Editing Monarchy (section)

==History==
[[File:Sumerian King List, 1800 BC, Larsa, Iraq.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Weld-Blundell Prism]], inscribed with the [[Sumerian King List]]]]
The similar form of societal hierarchy known as [[chiefdom]] or [[Tribal chief|tribal kingship]] is prehistoric. Chiefdoms provided the concept of state formation, which started with civilizations such as [[Mesopotamia]], [[Ancient Egypt]] and the [[Indus Valley Civilisation|Indus Valley civilization]].<ref name="Kottak1991">{{cite book|author=Conrad Phillip Kottak|title=Cultural Anthropology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NLtAAAAMAAJ|year=1991|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-07-035615-3|page=124}}</ref> In some parts of the world, chiefdoms became monarchies.<ref name="BoahenAjayi1986">{{cite book|author1=A. Adu Boahen|author2=J. F. Ade Ajayi|author3=Michael Tidy|title=Topics in West African History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xLoKAQAAIAAJ|year=1986|publisher=Longman Group|isbn=978-0-582-58504-1|page=19}}</ref> Some of the oldest recorded and evidenced monarchies were [[Narmer]], [[Pharaoh]] of Ancient Egypt {{Circa|3100 BCE}}, and [[Enmebaragesi]], a [[Sumer]]ian King of [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]] {{Circa|2600 BCE}}.

From earliest records, monarchs could be directly hereditary, while others were elected from among eligible members. With the [[Pharaoh|Egyptian]], [[Outline of ancient China|Chinese]],  [[Outline of ancient India|Indian]],<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=t6A4DwAAQBAJ Political Violence in Ancient India]'', p.23, "In later Vedic texts, the frequency of the word "dharma" decreased and its connotations shrank; it came to be especially connected with kingship and with the royal consecration ritual known as the rājasūya."</ref> [[Lugal|Mesopotamian]], [[Sudanic languages|Sudanic]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Traditions and encounters|quote=By about 5000 b.c.e. many Sudanic peoples had formed small monarchies ruled by kings who were viewed as divine or semidivine beings.|page=63|publisher=[[McGraw–Hill Education]]}}</ref> reconstructed [[Proto-Indo-European mythology|Proto-Indo-European religion]], and others, the monarch held [[Sacred king|sacral functions]] directly connected to [[sacrifice]] and was sometimes identified with having [[imperial cult|divine ancestry]], possibly establishing a notion of the [[divine right of kings]].

[[Polybius]] identified monarchy as one of three "benign" basic forms of government (monarchy, [[aristocracy]], and [[Democracy#Origins|democracy]]), opposed to the three "malignant" basic forms of government ([[Tyrant|tyranny]], [[oligarchy]], and [[Mob rule|ochlocracy]]). The monarch in classical antiquity is often identified as "[[king]]" or "ruler" (translating ''[[archon]]'', ''[[basileus]]'', ''[[rex (title)|rex]]'', ''[[Tyrant|tyrannos]]'', etc.) or as "[[Queen regnant|queen]]" (''[[basilinna]]'', ''basilissa'', ''basileia'' or ''basilis'';<ref>Liddell & Scott</ref> ''regina''). Polybius originally understood monarchy{{NoteTag|Now substituted with the concept of [[autocracy]].}} as a component of [[Republic|republics]], but since antiquity monarchy has contrasted with forms of republic, where executive power is wielded by free citizens and their assemblies. The 4th-century BCE Hindu text ''[[Arthashastra|Arthasastra]]'' laid out the ethics of monarchism.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Arthasastra: Selections from the Classic Indian Work on Statecraft|date=September 15, 2012|publisher=Hackett Publishing|isbn=9781603849029}}</ref> In antiquity, some monarchies were [[Abolition of monarchy|abolished]] in favour of such assemblies in [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] ([[Roman Republic]], 509 BCE), and [[History of Athens|Athens]] ([[Athenian democracy]], 500 BCE).
[[File:Europe map 1648.PNG|thumb|left|Map of monarchies and republics in Europe, 1648]]
By the 17th century, monarchy was challenged by evolving [[Parliamentary system|parliamentarism]] e.g. through regional assemblies (such as the [[Icelandic Commonwealth]], the Swiss ''[[Landsgemeinde]]'' and later ''[[Tagsatzung]]'', and the High Medieval [[Medieval commune|communal movement]] linked to the rise of medieval [[town privileges]]) and by modern anti-monarchism e.g. of the temporary overthrow of the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|English monarchy]] by the [[Parliament of England]] in 1649, the [[American Revolution]] of 1776 and the [[French Revolution]] of 1789. One of many opponents of that trend was [[Elizabeth Dawbarn]], whose anonymous ''Dialogue between Clara Neville and Louisa Mills, on Loyalty'' (1794) features "silly Louisa, who admires liberty, [[Thomas Paine|Tom Paine]] and the US, [who is] lectured by Clara on God's approval of monarchy" and on the influence women can exert on men.<ref>''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English'', ed. Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy, (London: Batsford, 1990), p. 272.</ref>

