Malaysia ~ The Monarch Malaysia ~ The Monarch Daulat Tuanku Undoubtedly, the Malaysian monarchy is a unique system as it is the only country where its King is elected every five years. Here the King or the ‘Yang Di Pertauan Agong’ is elected every five years unlike the traditional system where the Monarch ascends the throne through lineage and remains until his abdication or death. Malaysia has Seven States are headed by Sultans (Kedah, Selangor, Kelantan, Johor, Perak, Pahang and Terengganu), one by a Raja (Perlis) and another by Yang Di-Pertuan Besar (Negeri Sembilan). Of these nine hereditary Malay rulers, each takes turn to rule for five years as king. This system was the innovation of the country’s first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman and was the result of the historical situation in Malaya. It evolved from the combination of the British ruled Straits Settlements (Penang, Malacca and Singapore), the British North Borneo States of Sabah and Sarawak with the Malay States in the formation of an independent Malaysia.

Tunku Abdul Rahman found it difficult to decide which of the nine Malay Rulers Sultans should be King since each of them was entitled to the throne. In the end to protect the position and prestige of the Malay rulers, he decided on a system where each Sultan would be King for a term of at least five years and the King would be called the “Yang Di Pertuan Agong”, or Supreme Ruler. The office of the King is not hereditary but is for a fixed term of five years and on a rotational system among the Rulers. It provides that for the purposes of the appointment of the King, the order of precedence among the nine Rulers (based on the length of time the Rulers had reigned in their States) at the time of Independence, be followed. The position of the King is that of a constitutional Monarch and plays an important constitutional role in the country. He does not have absolute powers except certain powers conferred by Parliament on him under Federal Laws provided in the Federal Constitution. Except for a few matters where he is allowed to use his discretion, he can only act on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Amongst his titles, in the Judiciary, he is the fountain of Justice, he is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and is the Supreme Head of Islam in the country. Elective Monarchy - TV Tropes Elective Monarchy You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share YMMV The inverse of Hereditary Republic , this is when a monarch does not automatically inherit the throne, but is instead chosen by a group of people, usually a select few. This has been done in Real Life , most notably by the Holy Roman Empire and with The Pope . Even in monarchies that are normally hereditary, this can come up if the entire royal family dies out, as a method to decide who gets to form the new royal family. Succession Crisis is very common as people go wheeling and dealing to try to secure the throne or favors for their help in securing it. Of course, human nature being what it is, disappointed candidates upset with the results or the agenda of the monarch proceed to lead a rebellion against the winner, not that primogeniture necessarily prevents civil wars either. Offered the Crown as the standard practice.

Examples: open/close all folders Anime and Manga Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and the rest of the Cosmic Era timeline includes the tiny but powerful pacific nation called the "Orb Union" ruled by a elected legislature à la most constitutional monarchies but also by, not one, but five noble families, the most prominent is current ruling family, the Athhas while most of the rest are featured in the side stories like Astray, all five must agree on decisions that affect the rest of the country and voting for a "Chief Representative", the official head of state amongst their Lords (though Cagalli Yula Athha, Princess of Orb directly inherited her Father's, Lord Uzumi's position). Part of Castle Town Dandelion 's premise involve the King putting his successor to universal suffrage, selecting among his nine children. Film Star Wars : Naboo's democratic monarchy, in which the ruler is elected and even has term limits. It seems more like a republic, just one that grants their presidents the trappings of royalty. One might speculate that perhaps it was once a regular monarchy which the government slowly watered down into a non-hereditary, limited-time position. According to Darth Plagueis , that's exactly what happened.

The Star Wars Expanded Universe also indicated that the elected leaders of cities on Naboo are "princes" and "princesses" rather than mayors. Before being elected queen, Padme Amidala was Princess of Theed, Naboo's capital. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End : The Pirate King is elected by the nine pirate lords; there have been very few kings because the lords tend to just vote for themselves. Jack surprises everyone by voting for Elizabeth. Kronk's New Groove : Yzma briefly tries to be elected Emperor. Jokes "In a democracy, it's your vote that counts. In feudalism, it's your count that votes" (probably lends itself to the arrangement specified in this trope). Literature In the Belgariad series, Sendaria choose its first king like this, and everyone could vote. Also, the winning candidate had to have a majority of the votes rather than simply the most votes. It took six years and twenty-two ballots to winnow the 724 candidates down to a single winner, a rutabaga farmer named Fundor. As a result, nobody takes the monarchy all that seriously—not even the monarch.

Also, the Empire of Tolnedra elects a new Emperor if the old one dies without an heir. The Wheel of Time : It's mentioned in The Eye of the World that the kings of Malkier were chosen by the Great Lords, and indeed one candidate losing by just two votes helped lead to its downfall, since he then tried to take over by force. In Andor, the eldest daughter of the reigning queen is considered the heir-apparent and styled the "Daughter-Heir," but she must still be confirmed by the noble houses to become queen. In ordinary times this is just a formality, but after Morgase managed to get a 0% Approval Rating due to mismanagement while she was mind-controlled by an evil magic-user, there was enough opposition to her daughter Elayne inheriting that it came to a Succession Crisis before she could get the backing of enough houses to be confirmed as the new queen. The Elenium has this in pretty much the same way as the Papacy for the Archprelacy of the Elene Church.

