Constitutional monarchy

A Constitutional Monarchy is a form of government, in which a king or queen is the official head of state, although their powers are limited by a constitution and often lack much real power, as the legislative branch is the primary governing body. A constitutional monarchy differs from an absoloute monarchy in that in an absolute monarchy the monarch is able to rule with unchecked power, and are able to change the laws at their whim.

Creation

Constitutional Monarchy first emerged in England. Initally the British monarchy was absolute, however, the nobility under King John felt that the king had abused his power, and had forced him to sign a document called the Magna Carta. This document limited the powers of the king and made and made him somewhat responsible for the wellbeing of his subjects. The document, however was more focused on maintaining the ability of the nobles to have a say in what the king did.

Contemporary constitutional monarchies include the United Kingdom and Commonwealth realms, Belgium, Bhutan, Bahrain, Cambodia, Denmark, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Lesotho, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, and Laos.

List of current reigning monarchies

The following is a list of reigning monarchies. Except where noted, monarch selection is hereditary as directed by the state's constitution.

State	Last constitution established	Type of monarchy	Monarch selection
Antigua and Barbuda	1981	Kingdom	Hereditary succession.
Andorra	1993	Co-Principality	Selection of Bishop of La Seu d'Urgell and election of French President
Australia	1901	Constitutional Monarchy and Parliamentary Democracy.	Hereditary succession.
The Bahamas	1973	Kingdom	Hereditary succession.
Barbados	1966	Kingdom	Hereditary succession.
Bahrain	2002	Kingdom	Hereditary succession
Belgium	1831	Kingdom; popular monarchy	Hereditary succession
Belize	1981	Kingdom	Hereditary succession.
Bhutan	2007	Kingdom	Hereditary succession.
Cambodia	1993	Elective monarchy; Kingdom	Chosen by throne council
Canada	1867 (last updated 1982)	Constitutional Monarchy and Federal Parliamentary Democracy.	Hereditary succession.
Denmark	1953	Kingdom	Hereditary succession
Greenland	2009	Parliamentary Democracy and Constitutional Monarchy.	Hereditary succession.
Grenada	1974	Kingdom	Hereditary succession.
Jamaica	1962	Kingdom	Hereditary succession.
Japan	1946	Empire	Hereditary succession
Jordan	1952	Kingdom
Kuwait	1962	Emirate	Hereditary succession, with directed approval of the House of Al-Sabah and majority of National Assembly
Lesotho	1993	Kingdom	Hereditary succession directed approval of College of Chiefs
Liechtenstein	1862	Principality
Luxembourg	1868	Grand duchy
Malaysia	1957	Elective monarchy; Federal monarchy	Selected from nine hereditary Sultans of the Malay states
Monaco	1911	Kingdom
Morocco	1666	Kingdom
Netherlands	1815	Kingdom
Norway	1814	Kingdom
New Zealand	1907	Constitutional Monarchy and Parliamentary Democracy.	Hereditary succession.
Papua New Guinea	1975	Kingdom	Hereditary succession.
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1983	Kingdom	Hereditary succession.
Saint Lucia	1979	Kingdom	Hereditary succession.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1979	Kingdom	Hereditary succession.
Solomon Islands	1978	Kingdom	Hereditary succession.
Spain	1978	Kingdom
Swaziland	1968	Kingdom; Mixture of absolute and constitutional monarchy	Hereditary succession
Sweden	1974	Kingdom	Switched from semi-constitutional monarchy to constitutional monarchy
Thailand	2007	Kingdom
Tonga	1970	Kingdom
Tuvalu	1978	Kingdom	Hereditary succession.
United Arab Emirates	1971	Federal Union of Emirates Elective monarchy	President elected by the seven absolute monarchs of the Federal Supreme Council
United Kingdom	1688	Constitutional Monarchy and Parliamentary Democracy.	Hereditary succession.