I mean think of it this way: If your monarch isn't a dick and removing them would piss off the reactionaries and average people who don't care much about politics, why would you do that? They also help curb strongman autocrats by providing a target for the population to worship (therefore occupying that niche for a certain section of the population) but not give any real power to.
this post was submitted on 15 May 2025
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In my country they have enough support from both the left and right leaning voters. Also a vast majority of voters think there are more important issues to deal with.
Some parties (we have 8 with >4% votes) have an ideological position that we should abolish momarchy. No party is actively campaigning for it, because it's seen as unimportant.
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The King of Norway has a mostly symbolic role in day-to-day affairs. New laws that have been passed by the Storting (Parliament) will have their final approval signed by the King, but this is largely a token approval. The King does have veto power over any given amendment, but if he invokes it, Parliament has the right to vote the same amendment through a second time, at which point it cannot be vetoed. He is the head of the Church of Norway, and also supreme commander of our armed forces. Though command is delegated to other commanders, the King would have a more direct role in questions regarding central command or wartime. When representing our country abroad, he is very much considered a personification of the nation, rather than a representative of the ruling party. Norway's main reason for maintaining our own monarchy stems very much from declaring independence from Denmark and Sweden, which ruled us for about 500 years.
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It's like your country is wearing a fancy hat. The hat is not practical, it doesn't help you do things, but boy does it look neat. It's not all that expensive, so why not? Lots of countries have big monuments, historic buildings for their legislatures to be in and so forth, this is just that in human form.
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Because conservatives would go to the culture war trenches over it and it's a cheap, simple concession that literally does not matter.
You give them a royal family as a chew toy and ideally pass non-reactionary, non-anachronistic stuff elsewhere.
it’s a cheap, simple concession
Depends. AFAIK the English monarchy is fairly expensive.
it's difficult to calculate, but if you factor in the amount of tourism money the british monarchy generates it's probably a net profit.
Still not convinced that the tourists wouldn't come anymore if you depower the monarchs and keep the palaces etc. as state-owned tourist attractions, TBH.
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They still have power. The king has regular meeting with the prime minister and they own an awful amount of property which also translates to power
That's less of a "monarchy" power, more of a "rich people can bribe politicians" power
Not wrong but they are rich because they are part of the monarchy and they are very rich. And the meeting between king and Prime Minister is a scheduled thing in the UK
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Which king?
Yes, of Angmar
I was talking about the UK but pretty sure it exists in other countries in a similar fashion
Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand, koning der Nederlanden, Prins van Oranje-Nassau, jonkheer van Amsberg for instance does.
The British monarchy provides quite a bit of money for the country.
The British monarchy primarily "provides" money by owning land and other assets which would otherwise be government-owned. They also "earn" a shitload of money just for existing and still dump significant expenses onto taxpayers.
They provide about 1.5 billion pounds of tourism revenue per year, far outweighing the sovereign grants they recieve from the the government.
You really think the tourists would stop looking at British castles etc. if the UK became a republic?
some if them would. Some people are just fascinated by the anachronism of having a king. A palace that once belonged to some king a few hundred years back is just far less interesting than a palace with a living, breathing monarch in it.
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I'm pretty sure the people calculating the number could distinguish between tourism for castles and the monarachy.
That's one way to see it... Countries that got rid of their monarchy, got the money in a more direct way
What do you mean?
They don't have to give money to receive it back. They just keep it, while still having tourists (cf France).
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What's wrong with New Zealand or Australia ot Canada or?
They're fine. But why not go with "Republic of Canada", etc...
Having to pledge loyalty to a king/queen upon taking office or natualization is quite weird, even if its only ceremonial.
"...that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; ...so help me God."
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Uhhh mate our nation is literally dictated by another country and we don’t have genuine autonomy?
Maybe you’re happy with some inbred Brit fuck who thinks he has a god given right to own you and control your nation, I’m not.
Uhhh mate our nation is literally dictated by another country and we don’t have genuine autonomy?
Uh... No? The fuck are you even talking about? When is the last time the British monarch made a decision on behalf of Canada?
It’s called Royal Assent, the GG gets final say over everything.
When they don’t like what you’re doing, they dismiss your P.M. and cause a constitutional crisis.
Just be glad you haven’t had to have it happen yet, and let’s hope your never do.
Wow that is messed up. It's also from 50 years ago so... yeah.
Yeah, so within the lifetime of most of my country.
So…. yeah, it can happen and is a risk of having an unelected foreign head of state.
Okay, so the oath of allegience of Canada is quite... weird:
"I swear (or affirm) That I will be faithful And bear true allegiance To His Majesty King Charles the Third King of Canada His Heirs and Successors And that I will faithfully observe The laws of Canada Including the Constitution Which recognizes and affirms The Aboriginal and treaty rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples And fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen."
Pledging loyalty to a constitution is one thing, pledging loyalty to some dipshit king is so fucking weird.
and the republic's of the world are much better?
They’re just better.
- Peoples Republic of China
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Republic of the Congo
- Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
- Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
- Russian Federation...
Then there is the USA
???
What kind of idiot puts any substance into what name a country styles itself after rather than how it functions.
ok, lets look at it the other way then?
Yup those are all European or European-colonial nations.
You don’t see countries such as Saudi Arabia, Morocco or Cambodia on that list do you?
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Think of them as prestigious diplomats.
Sounds way better when you say "I had a meeting with the king of The Netherlands recently" compares to "I had a meeting with the High Commissioner of The Netherlands recently "
You can still say "king" if you want
It’s like when you get inoculated with a weakened form of a live virus so you can build up an immunity to more virulent forms.
I like this image. I'm a citizen of a small monarchy, and I used to be a staunch republican (in the European sense). I'm still not a big fan of the monarchy, but it's a way to help conservatives feel secure while being, in fine, more open than the neighboring republics. But we don't have a House of Lords or any nobility beside the reigning immediate family, so that helps accepting the monarchy.
There are stabilizing benefits in some cases. Traditions can be valuable, even just for show.