Constitutional monarchy

A system of government in which a monarch serves as head of state under constitutional limits, with political authority allocated by law.

Constitution: A body of fundamental rules establishing and limiting the powers of a state and its institutions. It defines the monarch’s legal powers and the institutions that exercise political authority.
Absolute monarchy: A monarchy in which the ruler holds extensive governing authority with few effective constitutional limits. It contrasts with systems that legally constrain royal authority and allocate power to other institutions.
United Kingdom constitutional monarchy: The British system in which the monarch’s public role is governed chiefly by statute, convention, and common law. Its uncodified constitutional arrangements illustrate how convention can constrain a monarch.
Magna Carta: A 1215 charter that imposed limits on the English king and affirmed certain legal protections. It became an early symbol of the principle that a ruler is subject to law.
Head of state: The official who represents a state in its constitutional and diplomatic functions. A monarch’s role as head of state can be separated from the work of governing.
Parliamentary system: A system of government in which the executive depends on the confidence of a legislature. In many constitutional monarchies, ministers govern only while they retain parliamentary support.
Republic: A state whose head of state is not a hereditary monarch. It replaces hereditary kingship with a non-monarchical form of headship.
Sweden constitutional monarchy: A parliamentary monarchy in which the monarch has a largely representative role under Sweden’s constitutional framework. Sweden’s written rules sharply separate royal ceremony from political decision-making.
Glorious Revolution: The 1688–1689 English regime change that removed James II and established William III and Mary II as monarchs. Its settlement strengthened Parliament’s authority over the Crown.
Head of government: The political leader responsible for directing a government’s executive branch. The office is usually held by a prime minister rather than the monarch.

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