Constitutional Monarchy

A Constitutional Monarchy, or a Limited Monarchy, is a form of Constitutional Government, wherein either an elected or hereditary monarch is the head of state, unlike in an Absolute Monarchy, wherein the King or the Queen is the sole source of political power, as he or she is not legally bound by the national constitution. The constitutional monarchy's government and its law are the government and the law of a limited monarchy. Most constitutional monarchies have a parliamentary system (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, New Zealand, Japan, Thailand, United Kingdom) in which the monarch is the head of state, but a directly- or indirectly-elected prime minister is head of government. Although contemporary constitutional monarchies mostly are representative, constitutional democratic monarchies, have co-existed with fascist and quasi-fascist constitutions (Italy, Japan, Spain) and with military dictatorships (Thailand).