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Elective MonarchyAn 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. A system of elective monarchy existed in Anglo-Saxon England. See Witenagemot. 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 gentry. 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 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. At the start of the 20th century, several monarchs of newly-independent nations were elected by parliaments. Without a well-established hereditary royal family, new nations often chose their own monarchs from among the foreign or domestic nobility, in the hope that a stable hereditary monarchy would eventually emerge from the process. The now-defunct royal families of Finland and Germany 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. Nowadays Currently, the world's only true "elective monarchies" are: Some may argue that the remaining communist regimes are also "elective monarchies", as successors are often chosen from within the Communist Party. In North Korea, Kim Jong Il succeeded his father Kim Il Sung as leader. These regimes, though they possess many features of absolutism, are not officially proclaimed as monarchies. See also
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