The sequel series, The Tamuli , has a report within the foreign Tamuli Empire (which uses hereditary inheritance) that calls the Elene Church's tradition of electing their leader weird, but acknowledges that there isn't any non-offensive way to make it hereditary considering Elene priests are supposed to be celibate. In Vampire Academy , the Moroi have such a monarchy. Candidates must be Royals, have their candidacy supported by at least three other Royals, and must pass three trials before the matter goes to a vote. Then its a matter of votes gathered. On the Discworld the Low King of the Dwarves is selected through a complex procedure that's more or less an election, usually of a candidate from various powerful dwarf clans. The complex and ancient politics involved end up with a relatively unknown candidate on the Scone rather than the expected traditionalist, raising many tensions within dwarf society. In the Riftwar Cycle , it's mentioned that upon the death of the King, the Council of Lords elects the new King of the Isles. However, it's also mentioned that said Council has never once failed to elect the previous King's eldest son (if he had one), or personally chosen successor (if he hadn't).

This makes the election a formality unless the King has failed to produce a son or name an heir, which generally results in a Succession Crisis . Knowledge Of Angels : Palinor is an elected prince of his home country, Aclar. The Constellation in Hellhole . The nobility elects the ruling Diadem upon the death of their predecessor. The only explicitly noted limitation is that the children of former Diadems are prohibited from being elected, ensuring that there are no unbroken Diademic dynasties and the elective system is maintained. Lord Darcy : We don't see it on-page, but by law, when the King dies Parliament must elect a Plantagenet as the new king. They're allowed to elect any Plantagenet. It's specifically noted in one story that while it's most likely John IV will be succeeded by one of his two sons, his brother Richard is not out of the running. Live Action TV Game of Thrones : Just as in the books , the Ironborn and wildlings elect their kings. However, the wildling king only holds power so long as the wildlings choose to follow him and there are always holdouts like Craster. There is no sign yet of whether Pentos elects a prince too.

Robb is acclaimed King in the North by his bannermen and the riverlords of the Trident. Tabletop Games The Empire from Warhammer elects their emperors in essentially the same way as the Holy Roman Empire, with the provincial nobles and the high priests selecting one of their number. A system put in place after the first emperor died and was deified without designating an heir. The High Elves have a similar system for the position of Phoenix King, although their Everqueen is a hereditary monarch. Caledor II, son of Caledor the Conqueror, left the elves with such a distaste for nepotistic Phoenix Kings that they have never appointed the son of the previous king since then. In Traveller one of the two main official powers the Imperial Moot (all the nobles in the Imperium who have the time to show up) has is to veto or confirm the Emperor's choice of succession and to dissolve the Imperium. The second power was given as a "mutual assured destruction" should one noble house become too overbearing. But the first makes the Third Imperium a sort of hereditary/elective monarchy.

In practice the moot has a lot of other powers because they have the interests of eleven thousand planets to juggle and even The Emperor 's exalted status does not give him more than twenty four hours a day to go through all that paperwork. In practice the power of veto over succession is seldom exercised and the Imperium is closer to a hereditary monarchy. All this convoluted political tangle is realistic and shows just how complicated such things can be. One of the few instances in which the Moot does not simply confirm the chosen heir is when the Right of Assassination is invoked, in which case the Moot has to decide whether the assassin's claim is legit. Of course the first time someone claimed the throne that way the Moot had planned it after realizing how insane Cleon III was. In BattleTech the Rasalhague Principality/Free Republic/Dominion had their ruling Princes elected by parliament for up to two ten-year terms, from among members of the royal family and usually the previous Prince's son.

When the Free Republic was conquered by the Clans the Elected Prince's son Ragnar Magnusson was taken as a bondsman by first Clan Wolf and then Clan Ghost Bear, where he earned freedom and rose to the rank of Star Colonel. Surprisingly the remnants of the Republic elected him Prince, enabling him to negotiate the merger of Clan Ghost Bear and the Free Rasalhague Republic into the Rasalhague Dominion. The Clans themselves also use elections to determine who will be their Khan. The Clan Council (made up of several hundred bloodnamed warriors) chooses a Khan from amongst themselves. If a runner up or rival faction does not like the result a Trial Of Refusal usually settles things. A Khan can also be removed at any time with a simple majority vote, again likely to be contested by trial. In Fading Suns Emperor Vladimir Alecto created a number of "Elector Staffs" that would enable those who held them to elect his successor and distributed them to the Houses Major, the Church, and the Merchant Guilds. Unfortunately he was assassinated at his coronation and the Houses went to war with each other, for centuries there wasn't an Emperor but instead a "regent" with a limited term.

Until eventually Prince Alexius Hawkwood convinced the Church and Guilds to elect him. The RPG takes place shortly after his coronation, the 4X game Emperor of the Fading Suns takes place during the Emperor Wars and has the objective of being elected Emperor. Theatre In the world of Shakespeare's Hamlet , the Danish monarchy is elective, as it also was in reality until the late 1600s (though in practice, the eldest son was pretty much always elected). This is the reason why Claudius is king instead of Hamlet himself. Hamlet describes his uncle as having "popp'd in between the election and my hopes", and later says that he foresees that "the election lights on Fortinbras" as he himself is dying and Fortinbras has invaded with a large army. Video Games Twilight Princess has the Twili, but it's never elaborated any further. Ferelden in Dragon Age: Origins . The king is elected by the Landsmeet, a congress of the land's most powerful nobles. That's only in extreme cases, when the line of succession isn't clear.

