Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Rethink... modern monarchy
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Rethink... modern monarchy
Of the 195 widely-recognized sovereign countries in the world, only a quarter are monarchies.
And of those 43 monarchies, 15 of those have the same King. That’s Charles III, who’s head of state for Commonwealth territories as large as Australia and Canada, and as far apart as the UK and Tuvalu in the South Pacific.
In the other 28, the ruling monarchs can be called Kings, Emirs, Sultans, and there’s an Emperor on the Chrysanthemum throne in Japan.
Of course, there are also Queens - but some modern monarchies such as Japan and Lichtenstein still don’t allow female succession. In others, eldest daughters are passed over for their younger brothers - and this still happens in Spain and Monaco.
If this all seems a bit medieval, that's because it is! Monarchy is a system of governance that developed hundreds - or in the case of Japan - more than 1000 years ago, so it can look outdated through a 21st century lens.
But it's enduring, and opinion polls suggest it can be popular. So what does monarchy mean in the modern age? Which royal families are not only surviving, but are expanding their spheres of power and influence, and why the newest "monarchies" in the USA, Russia and China are not even royal at all.
Presenter: Professor Ben Ansell
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Damon Rose
Contributors:
Dr Craig Prescott, specialist in UK Constitutional Law, Royal Holloway, University of London
Adam Hanieh, MBI Jaber Chair of Middle East Studies and Professor in the Development Studies Department at SOAS, University of London.
Stacie Goddard, Betty Freyhof Johnson ’44 Professor of Political Science and Associate Provost, Wellesley College, Massachusetts.
Abe Newman, Professor and John Powers Chair in International Business Diplomacy, Director, BMW Center for German and European Studies, Georgetown University, Washington DC
View all episodes
By BBC Sounds
4.8
99 ratings
Of the 195 widely-recognized sovereign countries in the world, only a quarter are monarchies.
And of those 43 monarchies, 15 of those have the same King. That’s Charles III, who’s head of state for Commonwealth territories as large as Australia and Canada, and as far apart as the UK and Tuvalu in the South Pacific.
In the other 28, the ruling monarchs can be called Kings, Emirs, Sultans, and there’s an Emperor on the Chrysanthemum throne in Japan.
Of course, there are also Queens - but some modern monarchies such as Japan and Lichtenstein still don’t allow female succession. In others, eldest daughters are passed over for their younger brothers - and this still happens in Spain and Monaco.
If this all seems a bit medieval, that's because it is! Monarchy is a system of governance that developed hundreds - or in the case of Japan - more than 1000 years ago, so it can look outdated through a 21st century lens.
But it's enduring, and opinion polls suggest it can be popular. So what does monarchy mean in the modern age? Which royal families are not only surviving, but are expanding their spheres of power and influence, and why the newest "monarchies" in the USA, Russia and China are not even royal at all.
Presenter: Professor Ben Ansell
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Damon Rose
Contributors:
Dr Craig Prescott, specialist in UK Constitutional Law, Royal Holloway, University of London
Adam Hanieh, MBI Jaber Chair of Middle East Studies and Professor in the Development Studies Department at SOAS, University of London.
Stacie Goddard, Betty Freyhof Johnson ’44 Professor of Political Science and Associate Provost, Wellesley College, Massachusetts.
Abe Newman, Professor and John Powers Chair in International Business Diplomacy, Director, BMW Center for German and European Studies, Georgetown University, Washington DC
More shows like Rethink
View all
Global News Podcast
7,682 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
373 Listeners
More or Less
880 Listeners
Newshour
1,048 Listeners
In Our Time
5,534 Listeners
The Documentary Podcast
1,793 Listeners
6 Minute English
1,778 Listeners
Learning English Conversations
1,040 Listeners
The Infinite Monkey Cage
1,926 Listeners
The Bottom Line
39 Listeners
Thinking Allowed
309 Listeners
Moral Maze
62 Listeners
The Life Scientific
219 Listeners
Start the Week
164 Listeners
Westminster Hour
47 Listeners
The Briefing Room
57 Listeners
13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II
4,162 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,171 Listeners
Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government
21 Listeners
Americast
730 Listeners
The Rest Is Politics
3,355 Listeners
The Rest Is Politics: Leading
787 Listeners
When It Hits the Fan
40 Listeners
How To Win An Election
25 Listeners
Rory Stewart: The Long History of...
77 Listeners