Introduction
This month sees the publication of our book The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy: European Monarchies Compared, published by Hart. This two part Blog reflects on some of its main conclusions.
Our comparative study looked at seven other constitutional monarchies in Europe, in addition to the UK. In 1900 every country in Europe was a monarchy, save for just three: France, Switzerland and San Marino. By 2000 most countries in Europe had become republics, with the only exceptions being the Scandinavian monarchies of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the Benelux countries of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, Spain and the UK. These monarchies have survived partly for geopolitical reasons, most of the other European monarchies having disappeared at the end of the First or Second World Wars. But they have also survived by continuously adapting to the needs of modern democracy: monarchy depends ultimately on the support of…
View original post 1,338 more words
Recent Comments