The Theirin dynasty has a long history of rule, broken only temporarily during the Orlesian occupation, and restored when Maric Theirin, the grandson of the Theirin king who was too weak to hold off the Orlesians, manages (with some help) to drive off the occupying forces and regains the crown. Actually, it was a regular occurrence and the Succession Crisis actually emerged because Loghain did not immediately seek legitimacy from the nobility. One of the biggest gripes the Fereldans had against Orlais was that the Landsmeet was not convened, ever, and the Orlesian king was an appointed toady of the Emperor. The King is expected to convene the Landsmeet regularly, Succession Crisis or not. While the nobles probably can't actually remove the king with any method short of war, not consulting with them would likely mean they would choose another successor from another family once he had died. The Theirins had a long history of rule because the founder of their line was the Founder of the Kingdom and, with a few exceptions, they were generally good rulers. It goes further down than that.

The Banns (the lowest form of titled nobility, sort of like Barons) are elected from the local gentry by the Freeholds (free men and women) to protect them in exchange of allegiance. According to Zevran, Antivan kings are also elected — with the added complication of getting to the election without being assassinated by the Crows. If no-one has the nerve, the Crows go after the people they think should run. "Never let it be said that the Crows are not patriots." The Dwarven Kingdom of Orzammar. The King appoints a heir and the Assembly usually approves it, but they can reject the former King's first choice in the past and select their own. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim : Skyrim has a High King who is elected by the nine Jarls in the province. Before the game begins, Ulfric Stormcloak killed King Torygg and started a rebellion against the Empire with the intent of having himself proclaimed High King. The Empire prefers the acting ruler, Torygg's widow Elisif. The Dovahkiin's choice of side in the Civil War storyline decides the issue. The Kingdom of Rhodoks in Mount & Blade games.

As one of your followers notes, even though Rhodok citizens consider themselves superior to the other lands of Calradia due to having a more civilised means of government, in practise they still have a ruling elite of lords and a downtrodden peasant class, same as all the other kingdoms. On the Capricorn server of Imperium Nova the empire became a constitutional monarchy with the emperor elected by the imperial houses every five (in-game) years. Though a military coup by House Canaigh briefly removed the elective element from the monarchy. In Jagged Alliance 2, according to the background information, the country of Arulco ran on a version of this, with new rulers elected every ten years. Most of the country's history involved only two families being considered worthy of ruling: the Chivaldoris and the Cordonas, the former of which ruled the country for most of its history and the latter of which ruled during World War II. It all eventually crashed down when the current king, Enrico Chivaldori, was elected, and his wife, Deidrianna, launched a coup that turned into a brutal, nine-year-long dictatorship.

This is one of the succession options available to feudal rulers of kingdoms and empires in Crusader Kings 2. Under elective succession, all of the dukes of the realm, plus the sovereign, get to vote on the heir to the crown. Used properly, it's extremely powerful, as it allows the player to select the most suitable heir, rather than the doddering idiot who just happened to be born first. Used improperly, it can result in your hard-earned imperial crown being wrested from your dynasty entirely. Appropriately, it's the default succession style of the Holy Roman Empire — see below. A later patch added the 'Tanistry' succession law to the game which can be chosen by Irish-culture AIs or the player's realm. On the plus side candidacy is restricted to members of the ruling dynasty, so no losing titles to popular underlings. On the negative side every landed noble in the realm gets a vote not just the dukes, so getting the winner you actually want becomes near-impossible. Yet another patch introduced "Elective Gavelkind" succession that is the default for tribal rulers. The primary title is awarded by election but the other titles are distributed among the other children.

The Free Palatinate of Dyrwood in Pillars of Eternity is ruled by a duc who is elected by the seven regional els. In King of Dragon Pass , Orlanthi tribes are always ruled by elected kings or queens. Hereditary rule isn't seen as an option, and it's extremely rare for successive kings to even come from the same clan. In order to get to the endgame (and either victory or a "standard" loss) you have to form a tribe and have a clan member elected to rule it, which requires decent relationships with your tribemates, a skilled candidate, choosing the right person to speak for them, and of course, hefty bribes. Webcomic King David Johann of Callan in Dominic Deegan , though the first elected king due to being the first human archmage ( and the hereditary king and queen having been assassinated by him). Western Animation In Adventure Time , the local Con Man and self-proclaimed King of Ooo rallies the gullible citizens of the Candy Kingdom to vote for him to replace their only ever monarch , Princess Bubblegum. She, in turn, ignores all of this, content with her 100% Adoration Rating .

She loses in a landslide and is exiled to a dingy shack on the outskirts of her former territory. Real Life As a general rule, most monarchies were a combination of Elective and Hereditary whenever nobles had any usable degree of power; in a legally elective monarchy, the family of the previous King was often influential, and stood to gain prestige and favors (and thus votes). In a legally hereditary monarchy, rightful successors were known to be passed over for a more effective or popular family member, as an inability to control their vassals would result in the dynasty losing control of the monarchy. The end result of this was that certain nobles would make their wishes for the succession known directly to the king, who often had to balance the legal succession laws with the reality of the situation for the sake of a stable realm. While not legally elective monarchies, they had similar effects and political dynamics.note A peculiar attitude towards this is the British monarchy, where said nobles—plus some rich commoners—had formed themselves into a Parliament. A big war was fought to decide that Parliament got to "settle the succession": that is, determine the law of who got to be King.

