Briefly, the Benefits of Constitutional Monarchy

Constitutional Monarchy’s Remarkable Example

The benefits of monarchy are truly very high. Note the confirming and validating results of the following study by Lee Sigelman of George Washington University and Jeremy Mayer of Kalamazoo College of Michigan. This was published in the Journal of the American Political Science Association. (home1.gte.net/eskandar
/monarchies.html) (Richard Morin, The Washington Post, August 22, 1999, p. B05: morinr@washpost.com)

These men analyzed royal rule from the data of two other political scientists examining “how income inequality, support for revolutionary change, interpersonal trust and other measures of civic culture were correlated with the overall level of political rights and freedoms [personally experienced] in the United States and 26 other Western societies.” (Ibid.) And it ended up being a powerful witness of monarchies fascinating potential for good:

Mayer and Sigelman found that “other factors being equal, in monarchies, public support for revolution was significantly less widespread, interpersonal trust was significantly higher, per capita wealth was considerably greater, income was significantly less concentrated, and the political system [was] significantly more democratic” than in non-monarchies. (Ibid.)

Their conclusion: monarchy represents a “royal road to prosperity, democracy and world peace.” Monarchy, of course, isn’t perfect, nothing is, but it can make an impressive contribution to the well being of society by providing strength and stability, a calm and dignified center, luster, continuity, unity, traditions, oneness, and even greatness. Perhaps because it is patterned after the order of heaven wherein the Supreme Creator is the King above all kings or the divine ruler over all that is and every will be.

Does it surprise you that “among the 10 richest countries of the world, 7 are monarchies.” The “per capita income of the 45 monarchies [throughout the world] average $17,000, to compare with the [the rest of the world who] average $7,200 world per capital income.” (www.maldivesroyal
family.com/remy.shtml) Most of the richest nations of the world have monarchs as heads of state, and many of the most democratic, non-oppressive, liberty loving nations on earth are monarchies. It is also interesting that statistics concerning Commonwealth nations show that “Decolonization has worked best when independent countries have adopted, retained and recognized monarchy.” (December 2006 issue www.almanach.be/newsletter/mail2.html) Such governments provide more stability, unity and prosperity, and, above all, protect the most sacred and beautiful freedoms, rights and liberties that all mankind should enjoy in rich abundance.

Quentin Langley, university instructor, editor and columnist, declared:

European monarchies have excellent records of democracy and preserving freedom. . . . Most countries which have switched from a parliamentary to a presidential system, including most former British territories in Africa, have gone on to severely restrict political freedoms soon afterwards. . . . Parliamentary systems are more stable, more effective, and better able to preserve freedom than executive presidencies, and some of the best examples of effective parliamentary democracies are constitutional monarchies. . . . Better governance is only one advantage of restoring the monarchy. . . .

And what better ambassador could there be to garner foreign investment than a King or Queen? Would American investors rush to meet the President of country they could not place on a map? Would the networks report such a visit to American shores? But the Queen of some exotic European domain would attract far more interest [appeal, curiosity, wonder and awe]. (www.quentinlangley.net/article.php?id=20)

In 2007, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) established by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) published a very enlightening report named “Relevance of African Traditional Institutions of Governance” on the impact of the native traditional kings and chiefs of Africa. The main facts and observations showed monarchy to be superior and beneficial generally around. The following items were garnered from this report. The thirteen major findings were that native traditional kings and chiefs were a great advantage to the life of the people, not to perfection, but a definite improvement. It showed that invented or imposed chieftaincies were largely unsuccessful, where the traditional ones thrived and prospered. Some of the real advantages were because these kings and chiefs were like fathers to the people and promoted and enhanced greater general morale and satisfaction, because they treasured traditional democracy principles and practices, strengthened human rights and freedoms, promoted greater fairness, cohesion, unity and community feelings generally, worked to solve important problems on local levels, added strength, stability, security and continuity of leadership, created better reconciliation of ethnic conflicts, and operated exceptionally well in dispensing justice, enforcing contracts and maintaining general accountability. They also made an important contribution as liaisons between the government and their people, who ordinarily resisted many things as the people all too often thought of the government as exploitive and oppressive. Hence, cooperation has increased. Greater checks and balances on corruption, lopsided greedy or power hungry special interest groups and the overall short-sightedness of government has come with the integration of these chiefs into the upper chambers of a number of parliaments. The House of Chiefs, patterned after the House of Lords in Great Britain, can been found in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe ensuring better decisions or legislative outcomes on a general basis. (The Almanach de Bruxelles monthly newsletter, No. 132, March-April 2008) The evidence is in that constitutional monarchies are a great help, asset and benefit generally among the nations so privileged to have them. For example:

MONARCHIES – THE MOST DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD!

The Democracy Index is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit examining the state of democracy in 167 countries, focusing on five general categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation and political culture. The countries are categorized into “Full Democracies”, “Flawed Democracies”, “Hybrid Regimes” (all considered democracies), and “Authoritarian Regimes” (considered dictatorial).

