Lecture # 2 British Monarchy

Britain is a constitutional monarchy, without a written constitution. Some parts of a governmental system are written down in Acts of Parliament (also called «laws»), others are regulated by «conventions», which are commonly accepted assumptions about the way things should be done, mostly based on precedents.

The reigning monarch is not only the head of state but also a symbol of the unity of the nation. The monarchy is Britain's oldest secular institution, its continuity for over 1000 years broken only once by a republic that lasted a mere 11 years (1649-60).

The monarchy is hereditary, the succession passing automatically to the oldest male child, or in the absence of males, to the oldest female offspring of the monarch. By Act of Parliament, the monarch must be a Protestant. Succession is automatic on the death of the monarch, confirmed later by a former coronation ceremony. The coronation of the queen Elizabeth II in 1953, for example, took place over a year after she became queen.

In law the monarch is head of the executive and of judiciary, head of the Church of England, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. However since 1689, the monarch's sovereign powers have been formally limited by the idea that national sovereignty resides in the ''Crown in Parliament» - the idea that the crown is only sovereign by the will of Parliament.

The remaining powers of the monarch are basically to summon, suspend until the next session and dissolve Parliament; to give royal assent to legislation passed by Parliament; to appoint government ministers, judges, officers of the armed forces, governors, diplomats and bishops of the Church; to confer honors, such as peerages and knighthoods, to remit sentences passed on convicted criminals; and finally to declare war on or make peace with an enemy power. In practice of course, with the exception of new honors she is free to decide herself, the monarch discharges all these functions on the direction of the government. In most matters of state, the refusal of the queen to exercise her power according to the direction of her prime minister would risk a serious constitutional crisis.

Nevertheless, the function of the monarch is politically important. For as someone who reigns but doesn't rule, the sovereign separates the 'magic' of sovereignty, publicly visible in many ceremonies, from the power of the executive head of state.. This contrasts with executive presidential systems of government. Away from the public gaze, the monarch plays a more practical role.

The Government

The modern government is arranged in about 15 departments, each with its ministerial head. The number of departments changes from time to time as they are split or join together. Normally all the heads of departments are members of the House of Commons, though sometimes one is in the House of Lords.

The cabinet consists of the 16 to 24 senior ministers whom the prime minister has appointed as members of it. The cabinet meets once a week in number 10 Downing Street, which also contains the Prime minister's personal office.

The cabinet makes the main decisions about government policy. There are many cabinet committees, some permanent and meeting regularly, others set up to deal with special problems. The prime minister decides who is to be in each committee, what each one has to do and what matters are included into full cabinet's agenda; he or she also has informal meeting with one or 2 ministers alone. Cabinet government demands collective responsibility.

Within the cabinet the prime minister is meant to be the first among equals. While a prime minister must give strong leadership, he or she must allow for each minister to exercise responsibility within their field. In fact the PM has much more power than first among equals. Ministers must obey his will or persuade the PM of their own point of view. If the clash of wills can not be resolved, the minister must resign.

Nearly all the heads of the departments have the official title of Secretary of States. There were 13 of them in 1991.All senior government ministers have junior ministers to help with the workload. Although government is essentially political, it depends upon a permanent body of officials, the Civil Service

The Civil Service

The Civil Service is wholly non-political. Its members are forbidden to be candidates for Parliament or to give public support to any political party. When a new government comes into office the same civil servants must work for the new ministers, who a few weeks before led the attack on the old minister's policy. In the three weeks before a general election, when ministers as leading party politicians, are away campaigning for their party, the civil servants maintain the continuity of the administration of their departments but they have also to prepare themselves for the possibility of a change of government.

The Civil Service is a life's career. Most of those who advise ministers have joined the service after taking bachelor's degrees at universities, of the age of about twenty-two, though some have joined at an earlier age without going to university, and made their way up by promotion. Entry to the Service is controlled by the Civil Service Commission. People who hope to become civil servants must pass through a long selection process, with a series of tests designed to measure their competence and suitability, and many of those who are chosen have been among the most successful students in their university examinations. They are trained at a Civil Service College with provides courses both for newly-appointed officials and for those at later stages of their careers.