A government in which the supreme power is vested in a single person. Where a monarch is invested with absolute power, the monarchy is termed “despotic ;” where the supreme power is virtually in the laws, though the majesty of government and the administration are vested in a single person, it is a “limited” or “constitutional” monarchy. It is hereditary where the regal power descends immediately from the possessor to the next heir by blood, as In England; or elective, as was formerly the case in Poland. Wharton.
MONARCHY
TheLaw.com Law Dictionary & Black's Law Dictionary 2nd Ed.