SEVEN OUT OF THE FIRST TEN COUNTRIES ARE CONSTITUTIONAL PARLIAMENTARY MONARCHIES!

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The 2010 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) researched by Transparency International shows that constitutional monarchies dominate the top 10 least corrupt nations on earth. Not only is crime lower in constitutional monarchies, but recent studies also demonstrate that constitutional monarchies generally do better in global competitiveness, economic freedom, human development, life expectancy and the general perception of personal happiness. Republics generally fare far worse in every area. Constitutional monarchy is a superior form of government that can be a blessing to all nations. “In fact, constitutional monarchies lead the world for peace, order, good government, prosperity, safety, peace of mind, longevity, wealth, and the good life.” (Quote from article—last reference below) Just recently in 2015, a study printed in the Wall Street Journal shows that the majority of the most happy nations on earth are constitutional monarchies. (Alexander Kent, The Five Happiest Countries in the World; 2015: http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandinvesting/the-5-happiest-countries-in-the-world/ar-BBkxRcw?ocid=mailsignout) Happiness is one of the prized and sought after qualities in life. What could be greater! Monarchy really does have much to offer—-much more than most forms. No wonder this kind of mixed government has been recommended by the best minds and the most respected philosophers and scholars of all time—-Plato, Aristotle, Tacitus, Polybius and Cicero to name just a few.

www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2007
http://idw-online.de/pages/en/news233757
www.heritage.org/research/features/index/countries.cfm
www.swivel.com/data_columns/spreadsheet/1856881
www.nohypehealth.org/dakoma.html
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/02/the_world_map_o.html
www.qldpcs.com.au/inc.php?inc=info&uid=6972&return=%2Finc.php
%3Finc%3Dproducts%26mcatid%3D3%26scatid%3D79%26catid%3D87

For example, Aristotle categorized and studied “158 different styles of government in Greece and reported that the best form of government was a monarchy that ruled with the input of fair-minded aristocrats who were strongly influenced by the masses.” (http://users.gloryroad.net/~cmonte/WHnotes2.html) Cicero declared it to be “the most splendid available.” He stated “a form of government which is an equal mixture of the three good forms [monarchy, aristocrisy and democracy] is [vastly] superior to any of them by itself.” (www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a53befd0721.htm) Why? Because it is the finest of all and has more vital checks and balances than any other, this kind of government, in general, has produced the most prosperous nations on earth.

In the 18 October 2003 weekly newsletter of the Almanach de Bruxelles, it stated:

Among the 10 richest countries (GDP per capita) of the world, 7 are monarchies, that among the 30 richest countries more than half (18) are monarchies: countries that have the British Queen as head of state, former dependencies or even colonies, are ranking very nicely 3rd (Bermuda), 5th (Cayman), 10th (Canada), etc… The richest Asian country, Japan, is a monarchy, the two richest Middle East countries, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, are monarchies as in the Pacific continent: Australia and New Zealand. (www.almanach.be/search/n/news
_newsletter1.html)

In fact, statistically speaking, not only are monarchies generally representative of the richest nations on earth, but “the most stable and free countries in the world.” (Ibid.) Experience with Commonwealth nations has clearly shown that, “Decolonization has worked best when independent countries have adopted, retained or recognized monarchy.” (Ibid.) Those who have not done so have faired the worst. Hence, the grand conclusion is that constitutional monarchy is the best system that man has ever devised for the benefit and prosperity of mankind.

More facts:

Constitutional monarchies have an average GDP per capita of $29,106.71 and an average life expectancy of 75.6. All other countries have an average GDP per capita of $12,518.76 and an average life expectancy of 68.3. Point: constitutional monarchies. . . .

By Republic’s own estimates, the royals of Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain all cost less than half as much as the president of Germany does. There’s nothing inherent in monarchy that makes it more expensive. . . .

On every metric that counts, constitutional monarchies match or best republics. They’re more responsive to public opinion, more likely to have governments change in response to elections rather than political wrangling, and less likely to have partisan heads of state interfering with the political process. [In short, “Constitutional Monarchies are more democratically accountable.”]. . . .

[Conslcusion]: Constitutional monarchy is the best form of government that humanity has yet tried. It has yielded rich, healthy nations whose regime transitions are almost always due to elections and whose heads of state are capable of being truly apolitical. (2015: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/07/23/shut-up-royal-baby-haters-monarchy-is-awesome)

In addition, a recent 2015 article entitled, “The Happiest Countries in the World” of the top ten, six were constitutional monarchies. This was from a “. . . study, published annually by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). . . .” “The Better Life Index rates the 34 OECD member nations, as well as Brazil and the Russian Federation, on 22 variables that contribute to overall well-being, including income, education, housing, health, and life satisfaction.” Again, monarchy is a great thing. It has proven to be a contributing factor to the good and benefit of people all over the earth. (Alexander Kent, 2015: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2015/06/02/the-happiest-countries-in-the-world-6)

Please see the articles “Ideals” and “Advantages” for the reason why it is superior form of government.