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Commonwealth vs Monarchy - What's the difference?

commonwealth | monarchy |

As a proper noun commonwealth

is the commonwealth of nations, a loose confederation of nations based around the former british empire.

As a noun monarchy is

a government in which sovereignty is embodied within a single, today usually hereditary head of state (whether as a figurehead or as a powerful ruler).

commonwealth

Noun

(en noun)
  • A form of government, named for the concept that everything that is not owned by specific individuals or groups is owned collectively by everyone in the governmental unit, as opposed to a state , where the state itself owns such things.
  • Approximately, a republic.
  • May 19, 1649' ''Be it declared and enacted by this present Parliament and by the Authoritie of the same That the People of England and of all the Dominions and Territoryes thereunto belonging are and shall be and are hereby constituted, made, established, and confirmed to be a '''Commonwealth''' and free State]] And shall from henceforth be Governed as a '''Commonwealth and Free State by the supreame Authoritie of this Nation, the Representatives of the People in Parliam[ent] and by such as they shall appoint and constitute as Officers and Ministers under them for the good of the People and that without any King or House of Lords. [[s:An Act declaring England to be a Commonwealth, Act of the Long Parliament.

    Derived terms

    For example, the official name of Australia is Commonwealth of Australia'. It is applied to four states of the United States, to wit, the '''Commonwealth of Pennsylvania''', the '''Commonwealth of Kentucky''', the '''Commonwealth of Massachusetts''', and the '''Commonwealth of Virginia'''. Also used by self-governing, semi-autonomous units such as the ' Commonwealth of Puerto Rico .

    monarchy

    Noun

    (monarchies)
  • A government in which sovereignty is embodied within a single, today usually hereditary head of state (whether as a figurehead or as a powerful ruler).
  • * An absolute monarchy is a monarchy where the monarch is legally the ultimate authority in all temporal matters.
  • * A constitutional monarchy is a monarchy in which the monarch's power is legally constrained, ranging from where minor concessions have been made to appease certain factions to where the monarch is a figurehead with all real power in the hands of a legislative body.
  • The territory ruled over by a monarch; a kingdom.
  • * Shakespeare
  • What scourge for perjury / Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence?
  • A form of government where sovereignty is embodied by a single ruler in a state and his high aristocracy representing their separate divided lands within the state and their low aristocracy representing their separate divided fiefs.
  • Usage notes

    Historically refers to a wide variety of systems with a single, nominally absolute ruler (compare (m), (m)), today primarily refers to and connotes a traditional, hereditary position, often with mainly symbolic power. Typically used of rulers who use the terms (m)/(m) or (m)/(m).

    Synonyms

    * autocracy * despotism * dictatorship * tyranny

    Coordinate terms

    See also

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