Elective Monarchy / Literature

• The Realm of City of No End is governed by a system of 37 nobles houses which each cast one vote to elect a Receiver. The Receiver has access to an ancient console in the center of the Realm that activates highly advanced Lost Technology which is integral to maintaining order over the squabbling houses. However, whenever a Receiver dies, the resulting interregnum tends to be rather cutthroat.
• David Eddings:
  • Belgariad:
    • Sendaria chose its first king like this, and everyone could vote. Also, the winning candidate had to have a majority of the votes rather than simply the most votes. It took six years and twenty-two ballots to winnow the 724 candidates down to a single winner, a rutabaga farmer named Fundor. As a result, nobody takes the monarchy all that seriously—not even the monarch.
    • The Empire of Tolnedra elects a new Emperor if the old one dies without an heir. But the heir doesn't have to be blood -they can be adopted. Like a very popular general being adopted by the current Emperor.
  • The Elenium has this in pretty much the same way as the Papacy for the Archprelacy of the Elene Church. The sequel series, The Tamuli, has a report within the foreign Tamuli Empire (which uses hereditary inheritance) that calls the Elene Church's tradition of electing their leader weird, but acknowledges that there isn't any non-offensive way to make it hereditary considering Elene priests are supposed to be celibate.
• A Song of Ice and Fire:
  • The royalty of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros is normally hereditary, but a hundred years before the series takes place, the Blackfyre Rebellion occurred because the king legitimized his bastard sons on his deathbed and in so doing created a massive Succession Crisis (there were rumors that the trueborn brother, who was also the eldest, was actually the king's brother's son, and the eldest bastard, Daemon Blackfyre, believing them, rose up against him). Several years and a few thousand bodies later, the only Targaryen heirs left were either children or mentally unstable. A Great Council was formed from many of the ruling lords to choose the next king. They passed through many candidates in the Targaryen family tree before settling on Aegon V, a fourth son of a fourth son, hereafter known as Aegon "The Unlikely". After choosing the next king, the Great Council dissolved and the crown passed on through the family, though in the prelude to the War of the Five Kings, the possibility of another Great Council being formed is brought up due to the disputed heritage and validity of nearly all the contenders' claims to the throne.
  • The First Great Council was called by Jaehaerys I after the deaths of his two eldest sons to decide who would be his heir. The lords, with a vast majority, voted for the male-line candidate, Jaehaerys' 24-year old grandson Viserys, rather than a female or the female-line candidate, Jaehaerys 7-year old great-grandson Laenor Velaryon. This apparently codified that Targaryen rule had to happen through the male line.
  • The Ironborn thousands of years ago elected their kings through a kingsmoot, which could sometimes go on for days and would occasionally be used to depose unworthy kings. This practice ended when Urron "Redhand" Greyiron, the great-nephew of the previous king, murdered many of his opponents at the kingsmoot, beginning hereditary rule. After House Greyiron ended, the Ironborn chose House Hoare, and when House Hoare was destroyed almost three centuries before the series starts, Aegon the Conqueror allowed the Iron Islands to choose their new ruler, and they chose the Greyjoys. Ironborn ostensibly follow the same agnatic-cognatic primogeniture as five of the other six kingdoms, but in practice, there is enough resistance when a woman is next in line to inherit that they revive their centuries-dead tradition of a kingsmoot instead. The crown winds up going to Euron Greyjoy, the man who would have been heir in an agnatic (male-only) primogeniture system. Ironically the kingsmoot was called by his youngest brother Aeron partially to prevent Euron becoming king of the Isles, who hoped his other brother Victarian Greyjoy would be chosen instead. No word yet on if they'll codify this or stick with an elective monarchy.
  • The wildlings occasionally elect a "King-Beyond-the-Wall", which is simply a title given to whichever one of them manages to unite sufficiently many wildlings to follow his leadership. Mance Rayder is King-Beyond-the-Wall during the events of the book, and holds it entirely on merit.
  • The Prince of Pentos is chosen by the magisters. He has a mostly ceremonial role, charged with justice, trade and war, while the magisters largely run the city. If he fails in his duties, he's sacrificed to appease the gods and another prince is selected. The candidates are selected from the "forty families" and seem to have no say in the manner. One of them liked the idea of being chosen so little he fled the city and is known as the Tattered Prince (he now heads a company of mercenaries).
  • The Sealord of Braavos is also elected, though it's unclear if it's this or a republic. However considering Braavos is based on Italian Renaissance city-states (especially Venice) it is likely the latter.
  • Lorath has three princes, each of them elected by a different group — the Harvest Prince is elected by vote amongst all landowners, the Fisher Prince by all shipowners, and the Prince of the Streets by all free men. All three offices serve for life, but have long since been reduced to Puppet Kings of the city's magisters.
  • The Archon of Tyrosh, like the Prince of Pentos, is chosen by the council of magisters, in this case from among their own number. How much actual authority he really has is unknown.
