The Problems of Monarchy

When Australia voted on whether to become a Republic in 1999, I voted against becoming a Republic. Not because I didn't like the type of Republic being offered, not because I thought Politicians would get too much power (which I did think), nor because I despised those who think they are our betters telling us lesser beings how to vote. No, I voted against the Republic because I'm a Monarchist.

I support having a Royal family and I support the Crown, the idea that behind everything there is a real person with legitimate political authority. Not a mere Politician, here today and gone tomorrow. But someone born to the position, the Monarch is a real person who has no choice about being born to that position. To be the King or Queen is a Duty, an obligation and a burden. That is why they deserve our respect. They serve us for their entire life and they have little choice about it, even if they abdicate they cannot escape the public eye and live a normal life. Politicians like to think that they share this burden, but in truth we are glad to see the back of nearly all of them.

So if I am a Monarchists why am I pointing out problems? Shouldn't I sweep them under the carpet and pretend that Monarchy is the bees knees? Conservatives understand, or at least should understand, that there is no perfect political system or society. That there is no utopia. No happy ending, there are only choices to be made, choices to be managed. That we cannot end war, or murder, or people who are not disabled parking in disabled parking spaces, or bad manners. All we can do is try to manage things so that good outcomes are more likely than bad. For Conservatives and Conservatism there are no 5 years plans with utopia at the end. For Conservatives there is hard work, hard thinking and hard choices.

Monarchy is an Ancient institution, all of the early Civilizations were Monarchies and until the aftermath of WWI the majority of countries were Monarchy's. Only in the last century has Monarchy fallen out of political fashion. Throughout history most Monarchies can be placed in one of three categories.

Absolute
Kingship
Constitutional

Lets look at each in turn.

Absolute Monarchy

All of the earliest Monarchies were absolute, the King could do nearly anything that he wanted, enact any law, fight any war, kill anyone for any reason. At least in theory, in practice there were often limits on his power. Religious limits were very strong for example. An Absolute Monarch was also regarded as being responsible for everything.

Kingship

Most Monarchies through history have been Kingships. The King was limited in his power, even though he was in most cases regarded as the most powerful within the Kingdom. The Church or Nobles exercised much power and while in theory the King controlled everything, in reality his areas of responsibility were smaller. Foreign relations, raising armies, controlling the minting of money or at least those kind of things.

Constitutional

Today nearly all Monarchies are Constitutional Monarch's. They have limited power, some have no power beyond ceremonial and personal influence. However in most Constitutional Monarchies they are regarded as the only legitimate political power and Democratic Governments may be elected by the people, but they govern because the Crown gives them legitimate authority.

The problems

The greatest problem is that not all legitimate Monarch's are good, sane or competent. What do you do when the legitimate Monarch isn't very good? It is a problem that has various solutions, all of which make the institution of Monarchy look bad. You can let them reign and reap the contempt of everyone. You can limit their power, but who gets that power and who has the authority to make sure they don't abuse  it. You can make a Regency and have someone else do the real work, but if there is a crisis who should people give their loyalty to? The man who is the legitimate King or the man who is saving the Kingdom, how do you serve both? Do you imprison or even kill the King? All of these have been tried, the only one that works is when the Monarch agrees that they really are bad, mad or incompetent, and then only sometimes.

A bad Monarch is bad, particularly if they live for a long time, a string of bad Monarchs is a disaster. In the past that meant replacing one Dynasty with another, today it means replacing the Monarchy with a Republic.

Each type of Monarchy also has it's own problems.

Problems of Absolute Monarchy
When anything goes wrong it's the Monarchs fault, his personal fault. If the local Postmaster is friendly and competent the Monarch gets the credit. When he's replaced by a mean spirited and corrupt fool, the Monarch gets the blames. He is responsible for everything. The best example I can give is the Czar in WWI, when he took personal control of the Army he took personal responsibility for every defeat. The Generals weren't to blame, the Czar was. It shook confidence in the Czar and many stopped believing that he could solve Russia's problems, or indeed any problem.

Also the personal opinion of the Monarch carries so much weight that when he is wrong, and everyone is wrong at times, it can be next to impossible to correct the problem. He loses respect if he admits mistakes and lets be honest who likes to admit mistakes.

Problems of Kingship
The King has real political power, but he shares it and everyone knows he shares power. The real question here is how much power? When most Conservatives think of Monarchy it is the Kingship model that they think of. The great benefit of Kingship is that different Monarchs can have different power, but trying to shape that creates constant political problems because rarely does anyone want to give up political power. Over time either the Monarch wins and it drifts into an Absolute Monarchy or the Monarch loses and it drifts into a Constitutional Monarchy.

Problems of Constitutional Monarchy
The great benefit of Constitutional Monarchy is that rarely is the Monarch blamed for any serious problem or issue. Everyone knows that the Monarch isn't responsible for Foreign policy or the economy for example. That means the Monarchy can remain above politics and above policy.

Sadly it also means they cannot do anything to fix real world problems. In theory they can sack Governments, in reality even when this is legal, Tradition, one of the great weapons in Monarchies arsenal, prevents it. Personal opinion certainly counts, but only so far.

One of the saddest aspects of Constitutional Monarchy's is that they have become celebrities. But they are not ordinary celebrities, they are born famous and will remain famous until they die and many will remain famous even in death, they have political power even if that is limited, they have an historical role and they are a built in part of the State. Nearly all other celebrities miss out on all these. I'm not saying the Monarch shouldn't be seen in public, or meet people, or do charity events. But sometimes the line of dignity came very close to being crossed and when it comes to the press that line has been trampled. Constitutional Monarchy allows the Monarchy to be treated as a public relations exercise. It interferes with the dignity of the an institutional that has a life span of centuries and reduces it to what do the public think about the Royal families popularity this month? We see this clearly with Politicians, public opinion polls do not allow for dignity.


Another issue is are Monarchies legitimate?

Republicans argue that Monarchies are not legitimate, that Kings and Queens are simply there either because of an historical accident or because of historical injustice. But actually the exact same argument can be used against Republic's. The United States for example is a Republic because the man they wanted to be King said no. The truth is that Monarchs are Monarchs because at some point in history their family had the support of the most powerful people of their time and place. Actually very much like how modern Governments of all persuasions are formed. The difference is that family is only really important within Monarchies and the longevity of Dynasties mean that they often have long traditions and histories, always bound up with the nations life. Something Politicians cannot do, even when they belong to a family with a longstanding political history, they tend to move in and out of national life, unlike Monarchies which remain as part of the national life at all times.

As a Monarchist I want the remaining Monarchies to remain, I even want more recreated. But as a Conservative I know that Monarchy, like all human institutions, has flaws. It is important to see these flaws and to be prepared to counter those who wish to see an end to one of Mankind's greatest symbols of Nationhood.

Also read:

Why I am a Constitutional Monarchist

Upon Hope Blog - A Traditional Conservative Future
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