Comparative Aspects Regarding The Constitutional Monarchy And The Parliamentary Republic, In The European Democratic States - The Case Of Spain And Italy

In this article we aim to capture some resemblances and differences between European democratic monarchies and parliamentary republics, resorting to the comparative method of their Constitutions, in the case of Spain, a parliamentary monarchy, and of Italy, a parliamentary republic. As we know, in European states characterized by a parliamentary political regime, monarchies or republics, considerable importance is granted to the Parliament, and the head of state, the Monarch, is appointed by hereditary criteria and the President is, as a rule, elected by the Parliament. In most cases, the Parliament is bicameral in order to ensure a counterbalance aimed at ensuring the balance within the legislative power, and the Government is headed by a prime minister and is accountable to Parliament, which can withdraw the confidence it has vested in, if it assesses that he does not fulfill the mandate. Out of the constitutional elements under analysis, we will notice a series of characteristics common to states with a parliamentary regime, regardless of their form of government, monarchy or republic, but also some differences of substance or only hue, generated by historical, traditional or cultural considerations, which, of course, could be highlighted in more detail by extending the law-based analysis, without being limited to it. Moreover, like all European constitutional democracies, the analysed states have their constitutional text based on the values, principles and standards common to the European Administrative Space, recognized in the doctrine as “an evolutionary process of convergence.â€