ninme

The Sunday Telegraph – Born to rule: monarchy puts the success into succession By Niall Ferguson

There’s another argument. Consider the remarkable smoothness with which the crown has passed from monarch to heir throughout the period since 1688. Despite the inevitable duds that arise in any hereditary system — the ones who die childless, or marry unwisely, or are too thick, or too clever by half — the history of modern British monarchy has been one of near-seamless transition.

Now compare the way in which the elected office of prime minister has changed hands in the same interval. As I write, we are somewhere in the middle of round 92 of the most wearisome heavyweight contest in the history of British politics. The fading champion, Tony Blair, is out on his feet, but the challenger, Gordon Brown, seems almost as punch-drunk. They cling to each other in the middle of the ring, alternately propping one another up and landing the occasional feeble punch. If the challenger were any good, it would all have been over long ago. Worse, the ringside is crowded with would-be contenders, eager to turn the fight into a free-for-all.

That is so good. Best thing I’ve read all week.

Of course, I do not say that succession crises do not also occur in monarchical systems… When the stakes are high, whether in an absolute monarchy or an elective dictatorship, the likelihood of ugly scenes will also be high. Nevertheless, I would hypothesise that, taking all the world’s polities over the past hundred years, the world’s republics have, on average, witnessed more succession crises than the world’s monarchies.

For the reality is that the United States remains quite exceptional in the durability and (one civil war aside) stability of its republican institutions. Few other republics would have come through the knife-edge election of 2000 without a shot being fired. Only think what is currently happening in Mexico, where the loser in July’s very close presidential election is talking openly and ominously of “civil resistance”.

Kings — and queens — have their shortcomings. They can seem a little quaint. But maybe there are worse ways of choosing a successor than good old blood lineage.

Yeah.