• In Mistborn: The Original Trilogy, after the fall of the Lord Ruler, Elend Venture crowned himself king of the Central Dominance and set up a parliamentary body called the Assembly with far-reaching powers, including the ability to depose and replace him. Essentially, imagine if the President was lifelong and hereditary, but Congress had the power to impeach him. They only managed to hold one election before Elend abolished the Assembly and set himself up as emperor in the face of the danger posed by Ruin, but he let the guy who beat him in the election rule as a client king.
• Discussed and averted in An Outcast in Another World. Influence in Elatran politics, and the overall right to rule, is heavily influenced by combat prowess. People with high Levels naturally gravitate towards positions of power. This is partially cultural and partially pragmatic – people with high Levels are in charge because, when it comes down to it, people can’t actually stop them from doing what they want.
• An interesting case in Mikhail Akhmanov's Envoy from the Heavens with The Empire on planet Osier, which has been stuck in Medieval Stasis for at least a thousand years, which is the reason why the protagonist is sent there in the first place — to figure out why all their efforts to secretly advance the culture have failed. On the death of the emperor, his son does not necessarily ascend to the throne. Any (male) member of the royal family may become the next ruler, provided they are popular and influential enough within the family. In essence, the emperor is chosen by vote, but only from members of the royal house (the system used by some real monarchies, such as Saudi Arabia for instance).
  • This shows that despite the name, the Empire is far from being evil. In fact, it ruled the inhabited continent for so long (with only a few small kingdoms bordering it), that the emperors see no need to be cruel to enforce their will.
• Crest of the Stars: The Abh Empire is ruled by the eight hereditary Royal families descended from the heads of the original Abh clans, who elect the Emperor among themselves through a complicated procedure that involves designating the several prospective Heirs Presumptive from different clans and then judging their progress through ranks^note as the heir has to be an actual serving military officer — a Supreme Commander, to be precise by the council of the retired Emperors, until one achieves the top and is designated the Crown Prince or Princess. In the current historical period the power is for several generations remains in the Dubleuscr branch of the Abliarsec clan, the current Empress being Lamhirh's grandmother, and her father Heir Presumptive (the current Crown Prince is a King from a different branch, though).
• In the Tales of Kolmar the Kantri are ruled by a king or queen chosen by all of them, and remain in that position for life or until the others decide to give the rank to someone else. It's more a position of public service than privilege. The rank is interchangeably king/queen or "lord".
• The Vampire Princes in The Saga of Darren Shan. A new Prince must be nominated by one of the Princes, and approved by all of the others. If one does not approve, it is voted on by the Generals (a much larger group of officials between the Princes and ordinary vampires). If two or more Princes refuse, the nomination is cancelled. Book 4 introduces a character who is set to become a Prince, who was rejected by one Prince and approved by only 54% of the Generals. After Darren's act of heroism, all of the Princes and Generals approve his nomination, despite the fact that he's a child, and only a half-vampire.
• In Fiona Patton's Tales of the Branion Realm, Gwyneth, an expy of Wales, is independent for part of the series, and the Princes of Gwyneth are elected. This ends when a grandson of the current Prince becomes monarch of nearby Branion-other books make it clear that Gwyneth was subsumed and its Prince is now the heir to the Branion throne. Since the series was written in chronological reverse, this foredooms one character's intent to keep Gwyneth independent.
• The Weald in The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold. A Fantasy Counterpart Culture of the Holy Roman Empire (see the Real Life page for this trope), the new Hallow King is officially elected by the heads of five great houses and three influential church members (who have replaced three houses whose lines have died out or fallen out of power). The last few generations have seen the current ruling house have their eldest sons confirmed as heirs while the old kings are still alive, eventually turning it into a normal hereditary monarchy.
• In the Belisarius Series all Axumite Emperors are ceremonially approved by the soldiers. While birth does factor in, it is not final.
• In the Inheritance Cycle, both the elves and dwarves work this way, with respectively several noble houses or thirteen clans whose leader could fill a royal vacancy. Both races support the Varden, but not without internal controversy, so there's concern about what would happen if the wrong candidate got the throne. Both groups have an election over the course of the series, but each time, the previous monarch's next of kin wins.
• The Wheel of Time:
  • It's mentioned in The Eye of the World that the kings of Malkier were chosen by the Great Lords, and indeed one candidate losing by just two votes helped lead to its downfall, since he then tried to take over by force.
  • In Andor, the eldest daughter of the reigning queen is considered the heir-apparent and styled the "Daughter-Heir," but she must still be confirmed by the noble houses to become queen. In ordinary times this is just a formality, but after Morgase managed to get a 0% Approval Rating due to mismanagement while she was mind-controlled by an evil magic user, there was enough opposition to her daughter Elayne inheriting that it came to a Succession Crisis before she could get the backing of enough houses to be confirmed as the new queen.
  • Kings of Arad Doman are chosen by the Council of Merchants from among the nobles, requiring at least eight members for this. The King has absolute power, except for the fact that they can be deposed by a three-quarters vote from the Council.
