Elective monarchy

An elective monarchy is a system in which a ruler is selected through an election rather than inheriting the throne automatically. The electorate may be restricted to nobles, officials, or other designated members.

Holy Roman Empire: A Central European polity that lasted from the Middle Ages until 1806, with emperors chosen by prince-electors. Its emperors were elected by a small, legally defined group of leading princes.
Prince-elector: A member of the college entitled to elect the Holy Roman Emperor. Prince-electors made imperial succession an election by a defined elite rather than a popular vote.
Hereditary monarchy: A monarchy in which the crown normally passes through a ruling family according to succession rules. Its automatic dynastic succession is the central alternative to choosing a ruler by election.
Dynastic legitimacy: The claim to political authority grounded in membership of a ruling family and its inherited succession rights. Elective succession could challenge or supplement claims based on lineage.
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth: A European state that existed from 1569 to 1795, with an elected monarch and a powerful nobility. Its noble electorate chose kings in a system known as free election.
Golden Bull of 1356: A constitutional decree that formalized the electoral procedures and privileges of the Holy Roman Empire. It fixed the number and status of electors for choosing the emperor.
Absolute monarchy: A form of monarchy in which the sovereign holds extensive authority with few effective legal or political limits. Election concerns how a monarch takes office; absolutism concerns how much authority the monarch holds.
Noble privilege: Special legal, political, or social rights held by members of a hereditary aristocracy. Restricted electorates gave nobles direct leverage over the crown.
Kingdom of Hungary: A Central European kingdom founded around the turn of the first millennium and later governed under the Habsburgs. Its early succession included royal elections, before hereditary dynastic rule predominated.
Royal election: A formal vote or selection process for choosing a monarch. It is the succession procedure that distinguishes elective monarchy from automatic inheritance.

Linked from 9 pages