Crowned republic

A crowned republic is a form of government where there is a monarch and a royal family representing the nation, but their role is purely ceremonial and all the royal prerogatives are prescribed by custom and law in such a way that the monarch has no real discretion over governmental and constitutional issues. A crowned republic may thus be a form of parliamentary republic, while officially it may be called a constitutional monarchy.

The term has been also used somewhat ironically to describe governments of various realms, including Norway, Australia and the United Kingdom. It can refer to a nation that is a nominal monarchy but in which the people by their citizenship may be seen as ultimately holding power over the nation's affairs. This may apply to a constitutional monarchy where the sovereign personally exercises little political influence, whether vested with executive authority or not.

Definition

There is no one definition as to when constitutional monarchy is a crowned republic and different authorities have described different monarchies as such. For example, James Bryce wrote in 1921 that "By Monarchy I understand the thing not the Name i.e. not any State the head of which is called King or Emperor, but one in which the personal will of the monarch is constantly effective, and in the last resort predominant, factor of government. Thus, while such a monarchy as that of Norway is really a Crowned Republic, and indeed a democratic republic, monarchy was in Russia before 1917, and in Turkey before 1905, and to a less degree in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy until 1918, an appreciable force in the conduct of affairs".[1]

Australia, for example, has been referred to as a crowned republic.[2][3] The Australian Republic Advisory Committee, which was created in 1993 by Paul Keating, then Prime Minister, described the country as a crowned republic because they said it was "a state in which sovereignty resides in its people, and in which all public offices, except that at the very apex of the system, are filled by persons deriving their authority directly or indirectly from the people" so "it may be appropriate to regard Australia as a crowned republic".[4]

The novelist and essayist H. G. Wells used the term to describe the United Kingdom,[5] as did Alfred, Lord Tennyson in his poem Idylls of the King.[6]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Bryce 1921, p. 535
  2. ↑ FED: Australia already a crowned republic Reith - AAP General News (Australia) - HighBeam Research
  3. ↑ No Republic! Australians for Constitutional Monarchy - ACM Home
  4. ↑ Patmore 2009, p. 105
  5. ↑ Philosophy: H G Wells & the British Empire, Queen Elizabeth II, British Kingdoms
  6. ↑ Idylls of the King, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (chapter13)

References

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