Thus although the British monarchy is hereditary, it is indirectly elective, because Parliament decided to set down a predetermined hereditary succession law rather than elect a new monarch each time the monarch died (which Parliament is legally entitled to do). So in a way, Britain is an elective monarchy where the electing body has decided that doing the actual elections would be too much work (and that it was desirable to continue with the French-derived system of the heir instantly taking the throne upon the monarch's death, avoiding any interregnum period in which the throne is empty) and simply set down a law that "automatically" elects the monarch's heir by primogeniture as the new monarch. Under the United Kingdom's system of parliamentary supremacy, the exact mechanism for succession can be and has been changed at will by a new vote of Parliament, most recently in 2013 to change from male-preference to absolute primogeniture and to remove the ban on those in line to the throne from marrying Catholics. The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, especially after the last of the Jagiellons died without issue in 1573. It was even known as the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth . With a king.

One may claim it was a republic with a lifelong presidential term (compare with Venice below). The Holy Roman Empire (of the German Nation): Since the Golden Bull of 1356 the Emperor was elected by a group of four secular prince-electors (namely the King of Bohemia, the Margrave of Brandenburg, the Count Palatine of the Rhine, and the Duke of Saxony) and three prince-archbishops (of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne; the archbishops were secular rulers as well as clergy). Before that there had also been elections of German kings and anti-kings,note Until the 16th century it was only popes who could make Holy Roman Emperors. but which of the secular and clerical greats of the Empire were entitled to vote was not clear.

Usually, anyway-the claim to the electorate of the Wittelsbach dynasty was split in between the Count Palatine and the Duke of Bavaria, and sometimes Bavaria stepped in for the Palatinate (when the Bavarian Wittlesbachs' scheming against their cousins was particularly successful) or Bohemia (when the rival Wittelsbach branches took a break from messing with each other and instead conspired with each other to exclude Bohemia on the grounds that he wasn't German). After the Reformation, the Palatinate Wittelsbachs were Protestants and the Bavarian ones Catholics, so early in the Thirty Years' War the electoral title was given to the Bavarians, but in the Peace of Westphalia it was decided that both would get to be electors (to keep the peace between Catholics and Protestants) bringing the total to eight. At the end of the 17th century a ninth electorate was added for the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (who became known as the Elector of Hanover) as a Catholic junior branch of the Palatinate Wittelsbachs inherited the territory, and it was felt necessary to restore the religious balance.

Later, in the 1770s, the Bavarian Wittelsbachs died out, which in the end led to the Catholic Counts Palatine ruling Bavaria, as well; however, it was agreed that he would only have one vote (not that it ended up mattering ). The Electors of Hanover, incidentally, became The House of Hanover in Great Britain, meaning that the British monarch had a nominal hand in choosing the Emperor for about 100 years. Note that in practice, the Imperial title became hereditary within the House of Habsburg towards the end of the 15th century, and that the Electors generally did not keep the "obvious" heir from the throne until the War of the Austrian Succession (although even before then the "obvious" heir would usually make a point of doing favors for the electors to keep them from holding up the vote when the time came). Before the 15th century, there was a period when the Electors voted for the candidates of the Houses of Wittelsbach, Luxemburg and Habsburg in alternation.

Incidentally all German kings/emperors can be placed into a single family tree , not that it is a particularly readable or simple one, but still all of them from Charlemagne to Wilhelm II were more or less related to each other. The United Arab Emirates, in theory at any rate: although the President is supposedly elected by the rulers of the seven emirates of the UAE, it's always the Emir of Abu Dhabi who holds the position of President, and the President always appoints the Emir of Dubai Prime Minister (unless the Emir of Dubai doesn't want/can't take the job, in which case his heir apparent takes it). In Denmark, the kings were elected from at least the Viking age until 1660. With a single exception all kings (and one woman, Queen Margrethe I, titled "Principal Lady and Husband of the North") came from the same family though, even if some spring around in the family tree were needed now and then. But it kept on, so today ruling queen Margrethe II can look back on a millennium-old family tree of Danish kings. In the same vein, Sweden elected its kings until the end of the 15th century, and all free men could vote.

Of course, vote for the wrong candidate and you get your teeth kicked in, but hey, it's the thought that counts. While every free man (or at least everyone belonging to the higher estates plus landowning farmers) technically could vote, the electorate usually consisted of the nobles, the bishops, their private armies, and assorted peasant revolts with a grudge. Sweden did it again in 1809, when the unpopular king Gustav IV Adolf and his descendants were forcibly removed and the parliament elected his uncle as Charles XIII. Then they realized the new king was 61 and childless , and elected a Danish prince, Charles August, as crown prince in 1810. Then Charles August died of a stroke later that year, and they had to elect a new crown prince, Marshall of the Empire Jean Bernadotte , thus starting the current dynasty of Swedish kings. The medieval kings of Norway were likewise elected. The kings had to be recognized by the ruling body of nobles (Riksrådet) before being crowned. Before that, the commons, most often the farmers, had to recognize the kings at an open assembly.

