Elected by National
i.e., by the Assembly Assembly; i.e.
people of the States One year Senate and Chamber
Four years of Deputies in joint
session
Seven years

_Cabinet Federal Council Ministry_
Nine members appointed Seven members Twelve members appointed
by President elected by Federal by President
and Senate Assembly

Constitutional Monarchies--Monarchies are classified as (1)
constitutional and (2) absolute. In constitutional monarchies the ruler
holds his position by heredity, but there exists also a constitution,
which defines the distribution of powers among the branches that compose
the government and fixes the limits of authority vested in each. The
British constitution is partly written, as found in the great historical
documents of English history, such as Magna Charta (1215), the Petition
of Right (1628), and the Bill of Rights (1689);[63] and partly
unwritten, consisting of precedents and customs which are recognized as
authoritative. The constitutions of the other monarchies of Europe were
made during the nineteenth century, and consequently they are younger
than that of the United States.

[Footnote 63: Compare the "Bill of Rights" in our Constitution; see pp.
256-260.]

In all the constitutional monarchies we find legislative bodies similar
to our Congress. In every case the lower house is elected by the
voters;[64] in England, the Austrian Empire, Italy, and Spain a number
of the members of the upper house hold their position by hereditary
right. In respect to legislation, therefore, the constitutional
monarchies are all more or less republican in principle; that is, they
all recognize the supreme authority of the people acting through their
representatives.

[Footnote 64: Property qualifications for suffrage are common in
European countries.]

An absolute monarchy is one in which the authority of the ruler is not
held in check by a constitution or by a body of men elected by the
people. No civilized country now has this form of government. Until
recently there existed in Europe two absolute monarchies--Russia and
Turkey.

The Cabinet System of Government.--In the relations existing
between their legislative and executive departments, the Eur