Contemporary Monarchies
The popularity of the notion of absolute monarchy declined substantially after the French Revolution which promoted theories of government based on popular sovereignty.
Many nations formerly with absolute monarchies, such as Morocco, have moved towards constitutional monarchy, although in some cases the monarch retains tremendous power, to the point that the parliament's influence on political life is negligible. 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. The Nepalese monarchy was abolished on May 28, 2008.
Unusually in an era when many nations have moved towards decreased monarchical power, Liechtenstein has moved towards expanding the power of the monarch: the Prince of Liechtenstein was given expanded powers after a referendum amending the Constitution of Liechtenstein in 2004.
In Tonga the king had majority control of the parliament until 2010.
Among the few nations where the monarch still claims full power (as head of both state and government) are Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, as well as Vatican City, where the Pope rules as supreme but is himself elected by the College of Cardinals. United Arab Emirates is a federation of absolute monarchies.
Read more about this topic: Absolute Monarchy
Famous quotes containing the words contemporary and/or monarchies:
“The contemporary thing in art and literature is the thing which doesn’t make enough difference to the people of that generation so that they can accept it or reject it.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“The descendants of Holy Roman Empire monarchies became feeble-minded in the twentieth century, and after World War I had been done in by the democracies; some were kept on to entertain the tourists, like the one they have in England.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)