Historians are at odds on how this exactly worked when Denmark and Norway became a union, as Norwegians claim that they elected their kings, while Denmark was hereditary. The status for the union kings until 1660 was therefore: Crowned in Denmark and "elected" in Norway. Absolutism made an end to that mess. To make things even more interesting: The founder of the modern royal family in Norway, Haakon VII/Prince Carl of Denmark, actually insisted on a referendum before taking position as king. Thus, he was actually originally elected by the Norwegian politicians. The referendum stated the support for monarchy. The King of Vatican City , better known as The Roman Catholic Pope . Aside from being the head of the Catholic Church, he is the last absolute monarch in Europe and one of the last in the world. He is elected by a group of cardinals from among their number,note Technically they can choose any Catholic man as Pope (though a layman would have to be elevated to deacon, then priest, then bishop, before enthronement). In practice, only cardinals have been elected for over a thousand years.

hereditary monarchy being a rather difficult proposition for celibate Catholic clergy.note Not that it stopped some from trying by arranging for their nephews to succeed them. That's how the Catholic Church became the Trope Namer for Nepotism . And in 2013, the Pope Emeritus Ratzinger (formerly Pope Benedict XVI) proved that the office isn't necessarily for life. While papal resignation had been on the books of Catholic Canon Law for as long as the records go back, it had been nearly 600 years since the last time a Pope had done so and over 700 years since a Pope had resigned willingly rather than at the point of a sword . France and its predecessor, the kingdom of the Franks, was at times, but the Carolingians and the Capetians both eventually overcame this by kings having sons crowned (nominally as co-regents) while they were still were alivenote On a few occasion these sons died before their fathers — it is not without significance that when this happened they were not included in the official numbering of kings of France.; eventually, after several generations of doing this, the monarchy became hereditary (again).

But the process was not totally irreversible, there was a period when the great lords of France alternated between making a Carolingian and a Capetian (then called Robertinian) king of France. Also, in Germany, the other successor state to the Frankish kingdom, attempts by various kings and emperors to do the same thing did not prevent their monarchy from becoming elective. The Most Serene Republic of Venice was one for all intents and purposes, given that the head of state (dux/doge/duke) was elected for life. The one attempt to make it a hereditary title ended with the doge and his co-conspirator executed. The King of Cambodia is elected by a council, even if there is a successor available. The Grand Master of the Order of Malta is elected for life. The King of Saudi Arabia is also technically elected. Technically, because of two caveats: When the electors (the most senior princes of the House of Saud) vote, the King is generally still alive, and they thus usually elect a Crown Prince, to succeed the current King when he dies.

Theoretically, if the King and Crown Prince die within a very short span of time, the princes might have to elect a King, but this has never happened. The electors have always elected the most-senior male member of the House of Saud deemed qualified for the job (some princes are ill, uninterested, or otherwise under suspicion, and thus aren't candidates in the first place). Since 1953, this has meant, basically, the oldest surviving son of Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud . That's right—it's been over sixty years since the man died, and only now (2016) are his grandsons anywhere near the throne (current crown Prince, Muhammad bin Nayef, will be the first third generation king when he ascends). To give you an idea, Abdul Aziz was born in 1876. George V was born in 1865. There's a very good chance that George V's great-grandson (Charles—who incidentally has been first in line since his mother became Queen in 1952, so he could have inherited the throne much earlier if his mother wasn't so long-lived) will get to the throne before Abdul Aziz's eldest eligible grandson.

The Mongols traditionally elected a Great Khan by and from among the Khans, who were more-or-less lords without landed estates because of the whole "nomad" thing. This is in fact what "Genghis" means-that "Great Khan"'s real name was Temujin. Anglo-Saxons were this, sort of. The Witenagemot: "council of wise men" (chief VIPs of the kingdom basically) chose who the king would be among the royal family. This has been exaggerated by patriotic Englishmen who wanted to emphasize Saxon's democratic virtues; all sorts of criteria could interfere, including the will of the previous monarch and sometimes simply Asskicking Equals Authority . Nonetheless it was something of an elective monarchy. A variation among various Celtic clans was called "Tanistry" in which the elders elected the heir to the chiefdom rather than the chief. Among other things, this would make it less likely that an election needed to be held during a Succession Crisis : if the old chief was suddenly killed in battle before his clan had time to discuss an impending succession the successor was ready. This custom carried on for a long time and was brought to America by Scots-Irish.

It is notable though perhaps coincidental that the election for President of the United States always finishes several months before the previous one leaves office. The last vestige of this tradition may be found in the title of Ireland's deputy prime minister... tanaiste. The period when Scotland was switching from this system to the more common primogeniture approach is the scene of one of Shakespeare's more famous plays -the title character of which is visibly shocked when the king names one of his sons as "Prince of Cumberland" (i.e., heir apparent). Following Duncan's murder, he's elected king, due to being a popular war hero who just saved them from a Norwegian invasion. The Crown of Aragon. Even though the elected king was almost invariably his predecessor's heir, the electors had little trouble reminding the candidate that they, in theory, could choose anyone, as this quotation from a 14th-century knight shows: [E]ach of us is as much as thou, but [we] all put together are much more than thou.

The Visigothic Kingdom took this to its logical extreme with a ridiculously powerful noble council that not only had the power to elect kings (with at least one king, Wamba, being elected against his will), but also to depose them almost as they pleased. This made civil wars common, since rival factions often just denounced previous elections as invalid and chose their own king as the real one. Of 37 kings that reigned between the sack of Rome (410) and the death of the last one (721),note This doesn't count rebels who failed to take control of the capital and are thus not counted in official lists, yet styled themselves as kings. 11 were murdered for sure, three more were deposed but not killed, and quite a handful more died in circumstances that are deemed suspicious. The Roman Empire effectively practiced this, the emperors being elected by the will of the Senate, the Army, and the people. Its inability to formalize the matter helped contribute to its fall. The Byzantine/ Eastern Roman Empire managed to make it mostly dynastic, which stabilized it from the situation where anyone could be emperor.

