Continental Europe is home to four microstates with populations between 30,000 and 80,000 people: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino.
Andorraon the border between France and Spain, Liechtensteinlocated between Switzerland and Austria, Monacoon the French Riviera, and San Marinosurrounded by northern Italy, have existed since the medieval period and their small size allowed them to develop and maintain unique constitutional provisions.
All of these microstates developed original solutions to the problems of state architecture, many of which survive to this day.
They all participate in the Council of Europe (the European human rights organization) and therefore have had to modernize to meet international governance standards. These standards include the independence of the judiciary.
However, the four implemented these reforms without changing their institutional identity.
Its commitment to preserving its distinctive character in relation to other countries prevents a broader reform of its institutions.
For them, the protection of national tradition and identity it is a form of self-preservation and not a mere expression of ideology.
The distinctive character of the four microstates lies in the survival of institutional arrangements that are now found virtually nowhere else in the world.
The institutional arrangements in these principalities were shaped by their small size, both in terms of territory and population, and by their geographic location. And these provisions have survived since the Middle Ages because they became their identity.
While in other countries the national tradition is an ideological debate, in these, the preservation of the past is a survival mechanism.
Liechtenstein and Monaco
Liechtenstein and Monaco are constitutional monarchies which confer substantial power on the royal family.
Everything is organized around a prince, who exercises executive power. Contemporary monarchies in the Western legal tradition generally have a ceremonial king or queen, but executive power is held by an elected government.
Liechtenstein and Monaco maintained their historic government organization, centered on a very powerful monarch.
Although his powers are not unlimited, in Monaco, the prince is not even responsible to parliament for the powers he holds.
The Prince of Liechtenstein has even more powers, including the right to appoint half of the members of the Constitutional Court.
However, the sovereign power of the Prince of Liechtenstein is exercised in partnership with the people of Liechtenstein. The institutional architecture was designed in such a way as to allow a system of checks and balances between the prince and the people.
Since a 2003 constitutional amendment, for example, the people can present a motion of no confidence in the prince if more than 1,500 citizens agree, triggering a referendum on the trust placed in him. The same number of citizens can present an initiative to abolish the monarchy entirely if they wish.
Andorra and San Marino
The principality of Andorra should be designated by co-principalitydue to the fact that it has two princes. One of the princes is the Bishop of Urgell – of Catalonia – and the other is the president of the French Republic (and previously the French king or emperor).
Thus, another peculiarity is the fact that none of the princes are of Andorran nationality.
Following a 1993 reform that established a full-fledged constitution, none of the princes holds sovereign power. Its current constitutional role is almost exclusively ceremonial.
However, concerns remain regarding the fact that they are not nationals of the State and that the heads of State are not selected by either the Andorran people or their representatives.
The historical reason for the existence of a foreign head of state is the geographical location of Andorra – wedged between Catalonia and France. The fact that he allowed himself to be subjected to this double sovereignty was a guarantee of survival.
San Marino also has a two-headed statebut both chiefs, called regent captains, are Sammarinese citizens.
They are elected by the Grand Council and the General Council (the Sammarine legislative body) and their distinguishing characteristic is the fact that they have a mandate of just six months.
The reason for such a short mandate is the fact that San Marino has a population of just under 34,000. Everyone knows everyone, which can be detrimental to the independence of elected positions.
Ruling captains cannot, during their short tenure, accumulate enough power to overthrow the Republic. Ruling captains were first instituted in 1243, shortly before several Italian republics were overthrown by wealthy families. One of the reasons San Marino managed to survive is because he prevented one family from being more powerful than the others for centuries.
