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A constitutional monarchy, limited monarchy or parliamentary monarchy (in its most limited form, a crowned republic)〔 is a form of government in which governing powers of the monarch are restricted by a constitution.〔Jerome Blum et al., ''The European World'' (1970) 1:267–68〕 Constitutional monarchy differs from absolute monarchy, in which a monarch in an absolute monarchy holds absolute power. A constitutional monarchy may refer to a system in which the monarch acts as a non-party political head of state under the constitution, whether written or unwritten. While most monarchs may hold formal reserve powers and the government may officially take place in the monarch's name, they do not set public policy or choose political leaders. Political scientist Vernon Bogdanor, paraphrasing Thomas Macaulay, has defined a constitutional monarch as "a sovereign who reigns but does not rule".〔, excerpted from 〕 In addition to acting as a visible symbol of national unity, a constitutional monarch may hold formal powers such as dissolving parliament or giving Royal Assent to legislation. However, the exercise of such powers is generally a formality rather than an opportunity for the sovereign to enact personal political preference. In ''The English Constitution'', British political theorist Walter Bagehot identified three main political rights which a constitutional monarch could freely exercise: the right to be consulted, the right to advise, and the right to warn. Some constitutional monarchs, however, still retain significant power and influence and play an important political role. The United Kingdom and fifteen of its former colonies are constitutional monarchies with a Westminster system of government. Three states – Malaysia, Cambodia and the Holy See – employ true elective monarchies, where the ruler is periodically selected by a small, aristocratic electoral college. ==History== The oldest constitutional monarchy dating back to ancient times were the Hittites. They were an ancient Anatolian peoples that lived during the Bronze age whose king had to share his or her authority with an assembly, called Panku, equivalent to a modern-day deliberative assembly of a legislature. These were scattered noble families that worked as representatives of their subjects in an adjutant or subaltern federal-type landscape.〔http://www.smie.co/html/cultural_history/hittites/hittites_3.shtml〕 The country to transition from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy was Bhutan, in 2007–08. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「constitutional monarchy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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