The Romans did it even when they were ruled by kings, in a rather complicated way: once the reigning king was dead, the Senate would nominate an interrex (king ad interim) for five days (after which he had to name a successor with the Senate's approval), who would choose a candidate for kingship and present it to the Senate for approval; if the Senate approved, the nominee would be brought before the Curiate Assembly (the assembly of all Roman citizens, even if only patricians could actually vote), presided over by the interrex for the occasion, for approval; if the Curiate Assembly approved, the nominee became king, but, the king also being the high priest, an augur (a priest tasked with interpreting the will of the gods by observing the flight of birds) would have to give his own approval; if the augur announced that the gods approved, the king was finally king, but to actually have the power he would have to summon the Curiate Assembly and propose a law in which he was given the imperium (absolute power), and if the bill passed he would finally be the king.

According to legend, they still managed to screw this up (first the sixth legendary king Servius Tullius skipped part of the process and, in spite of being a good king, was murdered in the Senate by his son-in-law for this, and then said son-in-law, Tarquinius Superbus, seized the throne but managed to piss off the people and barely escaped Rome with his life), so at one point they took away all power but part of the religious one, with the annual ceremony Regifugum (Flight of the King) having the king (now called rex sacrorum, king of sacrifices) interpreting Tarquinius Superbus' part as he was deposed and forced to run for his life to make sure he won't have funny ideas. Andorra is an odd example. It is ruled by two co-princes (technically making it a diarchy rather than a monarchy). One of them used to be the King of France but after the French Revolution the position has been held by the President of France, an elected official, though elected by citizens of France rather than Andorra.

The other, the Bishop of Urgell (in Spain) is (being a Catholic bishop) ultimately appointed by the Pope (in a complicated process also involving the local archbishop, the Roman Curia, and the Apostolic Nuncio—i.e. Vatican Ambassador—to the country). The King of the Belgians nominates his heir, but Parliament must confirm, and may choose another member of the royal family. In Kuwait, the Emir appoints with the advice and consent of the National Assembly, a "Crown Prince and Deputy Emir", who is a member of the Al Sabah Clan, but not someone in his immediate family. The last Emir hadn't bothered to appoint anyone else after his successor fell ill—too ill to become Emir—so when he died the Assembly passed him over for another relative. The Kingdom of Hawai'i had the king's choice of heir confirmed by a council of nobles and later parliament. When the House of Kamahameha failed, the noble chosen by parliament called for a referendum to confirm it. Malaysia: Nine out of the thirteen states have hereditary rulers. Every five years, they choose among themselves a Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King), the head of state of the country.

In practice, the position rotates among the nine rulers. One of the states, Negeri Sembilan note Coincidentally, the name means "Nine States", as it is traditionally divided into nine chiefdoms is an elective monarchy itself. The ruler is chosen from the princes of the royal family by a council of chiefs. While it is hard to know for sure ( one of the few written sources on the matter is not always reliable or all that detailed when it comes to that matter), some historians suppose this is what happened with the kingdoms of Israel and Judah in biblical times. During the reign of Kings Saul, David and Solomon the king was strong/convincing/charismatic enough to convince the nobles in the part where being king wasn't hereditary to support the same candidate where it was. The whole system broke down when they could not agree on a successor to King Solomon and hence the two states split. Many Native American tribes had elected rulers (who Europeans invariably called "kings" though in many cases they probably didn't qualify), such as the Iroquois, where chiefs were chosen by clan elders (both male and female). However, the position was still mostly always male .

:: Indexes :: Countries Compared by Government > Executive branch > Elections.

International Statistics at NationMaster.com Albania president is elected by the Assembly for a five-year term and is eligible for a second term (a candidate needs a three-fifths majority of the Assembly's 140 votes (84 votes) in one of the first three rounds of voting or a simple majority in round four or five to become president; up to five rounds of voting are held, if necessary); four election rounds held between 30 May and 11 June 2012 (next election to be held in 2017); prime minister appointed by the president on the proposal of the party or coalition of parties that has the majority of seats in the Assembly Armenia president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 18 February 2013 (next to be held February 2018); prime minister appointed by the president based on majority or plurality support in parliament; the prime minister and Council of Ministers must resign if the National Assembly refuses to accept their program Aruba the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed for a six-year term by the monarch; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by the Staten for four-year terms; election last held on 

25 September 2009 (next to be held by September 2013) Australia the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is sworn in as prime minister by the governor general Austria president elected for a six-year term (eligible for a second term) by direct popular vote and formally sworn into office before the Federal Assembly or Bundesversammlung; presidential election last held on 25 April 2010 (next to be held on 25 April 2016); chancellor formally chosen by the president but determined by the coalition parties forming a parliamentary majority; vice chancellor chosen by the president on the advice of the chancellor Azerbaijan president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for unlimited terms); election last held on 9 October 2013 (next to be held in October 2018); prime minister and first deputy prime minister appointed by the president and confirmed by the National Assembly Barbados the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed

