Monarchy is the form of Government that has a monarch as its head. Who is a monarch? A person who reigns i.e., rules over an empire or a kingdom is known as a monarch. In India we do not have a monarch. There are certain countries that still have Kings and Queens. The supreme authority over the entire State vests in the monarch and this governance is full of responsibilities along with authority. The monarch exercises the highest authority and power in the State. Monarchs bear a variety of titles such as King or Queen, Emperor or Empress, Sultan, Emir, Grand Duke etc. These are some of the titles given to the monarch.
Monarchy can be in two forms namely hereditary which means that the title is passed through bloodline just by being born in the royal family. E.g., The oldest child getting the title of a monarch after the death of the monarch or it can be elective where the title is passed through a small elite group that elects the monarch. The monarchs and their family members are generally known as royals who undertake a lot of responsibilities and services for their people.
The two kinds of monarchies are: Absolute Monarchy and Constitutional Monarchy. Absolute monarchy means that the power and the authority of the monarch are not restrained or limited by laws. E.g., In the Sultanate of Oman there is absolute monarchy. While, Constitutional monarchy is the system of government where the power and authority of the monarch is limited by laws. E.g., The British monarchy is known as the Constitutional monarchy. The monarch undertakes the constitutional duties while the ability to make and pass legislation resides with an elected Parliament in UK. Thus, UK has a Constitutional monarch with restrained powers.
Abdication which means the act of formally relinquishing monarchial authority also has a major role to play in the succession of monarchies. The term abdication is derived from the Latin term abdicatio which means to renounce. One of the famous abdications was of King Edward VIII of United Kingdom which was due to his intention to marry an American divorcee who had her former husband still alive and according to the law back then this was morally unacceptable.
The monarchy system still prevails in some of the countries either in the form of absolute monarchy or constitutional monarchy. Absolute monarchy is in countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman etc. and Constitutional monarchy is in United Kingdom, Denmark, Spain etc. In the Republic of India, we have the democratic parliamentary system. There is neither absolute nor constitutional monarch in the country.
