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- DictionaryMon·ar·chism/ˈmänərˌkiz(ə)m/
noun
- 1. support for the principle of having a monarch as the ruler of a state: "his condemnation of parliamentary sovereignty was in line with his lifelong monarchism"
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Monarchism is the laws of monarchical government or the belief in or support of these laws. Learn more about the word history, examples, synonyms, and related entries of monarchism from Merriam-Webster dictionary.
- Overview
- Functions of monarchies
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Monarchy is a political system in which supreme authority is vested in the monarch, an individual ruler who functions as head of state. It typically acts as a political-administrative organization and as a social group of nobility known as “court society.”
What is the difference between monarchy and democracy?
Monarchy is a political system based on the sovereignty of a single ruler. Democracy, a term that means “rule by the people,” is a political system in which laws, policies, leaders, and major state undertakings are decided directly or indirectly by the citizens.
What is the divine right to rule in a monarchy?
The divine right to rule, also known as the “divine right of kings,” is a political doctrine asserting that monarchs derive their authority from God and cannot be held accountable for their actions by human means. The divine-right theory can be traced to the medieval European conception that God awarded earthly power to the political authority and spiritual power to church authorities.
What is a constitutional monarchy?
A monarchy consists of distinct but interdependent institutions—a government and a state administration on the one hand, and a court and a variety of ceremonies on the other—that provide for the social life of the members of the dynasty, their friends, and the associated elite. Monarchy thus entails not only a political-administrative organization but also a “court society,” a term coined by the 20th-century German-born sociologist Norbert Elias to designate various groups of nobility (like the British nobility) that are linked to the monarchical dynasty (or “royal” house, as with the House of Windsor) through a web of personal bonds. All such bonds are evident in symbolic and ceremonial proprieties.
During a given society’s history there are certain changes and processes that create conditions conducive to the rise of monarchy. Because warfare was the main means of acquiring fertile land and trade routes, some of the most prominent monarchs in the ancient world made their initial mark as warrior-leaders. Thus, the military accomplishments of Octavian (later Augustus) led to his position as emperor and to the institution of monarchy in the Roman Empire. Infrastructural programs and state-building also contributed to the development of monarchies. The need, common in arid cultures, to allocate fertile land and manage a regime of fresh water distribution (what the German American historian Karl Wittfogel called hydraulic civilization) accounted for the founding of the ancient Chinese, Egyptian, and Babylonian monarchies on the banks of rivers. The monarchs also had to prove themselves as state-builders.
Monarchy also results from the wish of a society—be it a city population, tribe, or multi-tribal “people”—to groom an indigenous leader who will properly represent its historical achievements and advance its interests. Monarchy, therefore, rests on the cultural identity and symbolism of the society it represents, and in so doing it reifies that identity within the society while also projecting it to outsiders. Perhaps most importantly, successful and popular monarchs were believed to have a sacred right to rule: some were regarded as gods (as in the case of the Egyptian pharaohs or the Japanese monarchs), some were crowned by priests, others were designated by prophets (King David of Israel), and still others were theocrats, leading both the religious and political spheres of their society—as did the caliphs of the Islamic state from the 7th century ce. Coming from these varying backgrounds, leaders first rose to power on the grounds of their abilities and charisma. Accordingly, monarchies proved capable of adapting to various social structures while also enduring dynamic cultural and geopolitical conditions. Thus, some ancient monarchies evolved as small city-states while others became large empires, the Roman Empire being the most conspicuous example.
Britannica Quiz
Monarchy is a political system based on the rule of a single person, who inherits the position and functions as the head of state. Learn about the history, functions, and types of monarchies, from ancient to modern times, and their cultural and religious significance.
- Joseph Kostiner
Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. Conversely, the opposition to monarchical rule is referred to as republicanism.
Monarchism definition: the principles of monarchy.. See examples of MONARCHISM used in a sentence.
2 days ago · Monarchism is generally a belief in the necessity or desirability of monarchy. An extreme version of this would be to believe in a monarch who actually ruled and did not merely reign, who had an absolute, perhaps divinely ordained, right to do so, and who acquired this right by heredity.
In an elective monarchy, monarchs are elected or appointed by some body (an electoral college) for life or a defined period. Four elective monarchies exist today: Cambodia, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates are 20th-century creations, while one (the papacy) is ancient.
May 18, 2018 · Monarchism is a belief in and advocacy of monarchy, one of the oldest forms of government, which typically consists of a single head of state who reigns over a sovereign territory and its people for life.