 prime minister by the governor general; the prime minister recommends the deputy prime minister Belarus president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; first election took place on 23 June and 10 July 1994; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999, however, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; subsequent election held on 9 September 2001; an October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits and allowed the president to run in a third (19 March 2006) and fourth election (19 December 2010); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president Bosnia and Herzegovina the three members of the presidency (one Bosniak, one Croat, one Serb) elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for a second term, but then ineligible for four years) by constituencies referring to the three ethnic groups; the candidate with the most votes in a constituency is elected; the chairmanship rotates every eight months and resumes where it left off following each general election; election last held

 on 3 October 2010 (next to be held in October 2014); the chairman of the Council of Ministers appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the state-level House of Representatives Eritrea president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); the most recent and only election was held on 8 June 1993 (next election date uncertain as the National Assembly did not hold a presidential election in December 2001 as anticipated) Estonia president elected by Parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); if a candidate does not secure two-thirds of the votes after three rounds of balloting in the Parliament, then an electoral assembly (made up of Parliament plus members of local councils) elects the president, choosing between the two candidates with the largest number of votes; election last held on 29 August 2011 (next to be held in the fall of 2016); prime minister nominated by the president and approved by Parliament Ethiopia president elected by both chambers of Parliament for a six-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 7 October 2013 (next to be held in October 201

9); prime minister designated by the party in power following legislative elections European Union the president of the European Commission is designated by member governments and is confirmed by the European Parliament; working from member state recommendations, the Commission president then assembles a "college" of Commission members; the European Parliament confirms the entire Commission for a five-year term; the last confirmation process was held 18 November 2004 (next to be held in 2009) Guam under the US Constitution, residents of unincorporated territories, such as Guam, do not vote in elections for US president and vice president; however, they may vote in Democratic and Republican presidential primary elections; governor and lieutenant governor elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a four-year term (can serve two consecutive terms, then must wait a full term before running again); election last held on 2 November 2010 (next to be held in November 2014) Guatemala president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a four-year term (may not serve consecutive terms); election last held on 11 September 2011; runoff held on 6 November 2011 (next to be held in September 20

15) Guinea president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); candidate must receive a majority of the votes cast to be elected president; election last held on 27 June 2010 with a runoff election held on 7 November 2010 Guinea-Bissau president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (no term limits); election last held on 18 March 2012 with a runoff between the two leading candidates scheduled for 22 April 2012; prime minister appointed by the president after consultation with party leaders in the legislature Guyana president elected by popular vote as leader of a party list in parliamentary elections, which must be held at least every five years (no term limits); elections last held on 28 November 2011 (next to be called by December 2016); prime minister appointed by the president Haiti president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (may not serve consecutive terms); election last held on 28 November 2010; runoff on 20 March 2011 (next to be held in 2015); prime minister appointed by the president, ratified by the

 National Assembly Israel president largely a ceremonial role and is elected by the Knesset for a seven-year term (one-term limit); election last held 13 June 2007 (next to be held in 2014 but can be called earlier); following legislative elections, the president, in consultation with party leaders, assigns the task of forming a governing coalition to a Knesset member whom he or she determines is most likely to accomplish that task Italy president elected by an electoral college consisting of both houses of parliament and 58 regional representatives for a seven-year term (no term limits); election last held on 24-25 February 2013 (next to be held in 2020); prime minister appointed by the president and confirmed by parliament Jamaica the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition in the House of Representatives is appointed prime minister by the governor general Japan Diet, the bicameral legislature, designates the prime minister; constitution requires that the prime minister commands parliamentary majority; following legislative elections, the leader of majority party or leader of majority coalition in House of Representatives usually

 becomes prime minister; the monarchy is hereditary Kenya president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); in addition to receiving a simple majority of votes, the presidential candidate must also win 25% or more of the vote in at least five of Kenya's seven provinces and one area to avoid a runoff; election last held on 4 March 2013 (next to be held in 2018); vice president appointed by the president Kiribati the House of Parliament nominates the presidential candidates from among its members following parliamentary elections and then those candidates compete in a general election; president elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for two more terms); election last held on 13 January 2012 (next to be held in 2015); vice president appointed by the president Lebanon president elected by the National Assembly for a six-year term (may not serve consecutive terms); election last held on 25 May 2008 (next to be held in 2014); the prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president in consultation with the National Assembly Lesotho according to the constitution, the leader of the majority party, or coalition of parties

, in the Assembly automatically becomes prime minister; the monarchy is hereditary, but, under the terms of the constitution that came into effect after the March 1993 election, the monarch is a "living symbol of national unity" with no executive or legislative powers; under traditional law the college of chiefs has the power to depose the monarch, determine who is next in the line of succession, or who shall serve as regent in the event that the successor is not of mature age Malaysia kings are elected by and from the hereditary rulers of nine of the states for five-year terms; selection is based on the principle of rotation among rulers of states; elections were last held on 14 October 2011 (next to be held in 2016); prime ministers are designated from among the members of the House of Representatives; following legislative elections, the leader who commands the support of the majority of members in the House becomes prime minister (since independence this has been the leader of the UMNO party) Maldives president elected by direct vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election held on 7 September 2013 was annulled by the Supreme Court; rerun of first round held on 9 November

