Hereditary Monarchy: At Least You Know Which Idiot Is Next

Send us Fan MailHereditary monarchy seems like a ridiculous way to pick a leader, yet it dominates most of human political history. We argue the reason is transaction costs: succession systems survive when they settle “who rules next” cheaply enough to prevent recurring civil war. • Why hereditary monarchy is historically prevalent compared with democracy and universal suffrage • Why “divine right” stories often rationalize a choice people already find tolerable • Thomas Paine’s critique of hereditary succession and what it misses • Hobbes on the state of nature as what happens when sovereignty is contested • Succession as the master coordination problem of political order • Transaction costs applied to elections, enforcement, legitimacy, and rent seeking • Why elective monarchy can become an armed auction for total power • Bright line rules versus discretionary selection and why speed can beat “better” • How constitutional design lowers the cost of leadership transition when it works • The legitimacy problem and why dynasties converge on endogamy • The genetic consequences of endogamy and the Habsburg cautionary tale • Twedges, book recommendation, and a listener letter on board game “math trades” LINKS:Thomas Paine, Common Sense, February 1776Michael Munger, The Ugly Pig, 20224A.P. Martinich, Thomas Hobbes:  A Biography, 1999.Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, 1651.Neal Schultz, Suicide Kings: Hereditary Monarchy, 2025Tbadel Barter AppCosmos Institute, Coasian Bargaining at Scale, 2025 UPDATE: An interesting, and more clearly articulated, application of the reasoning here.... https://aminga.substack.com/p/how-transaction-cost-economics-explainsIf you have questions or comments, or want to suggest a future topic, email the show at [email protected] !You can follow Mike Munger on Twitter at @mungowitz