Straight from wikipedia: [quote]A monarchy is a form of government in which sovereignty is actually or nominally embodied in one or several individual(s) reigning until death or abdication[/quote] And while it [i]does[/i] mention the existance of "elective monarchies" it also says [quote]There is no popular vote inbolved in elective monarchies, as the elective body usually consists of a small number of eligible people.[/quote] In the end, I did learn that there actually is such a thing as elective monarchies, but they have certain limitations too. Or really, I just finally made the connection between the electoral process of the Vatican and the pope (which the wikipedia page cites as their example of an electoral monarchy.) SO, all-in-all, I guess I'm wrong, but I still hold a strong bias against a monarchical style of government.