 2013 and runoff held on 16 November (next election to be held in 2018) Mali president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); the election scheduled for 29 April 2012 and delayed following the March 2012 coup took place 28 July 2013 and a runoff election was held on 11 August 2013; prime minister appointed by the president Malta president elected by a resolution of the House of Representatives for a five-year term; election last held on 12 January 2009 (next to be held by April 2014); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the president for a five-year term; the deputy prime minister appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister Netherlands Antilles the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch for a six-year term; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is usually elected prime minister by the Staten; election last held 27 January 2006 (next to be held by 2010) New Caled

onia French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; high commissioner appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; president of the government elected by the members of the Territorial Congress for a five-year term (no term limits)(next to be held in June 2016) New Zealand the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general Panama president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms (president not eligible for immediate reelection and must sit out two additional terms (10 years) before becoming eligible for reelection); election last held on 3 May 2009 (next to be held in May 2014) Papua New Guinea the monarchy is hereditary; the governor general nominated by parliament and appointed by the chief of state; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of the majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the governor general acting in accordance with a decision of the parliament; Peter Paire O'NEILL elected prime minister by parliament on 3 August

 2012 by a vote of 94 to 12 Poland president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 20 June and 4 July 2010 (next to be held in 2015); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm Portugal president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 23 January 2011 (next to be held in January 2016); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the president Puerto Rico under the US Constitution, residents of unincorporated territories, such as Puerto Rico, do not vote in elections for US president and vice president; however, they may vote in Democratic and Republican party presidential primary elections; governor elected by popular vote for a four-year term (no term limits); election last held on 6 November 2012 (next to be held in November 2016) Republic of Macedonia president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); two-round election:

 first round held on 22 March 2009, second round held on 5 April 2009 (next to be held in March 2014); prime minister elected by the Assembly following legislative elections; the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually elected prime minister Romania president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 22 November 2009 with runoff on 6 December 2009 (next to be held in November-December 2014); prime minister appointed by the president with the consent of the Parliament Saint Kitts and Nevis the monarchy is hereditary; the governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general Saint Lucia the monarchy is hereditary; the governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general Saint Martin French president elected by popular vote to a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the

 advice of the French Ministry of Interior; president of the Territorial Council elected by the members of the Council for a five-year term Saint Pierre and Miquelon French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held on 6 May 2012 (next to be held in 2017); prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; president of the Territorial Council elected by the members of the council Saint Vincent and the Grenadines the monarchy is hereditary; the governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister Samoa chief of state elected by the Legislative Assembly to serve a five-year term (no term limits); election last held on 20 July 2012 (next to be held in 2017); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party usually appointed prime minister by the chief of state with the approval of the Legislative Assembly San Marino co-chiefs of state (captains regent) elected by the Grand and General Council for a six-month term; election last held on

 17 September 2013 (next to be held in March 2014); secretary of state for foreign and political affairs elected by the Grand and General Council for a five-year term; election last held on 11 November 2012 (next to be held by November 2017) Sao Tome and Principe president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 17 July and 7 August 2011 (next to be held in 2016); prime minister chosen by the National Assembly and approved by the president Singapore president elected by popular vote for six-year term; election last held on 27 August 2011 (next to be held by August 2017); following legislative elections, leader of majority party or leader of majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by president; deputy prime ministers appointed by president Slovakia president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 21 March and 4 April 2009 (next to be held no later than April 2014); following National Council elections, the leader of the majority

 party or the leader of a majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the president Slovenia president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 11 November and a runoff on 2 December 2012 (next presidential election to be held in 2017); following National Assembly elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition usually nominated to become prime minister by the president and elected by the National Assembly Solomon Islands the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the advice of parliament for up to five years (eligible for a second term); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition usually elected prime minister by parliament; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister from among the members of parliament; Gordon Darcy LILO elected on 16 November 2011 Thailand the monarchy is hereditary; according to the 2007 constitution, the prime minister is elected from among members of the House of Representatives; following national elections for the House of Representatives, the leader of the party positioned to organize a majority coalition usually becomes prime minister by appointment by the king; the prime

 minister is limited to two four-year terms The Bahamas the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; the prime minister recommends the deputy prime minister Uzbekistan president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term; previously was a five-year term, extended by a 2002 constitutional amendment to seven years and changed back to five years in 2011); election last held on 23 December 2007 (next to be held in early 2015); prime minister, ministers, and deputy ministers appointed by the president Vanuatu president elected for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of parliament and the presidents of the regional councils; election for president last held on 2 September 2009 (next to be held in 2014); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually elected prime minister by parliament from among its members; election for prime minister last held on 23 March 2013 (next to be held following general elections in 2016) Vietnam president

 elected by the National Assembly from among its members for five-year term; last election held 25 July 2011 (next to be held in July 2016); prime minister appointed by the president from among the members of the National Assembly; deputy prime ministers appointed by the prime minister; appointment of prime minister and deputy prime ministers confirmed by National Assembly Virgin Islands under the US Constitution, residents of unincorporated territories, such as the Virgin Islands, do not vote in elections for US president and vice president; however, they may vote in the Democratic and Republican presidential primary elections; governor and lieutenant governor elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second term); election last held on 2 November 2010 (next to be held in November 2014) Wallis and Futuna French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; high administrator appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; the presidents of the Territorial Government and the Territorial Assembly elected by the members of the assembly Yemen president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term based on constitution; however a special election was held on 21 February 201

2 to remove Ali Abdallah SALIH based on a GCC-mediated deal during the political crisis of 2011 (next election to be held in 2014); vice president appointed by the president but position is vacant; prime minister appointed by the president

Question: Which country elects a monarch every five years?
Answer: Malaysia