Since then advocacy of the abolition of a monarchy or respectively of [[republic]]s has been called [[republicanism]], while the advocacy of monarchies is called [[monarchism]]. As such republics have become the opposing and alternative form of government to monarchy,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UTkBAAAAYAAJ&q=%22res%20publica%22%20republic%20democracy%20monarch&pg=PA640|title=The Standard Library Cyclopedia of Political, Constitutional, Statistical and Forensic Knowledge|last=Bohn|first=H. G.|year=1849|pages=640|language=en|quote=A ''republic'', according to the modern usage of the word, signifies a political community which is not under monarchical government ... in which one person does not possess the entire sovereign power.}}</ref><ref name="M-W">{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/republic|title=Definition of Republic|website=Merriam-Webster Dictionary|language=en-US|access-date=2017-02-18|quote=a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch ... a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/republic|title=The definition of republic|website=Dictionary.com|access-date=2017-02-18|quote=a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them. ... a state in which the head of government is not a monarch or other hereditary head of state.}}</ref> despite some having seen [[President for life#Similarity to a monarch|infringements]] through lifelong or even hereditary heads of state, such as in [[North Korea]].<ref name="Hermit">{{cite web|url=http://nautilus.org/publications/books/dprkbb/negotiating/dprk-briefing-book-korean-monarch-kim-jong-il-technocrat-ruler-of-the-hermit-kingdom-facing-the-challenge-of-modernity/ |title=Korean Monarch Kim Jong Il: Technocrat Ruler of the Hermit Kingdom Facing the Challenge of Modernity |publisher=[[Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability|The Nautilus Institute]] |access-date=18 December 2007 |last=Mansourov |first=Alexandre |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922040313/http://nautilus.org/publications/books/dprkbb/negotiating/dprk-briefing-book-korean-monarch-kim-jong-il-technocrat-ruler-of-the-hermit-kingdom-facing-the-challenge-of-modernity/ |archive-date=22 September 2013 }}</ref>

With the rise of republicanism, a diverse division between republicanism developed in the 19th-century politics (such as anti-monarchist [[Classical radicalism|radicalism]]) and [[Conservatism|conservative]] or even [[reactionary]] [[monarchism]]. In the following 20th century many countries abolished the monarchy and became republics, especially in the wake of [[World War I]] and [[World War II]].

Today forty-three sovereign nations in the world have a [[List of current monarchs of sovereign states|monarch]], including fifteen [[Commonwealth realm]]s that have [[Charles III]] as the head of state. Most modern monarchs are [[Constitutional monarchy|constitutional monarchs]], who retain a unique legal and ceremonial role but exercise limited or no political power under a constitution. Many are so-called [[crowned republic]]s, surviving particularly in small states.<ref>W. Veenendaal, "Monarchy and Democracy in Small States: An Ambiguous Symbiosis," in S. Wolf, ed., ''State Size Matters: Politik und Recht I'm Kontext von Kleinstaatlichkeit und Monarchie'' (Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 2016), pp. 183–198, {{doi|10.1007/978-3-658-07725-9_9}}, {{ISBN|978-3-658-07724-2|}}.</ref>

In some nations, however, such as [[Morocco]], [[Qatar]], [[Liechtenstein]], and [[Thailand]], the hereditary monarch has more political influence than any other single source of authority in the state, even if it is by a constitutional mandate.

According to a 2020 study, monarchy arose as a system of governance because of an efficiency in governing large populations and expansive territories during periods when coordinating such populations was difficult. The authors argue that monarchy declined as an efficient regime type with innovations in communications and transportation technology, as the efficiency of monarchy relative to other regime types declined.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gerring |first1=John |last2=Wig |first2=Tore |last3=Veenendaal |first3=Wouter |last4=Weitzel |first4=Daniel |last5=Teorell |first5=Jan |last6=Kikuta |first6=Kyosuke |date=2020 |title=Why Monarchy? The Rise and Demise of a Regime Type |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-87297 |journal=Comparative Political Studies |language=en |volume=54 |issue=3–4 |pages=585–622 |doi=10.1177/0010414020938090 |issn=0010-4140 |s2cid=225612565 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10852/84589}}</ref>

According to a 2023 study, monarchy has persisted as a regime type because it can accommodate demands for [[democratization]] better than other forms of autocratic rule: "Monarchies can democratize without destabilizing the leadership through transitioning to a democratic [[constitutional monarchy]]. The prospect of retaining the ruler appeals to opposition groups who value both democracy and stability, but it also has implications for their ability to organize and sustain mass protest."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lawrence |first=Adria |date=2023 |title=Why Monarchies Still Reign |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/886932 |journal=Journal of Democracy |language=en |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=47–61 |doi=10.1353/jod.2023.0017 |s2cid=258184108 |issn=1086-3214|url-access=subscription }}</ref>