An elective monarchy is a monarchy whose reigning king or queen is elected in some form.

In the ancient Kingdom of Rome, the kings were elected by the Assemblies. The Holy Roman Empire was another example of this, in which the Emperor was elected by a small council of nobles called prince-electors.

In Gaelic Order Ireland, a Rí, or king was elected to rule clan lands both large and small. While Rí (king) is used regardless of the size of the territory, in English, the lesser rulers are more commonly called chieftains. The Ard Rí Éireann, or High King of Ireland was also elected from among the provincial kings.

A system of elective monarchy existed in Anglo-Saxon England. See Witenagemot.

In Poland, after the death of the last Piast in 1370, Polish Kings were initially elected by a small council; gradually, this privilege was granted to all members of the gentry. Kings of Poland during the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795) were elected by gatherings of crowds of nobles at a field in the neighbourhood of Warsaw. Every one of an estimated 500,000 nobles could potentially have participated in such elections in person. During the election period, the function of the king was perfomed by an interrex.

At the start of the 20th century, several monarchs of newly-independent nations were elected by parliaments: Norway is the prime example. Previously, following precedent set in newly-independent Greece, new nations without a well-established hereditary royal family, often chose their own monarchs from among the established royal families of Europe rather than elevate a member of the local power establishment, in the hope that a stable hereditary monarchy would eventually emerge from the process. The now-deposed royal families of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania were originally appointed in this manner.

Other monarchs, such as the Shah of Iran, have been required to undergo a parliamentary vote of approval before being allowed to ascend to the throne.

Nowadays

Currently, the world's only true "elective monarchies" are:

• Vatican City, where the Pope is elected to a life term by (and usually from) the College of Cardinals
• Malaysia, where the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is selected to a five-year term from a small group of local hereditary rulers using a system of rotation, originally based on seniority, and varied by a council.
• the Kingdom of Cambodia, in which kings are chosen for a life term by The Royal Council of the Throne from candidates of royal blood.

Some may argue that the remaining communist regimes are also "elective monarchies", as successors are often chosen from within the Communist Party. In North Korea, Kim Jong Il succeeded his father Kim Il Sung as leader. In Syria the head of state is President Bashar al-Assad, the son of president Hafez al-Assad, who led the country from 1971 until his death in 2000. These regimes, though they possess many features of absolutism, are not officially proclaimed as monarchies.

See also

• Papal election
• Papal conclave, 2005