In the Third Republic after 1871, lines between secular republicans and Catholic monarchists were even sharper.

ECONOMIST: Christian believers

And that's led to suggestions, even among monarchists, that his heir, Crown Prince Felipe and his wife Letizia take over the throne.

CNN: Will any of Europe's other older royals step down?

The center-left ruling Labor Party has traditionally backed abolition, while members of the center-right opposition Liberal-National coalition have tended, like Mr. Howard, to be monarchists.

WSJ: Australia Lawmakers Seek Split From U.K. Monarchy

Mr Abhisit's other powerful supporters among the monarchists and the Bangkok rich are similarly loth to accede to the electorate's infuriating habit of returning unacceptable governments.

ECONOMIST: Thailand's election

Republican delegates outnumbered monarchists by 92 to 60.

ECONOMIST: The republican rumble down under

Meeting in London this week, some 350 delegates from a motley collection of Kurds, Shias, liberal secularists, monarchists, Turcomans, Assyrians, feminists and others sketched out a vision of a future Iraq that was more coherent than anything they have so far achieved in 12 years of often vicious squabbling.

ECONOMIST: The Iraqi opposition