Constitutional monarchy

Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. Constitutional monarchies differ from absolute monarchies (in which a monarch is the only decision-maker) in that they are bound to exercise powers and authorities within limits prescribed by an established legal framework. The monarch is frequently perceived as a visible symbol of national unity.

The powers of constitutional monarchs vary. In some countries, the monarch has virtually no executive or policy-making power and is primarily a hereditary symbolic head of state (who may be an emperor, king or queen, prince or grand duke), while in other countries, the monarch has meaningful formal powers (such as veto power, appointment power, and power to dissolve parliament).

In countries such as Liechtenstein, Monaco, Morocco, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Bhutan, the constitution grants substantial discretionary powers to the sovereign, while in United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Lesotho, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Japan, the monarch retains significantly less power, if any, personal discretion in the exercise of their authority. While many constitutional monarchies are democratic, some are not.

The Commonwealth realms share the same person as a ceremonial hereditary monarchy under the Westminster system of constitutional governance. Two constitutional monarchies – Malaysia and Cambodia – are elective monarchies, in which the ruler is periodically selected by a small electoral college.

Some use the term semi-constitutional monarchy to identify constitutional monarchies where the monarch retains substantial powers, on a par with a president in a presidential or semi-presidential system. Numerous liberal democracies restrain monarchic power in practice rather than written law, e.g., the constitution of the United Kingdom, which affords the monarch substantial, if limited, legislative and executive powers.