Absolute monarchy

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Form of government in which the monarch has absolute power

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Absolute monarchy^[1][2] is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constitution may exist in some countries.^[3] These are often hereditary monarchies. On the other hand, in constitutional monarchies, in which the authority of the head of state is also bound or restricted by the constitution, a legislature, or unwritten customs, the king or queen is not the only one to decide, and their entourage also exercises power, mainly the prime minister.^[3]

Absolute monarchy originally emerged in Europe after the social upheaval of the

English Civil Wars (1642–51) and his execution. Absolutism declined substantially, first following the French Revolution, and later after World War I, both of which led to the popularization of theories of government based on the notion of popular sovereignty. It did however provide a foundation for the newer political theories and movements that emerged to oppose liberal-democracy, such as Legitimism and Carlism in the early 19th Century, or "integral nationalism

" in the early 20th century.

Absolute monarchies include Brunei, Eswatini,^[4] Oman,^[5] Saudi Arabia,^[6] Vatican City,^[7] and the individual emirates composing the United Arab Emirates, which itself is a federation of such monarchies – a federal monarchy.^[8][9]

Historical examples of absolute monarchies

V-Dem Democracy indices.

• v
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Salman bin Abdulaziz and Haitham bin Tariq are the absolute monarchs of Saudi Arabia and Oman

, respectively.

Throughout much of European history, the divine right of kings was the theological justification for absolute monarchy. Many European monarchs claimed supreme autocratic power by divine right, and that their subjects had no rights to limit their power.

Throughout the Age of Enlightenment, the concept of the divine right to power and democratic ideals were given serious merit.

The

Absolutism was underpinned by a written constitution for the first time in Europe in 1665 Kongeloven, '

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Hungary

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France

Louis XIV

of France

The king of France concentrated legislative, executive, and judicial powers in his person. He was the supreme judicial authority. He could condemn people to death without the right of appeal. It was both his duty to punish offenses and stop them from being committed. From his judicial authority followed his power both to make laws and to annul them.[17]

Prussia

In

Frederick William enjoyed support from the nobles, who enabled the Great Elector to undermine the Diet of Brandenburg and other representative assemblies. The leading families saw their future in cooperation with the central government and worked to establish absolutist power.

The most significant indicator of the nobles' success was the establishment of two tax rates – one for the cities and the other for the countryside – to the great advantage of the latter, which the nobles ruled. The nobles served in the upper levels of the elector's army and bureaucracy, but they also won new prosperity for themselves. The support of the Elector enabled the imposition of serfdom and the consolidation of land holdings into vast estates which provided for their wealth.

They became known as Junkers (from the German for young lord, junger Herr). Frederick William faced resistance from representative assemblies and long-independent cities in his realm. City leaders often revolted at the imposition of Electorate authority. The last notable effort was the uprising of the city of Königsberg which allied with the Estates General of Prussia to refuse to pay taxes. Frederick William crushed this revolt in 1662, by marching into the city with thousands of troops. A similar approach was used with the towns of Cleves.^[18]

Russia

Until 1905, the

Sweden

The form of government instituted in

After the death of Charles XII in 1718, the system of absolute rule was largely blamed for the ruination of the realm in the

Many nations formerly with absolute monarchies, such as Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco, have moved towards constitutional monarchy. However, in these cases the monarch still retains tremendous power, even to the extent that by some measures, parliament's influence on political life is viewed as negligible.^[a][20][21]

In Bhutan, the government moved from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy following planned parliamentary elections to the Tshogdu in 2003, and the election of a National Assembly in 2008.

Nepal had several swings between constitutional rule and direct rule related to the Nepalese Civil War, the Maoist insurgency, and the 2001 Nepalese royal massacre, with the Nepalese monarchy being abolished on 28 May 2008.^[22]

In

Current absolute monarchies

  Denotes subnational monarchy

Realm	Image	Monarch	Born	Age	Reign Since	Reign Length	Succession	Ref(s)
Nation of Brunei, Abode of Peace		Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah	(1946-07-15)15 July 1946	76 years, 323 days	4 October 1967	55 years, 242 days	Hereditary	[25]
Emirate of Sharjah		Ruler Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi	(1939-07-02)2 July 1939	83 years, 336 days	25 January 1972	51 years, 129 days	Hereditary	[26]
Emirate of Fujairah		Ruler Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi	(1949-02-22)22 February 1949	74 years, 101 days	18 September 1974	47–48 years	Hereditary	[26]
Emirate of Ajman		Ruler Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi III	1931 (1931)	91–92 years	6 September 1981	41 years, 270 days	Hereditary	[26]
Kingdom of Eswatini		Ngwenyama Mswati III	(1968-04-19)19 April 1968	55 years, 45 days	25 April 1986	37 years, 39 days	Hereditary and elective	[27]
Emirate of Dubai		Ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum	(1949-07-15)15 July 1949	73 years, 323 days	4 January 2006	17 years, 150 days	Hereditary	[26]
Emirate of Umm al-Quwain		Ruler Saud bin Rashid Al Mualla	(1952-10-01)1 October 1952	70 years, 245 days	2 January 2009	14 years, 152 days	Hereditary	[26]
Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah		Ruler Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi	(1956-02-10)10 February 1956	67 years, 113 days	27 October 2010	12 years, 219 days	Hereditary	[26]
Vatican City State		Supreme Pontiff Francis	(1936-12-17)17 December 1936	86 years, 168 days	13 March 2013	10 years, 82 days	Elective	[28]
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia		King Salman bin Abdul‘aziz	(1935-12-31)31 December 1935	87 years, 154 days	23 January 2015	8 years, 131 days	Hereditary and elective	[29]
Sultanate of Oman		Haitham bin Tariq Al Said	(1954-10-11)11 October 1954	68 years, 235 days	11 January 2020	3 years, 143 days	Hereditary	[30][31]
Emirate of Abu Dhabi		Ruler Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan	(1961-03-11)11 March 1961	62 years, 84 days	13 May 2022	1 year, 21 days	Hereditary	[26]

Saudi Arabia