Federal monarchy

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A federal monarchy, in the strict sense, is a federation of states with a single monarch as overall head of the federation, but retaining different monarchs, or having a non-monarchical system of government, in the various states joined to the federation.

As a term in political science

The term was introduced into English political and historical discourse by Edward Augustus Freeman, in his History of Federal Government (1863). Freeman himself thought a federal monarchy only possible in the abstract.[1]

Federal monarchies

Historically

Historically, the most prominent example of a federal monarchy in the

Alsace-Lorraine
, a semi-autonomous republic since 1912.

In the Eastern Hemisphere, an example is the system of government in

misldars and rajas controlled their respective misls and kingdoms under the Maharaja
of Punjab.

The concept played a role in political debates in

Risorgimento
of the late 19th century, with the several smaller kingdoms, duchies, republics, etc., each headed by a different dynasty or ruling class, being disestablished in favor of a unitary monarchy under the house of Savoy.

Currently

Currently, the term can be applied in the fullest sense to the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.[2] In both, the head of state of the entire federation is selected from among the heads of states (Emir, Sultan or Raja, respectively) who rule the constituent states of the federation.

While not officially declared as such,

Spanish crown.[3] Officially, Spain is a unitary state displaying a high degree of devolution
.

Several

Kingdom of Belgium
, a federal state with a constitutional monarchy.

List of federal monarchies

There are currently only two countries which qualify as federal monarchies in the sense of this article, where the sovereign of the nation is different from the sovereign of the constituent states.

Federation Subdivisions Number of subdivisions Monarch Head of government
 Malaysia
States of Malaysia
13 states and 3 federal territories
 United Arab Emirates Emirates of the United Arab Emirates 7 emirates

See also

References

  1. ^ Freeman, Edward Augustus (1863). History of Federal Government: From the Foundation of the Achaian League to the Disruption of the United States. Macmillan and Company.
  2. ^ "Is Malaysia an Islamic state? - The Malaysian Bar". www.malaysianbar.org.my. Retrieved 2023-12-26.

External links