia, in which kings are chosen for a life term by The
Royal Council of the Throne from candidates of royal blood.
*
Kuwait, where the
Emir must be ratified by a vote of the parliament.
*
Iran, where the
Supreme Leader is elected by the
Assembly of Experts.
*The
United Arab Emirates, where the President and Vice-President are elected by the Members of the
Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates (the seven Rulers of the Emirates); however, the President is (unofficially) always the Ruler of
Abu Dhabi, the Vice President (who is also the Prime Minister) always the Ruler of Dubai.
Arguably, the transfer of power in many
communist states as established by
Joseph Stalin shows some parallels with elective monarchies: successors are chosen from within a leadership cadre of the
Communist Party, adjudged "throne-worthy" by the
Politburo, approved by the
Central Committee and acclaimed in open assembly by an elected elite. However, in the majority of cases there were no blood ties between a leader and his successor. Heirs were chosen according to political criteria, not family relations. One exception to this rule is
North Korea, where
Kim Jong-il succeeded his father
Kim Il Sung as leader.
Many non-communist republics also show similarities to monarchies. The concept of a
president for life, which is common in dictatorships can be regarded as a sort of defacto monarchy, and thus a defacto elected monarchy if the monarch/dictator is appointed, rather than a hereditary heir.
In the prequel trilogy of
Star Wars films, there is a planet named
Naboo which is an elected monarchy.
Padmé Amidala, one of the series' main characters, was elected queen at the age of fourteen.
In the
Lord Darcy universe, set out in a series of works by
Randall Garrett, the Kings of the Anglo-French Empire are elected by Parliament from a small group of eligible members of the Royal
Plantagenet family. See
Michael Kurland's additions to the canon.
*
Free election*
Papal election*
Papal conclave, 2005*
President for life
