Constitutional Monarchy
君主立宪制

Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch is legally restricted within the boundaries of a constitution. This form of government differs from absolute monarchy, in which the monarch has absolute political power over the state. The monarch of a constitutional monarchy acts as a non-party political head of state under the constitution, whether written or unwritten. The government may officially take place in the monarch's name to set public policy or choose political leaders. In addition to acting as a visible symbol of national unity, a constitutional monarch may hold formal reserve powers such as dissolving parliament or giving Royal Assent to legislation.
君主立宪制是一国君主的权力依宪法被限制的政府形式。因此，这种政府有别于君主完全掌握国家统治权的绝对君主制。君主立宪制的君主依据成文或不成文的宪法担当无党派的政府首领。政府实际以君主之名制定政策或选举政治领导。除了作为国家统一的有形象征，立宪君主也有正式的保留权力，如遣散议会或给予议会法案 “御准”。

There exist at least two different types of constitutional monarchies in the modern world — executive and ceremonial. In executive monarchies, the monarch wields significant (though not absolute) power. The monarchy under this system of government is a powerful political and social institution. Executive monarchies include Bhutan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and so on. By contrast, in ceremonial monarchies, the monarch holds little actual power or direct political influence. To name a few, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom have ceremonial monarchies.
现代社会存在至少两种形式的君主立宪制：行政性的和仪式性的君主立宪。行政性君主立宪制中的君王仍行使很大的(尽管不是全部)权力。在这种体制下，皇室是一个强大的政治和社会团体。行政性君主立宪制的国家有：不丹、柬埔寨、马来西亚、泰国、阿拉伯联合酋长国等。与此不同，仪式性的君主立宪制中的君主几乎没有实权或直接的政治影响力。很多国家如澳大利亚、比利时、加拿大、丹麦、日本、荷兰、新西兰、西班牙、瑞典和英国采用的都是这种仪式性的君主立宪制。