A Right To Rule

A mural from Trongsa Dzong depicts Bhutan’s second king.

- Sophie Ibbotson

There was a time when a king needed no mandate from his subjects. His right to rule was considered divine. He (and it was almost always a man) was appointed by God, and thus no mere mortal had the right to question, challenge, or dethrone him.

From the very first rulers of Mesopotamia, who regarded their kings as deities after death, through the royal dynasties of China and Japan, South and Southeast Asia, the king’s “Mandate of Heaven” was taken as read. For who would risk incurring the wrath of God? Even if you were not a believer, the king’s wealth and power, large army, and fortified palace would have been a more than adequate deterrent.

But the world changed. The thinkers of the Renaissance began to argue against the divine right of kings, and slowly but surely, power began to shift to the people. Country after country exiled or decapitated their erstwhile rulers, replacing them with elected presidents. Being the firstborn son of a king no longer guaranteed your right to rule.

Today, just 43 countries around the world still have monarchs as their head of state (44, if you count the Pope in the Vatican). Of these, 16 are Commonwealth states, led by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, and she appoints governors general in each country to fulfil her constitutional functions.

Some monarchies are absolute monarchies – all the power is vested in a single person – whereas others are constitutional monarchies, where the monarch is legally bound to act in accordance with the constitution, and shares power with an elected head of government.

But what specifically of the monarchies in Asia? Where are they, and how do they function? Are they still relevant in the modern world? We examine five of the most interesting cases.