Liechtenstein Voted to Give the Prince a Veto

On 14 March 2003, the 17,000 or so eligible voters of Liechtenstein walked into polling stations and, by 64.3 percent to 35.7 percent, handed their hereditary prince more constitutional power than any other monarch in Europe. Turnout was 87.7 percent. A rival proposal to restrict royal powers, on the same ballot, drew only 16.6 percent.

The fight had been brewing since the late 1990s. Prince Hans-Adam II had spent years feuding with parliament — the Landtag — over the scope of his prerogatives, and he eventually issued an ultimatum: ratify his draft or he and the family would relocate to Vienna. The package he wanted, the Verfassungsinitiative des Fürstenhauses, gave the monarch an explicit right to veto any legislation passed by parliament or approved by referendum, the power to dismiss the entire government, and a decisive role in nominating judges.

The Council of Europe's Venice Commission had warned that the changes would move Liechtenstein away from the standards expected of a member state. Voters did not appear persuaded. The prince's pitch leaned on a different argument: a hereditary head of state with real veto power, paired with a citizens' right to call referendums, gives the population two checks rather than one. Hans-Adam framed it as a balance — the people could in principle abolish the monarchy by referendum, and the monarchy could block laws that did not have public support.

A decade later, in 2012, Liechtensteiners had a chance to claw back the veto. They voted to keep it, by 76 to 24.