  • The monarch of Ghealdan is partially chosen by the Crown High Council, although ascension is usually hereditary unless the ruling House becomes extinct.
  • Tarabon has a diarchic system where there is both a hereditary king and an elected female Panarch.
• In Vampire Academy, the Moroi have such a monarchy. Candidates must be Royals, have their candidacy supported by at least three other Royals, and must pass three trials before the matter goes to a vote. Then it's a matter of votes gathered.
• On the Discworld the Low King of the Dwarves is selected through a complex procedure that's more or less an election, usually of a candidate from various powerful dwarf clans. The complex and ancient politics involved end up with a relatively unknown candidate on the Scone rather than the expected traditionalist, raising many tensions within dwarf society.
• In the The Riftwar Cycle, it's mentioned that upon the death of the King, the Council of Lords elects the new King of the Isles. However, it's also mentioned that said Council has never once failed to elect the previous King's eldest son (if he had one), or personally chosen successor (if he hadn't). This makes the election a formality unless the King has failed to produce a son or name an heir, which generally results in a Succession Crisis. In the Empire of Tsuranuanni, the position of Emperor is inherited, but the post of Warlord is elective among the warchiefs of the five oldest clans in the Empire - at least until Emperor Ichindar talks four out of the five clans into naming him their Warchief just before the election, gets himself elected to the position, and then dissolves it.
• Knowledge Of Angels: Palinor is an elected prince of his home country, Aclar.
• The Constellation in The Hellhole Trilogy. The nobility elects the ruling Diadem upon the death of their predecessor. The only explicitly noted limitation is that the children of former Diadems are prohibited from being elected, ensuring that there are no unbroken Diademic dynasties and the elective system is maintained.
• Lord Darcy: We don't see it on-page, but by law, when the King dies Parliament must elect a Plantagenet as the new king. They're allowed to elect any Plantagenet. It's specifically noted in one story that while it's most likely John IV will be succeeded by one of his two sons, his brother Richard is not out of the running.
• The Silerian Trilogy: The Yarhdans, Sileria's rulers in the old days, were chosen by the Council of Guardians.
• Ashes of Empire: Apparently the original form of the empire. A major character in Imperial Twilight is a descendant of the last pre-Ruggero Dynasty emperor, it's specifically noted that this does not give her any claim to the throne when Devy Custis starts looking for a puppet empress. (But after four generations of Ruggero rule, most people have been taught throne = hereditary and would assume her bloodline was inherently royal.)
• In The Licanius Trilogy, the Royal Family of Andarra requires the support of the major and minor houses to stay in power. If they lose it, they can be replaced by any one of their contemporaries.
• Uprooted: The kingdom the main characters reside in, Polnya, is technically one. While the crown prince is usually first-in-line for the throne, his accession needs to be confirmed by the Magnati through majority vote. However, should the Magnati vote for another eligible candidate (like, say, a younger brother of the crown prince), then that person can become king instead. Prince Marek intended to take the throne from his older brother Sigmund by swinging public opinion in his favor in order to convince the Magnati to vote for him when the time came. However, Sigmund is killed within days of their father's death, and Marek himself is killed not long after. That leaves Stashek, Sigmund's only son, the last remaining male heir of the royal family, by this point making the confirmation vote a mere formality.
• An Examination of Extra-Universal Systems of Government: One of the worlds visited by the narrator is the Universal Empire, the end result of Genghis Khan managing to conquer most of Eurasia and establish a system that kept it running long after his death. It is composed of constituent nations that are each led by a Khan elected from amongst its population, while the empire as a whole is led by a Great Khan elected from among the Khans' number by the Imperial Court, a legislative body composed of representatives elected from the constituent nations.
• Of Fire and Stars: Lord Endalan Kriantz of Sonnenborne says he was elected as the ruler of the tribes under his banner.
• In Isaac Asimov's science fiction novel The Stars, Like Dust the Directors of Rhodia rule at least a dozen worlds (but by the time of the novel, only as the most important of a number of vassal states of the larger interstellar empire of the Tyranni). In spite of the rather un-royal title, the Director of Rhodia and his family are consistently referred to as "royal". The Directors of Rhodia are however elected—from within the ruling family, the Hinriads—rather than succeeding by any straightforward means of hereditary succession (such as primogeniture). In earlier times, this was used to ensure that the Directorship would pass down to the ablest members of the ruling dynasty; adoptions into the royal family had also once been common to further ensure effective rulers. After their conquest of Rhodia the Tyranni are able to influence the elections to ensure that the most pliable and easily controlled of the Hinriads will become Director.
• While most of the five royal houses of black squirrels in the Deptford Mice books inherit the thrones of their respective realms, they choose who will fill the role of their most powerful queen, the Starwife. While (almost) always a black squirrel princess, she will have to be the one deemed most worthy. The thing is, it's a lonely position of terrifying responsibility and nobody wants to be selected for it. Author Robin Jarvis has said one maiden was actually Driven to Suicide when she learned she was to be the new Starwife.