Table of Contents
Definition of Constitutional Monarchy
(noun) A monarchical government in which the ruler’s power is limited by a constitution or other legal restraints.
Example of Constitutional Monarchy
- The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland governed by Queen Elizabeth II and a parliament divided into the House of Lords and House of Commons, led by a prime minister.
Constitutional Monarchy Pronunciation
Syllabification: con·sti·tu·tion·al mon·ar·chy
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /kahn-stuh-tOO-shuhn-l mAHn-uhr-kee/
- British English – /kon-sti-tyOO-shuh-nuhl mOn-uh-kee/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˌkɑnstəˈtuʃənəl ˈmɑnɑrki/
- British English – /ˌkɒnstɪˈtjuːʃənl ˈmɒnəki/
Usage Notes
- Plural: constitutional monarchies
- The authority of a constitutional monarch is typically hierarchical, with power transferred hereditarily, typically through the eldest son (primogeniture).
- A constitutional monarchy is compared and contrasted with an absolute monarchy.
- Absolute monarchies were once the norm in Europe. However, most contemporary monarchies are constitutional monarchies (Wright 2006, under “monarchy”).
- A type of government, monarchy, and political system.
- Also called limited monarchy.
- A (noun) monarch rules a constitutional monarchy, and their authority is described as (adjective) monarchal or (adjective) monarchic or (adjective) monarchical.
Additional Information
- Word origin of “constitutional” and “monarchy” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Ball, Philip. 2004. Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- Turner, Bryan S. 2012. “In Defence of Monarchy.” Society 49(1):84–89. doi:10.1007/s12115-011-9496-6.
Related Terms
Reference
Wright, Edmund, ed. 2006. A Dictionary of World History. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Works Consulted
Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).
Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Ravelli, Bruce, and Michelle Webber. 2016. Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Cite the Definition of Constitutional Monarchy
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “constitutional monarchy.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved September 14, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/constitutional-monarchy/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
constitutional monarchy. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/constitutional-monarchy/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “constitutional monarchy.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed September 14, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/constitutional-monarchy/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“constitutional monarchy.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 14 Sep. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/constitutional-monarchy/>.