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Essay on monarchies
Practice of constitutional monarchy
Essay on monarchies
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Introduction
When someone becomes a member of the Parliament, he has to swear an oath of allegiance to the Crown, instead of swearing loyalty to the people who elected him. If he rejects to do so, that politician will not be able to take his seat and can also be fined. Same happens with judges and other public servants in the United Kingdom, who are, even if symbolically, servants of the Crown. This, however, is just a small visible end of the real power that the British –constitutional- monarchy holds over public employees.
Since the limitation of powers of the Crown in the XVII century the royals have been using their forceful influence in an unofficial way for their own benefit (Adams, 2010; Booth 2010 and 2011; Wilson, 1989). Taking into account that the United Kingdom has a democratic and constitutional political system, some serious questions arise from this: how the monarchy has been using –and abusing of- its powers? Until what extent they have deliberately interfered with the democratic public life? How politicians have reacted to its demands and why?
This essay reflects about these questions and explores the reasons of this hidden royal influence over the British politicians. Due to the length of the essay, it focuses on the last decades of Elizabeth II’s reign, though other royal personalities have also been considered.
In the first place, this essay briefly defines the slippery concept of constitutional monarchy. It introduces the topic with some notions about the historical background and the scope of powers the Crown enjoys. Secondly, it shows some recent cases where the Royal House has used its influence in an obscure way. The third section reflects about the reasons why the British monarchy has such a great influen...
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...Revolution, 1603-1714. BBC [Online] Last accessed 12th March 2014. Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/overview_civil_war_revolution_01.shtml
Whittam Smith, A. (2014) The row over Prince Charles’ letters is not just legal argument vs public interest. There are real constitutional implications. The Independent [Online] Last accessed 15th March 2014. Available at http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-row-over-prince-charles-letters-is-not-just-legal-argument-vs-public-interest-there-are-real-constitutional-implications-9190718.html
Wilkinson, P. (2006) The British Monarchy for Dummies. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. Chichester
Wilson, E. (1989) The Myth of British Monarchy. The Journeyman Press Ltd and Republic, London
Woods, F.A. (1913) The Influence of Monarchs. Steps in a new Science of History. The MacMillan Company, New York
“The key factor in limiting royal power in the years 1399-1509 was the king’s relationship with parliament.”
From different contextual standpoints, both William Shakespeare’s King henry IV part 1(1597) and Barry Levinson Man of the year (2006) both represent a unique similarity in discussing power rather than truth. Shakespeare invokes an appreciation of strategic manipulation for both King Henry IV and prince Hal. King Henry struggles of breaking divine lineage whilst Prince Hal appearance vs reality allows Shakespeare to explore the political strategies upheld by politicians within the Elizabethan era. Similarly, in Man of the year, Tom Dobbs use of short and verbose colloquial language exhibit his demagoguery approach to candidacy epitomizing political succession within the 21st century.
2.Morgan, Edmund S. The Birth of the Republic, 1763-89. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.
The constitution of the UK is very unique compared to the constitutions in other European countries. In this essay, I will talk about the features of the UK constitution, the sources of the constitution and the principles, which guide it. This essay will also include key points about the uncodified nature of the constitution, and the advantages and disadvantages that come along with it. A topic of discussion has been whether or not the uncodified nature of the constitution of the UK should remain the same, or if, it should be codified. I will further discuss these ideas in this essay and highlight the pros and cons from both sides – codified and uncodified.
Morgan, Edmund S. The birth of the Republic, 1763-89. Chicago London. The University of Chicago Press.1956.
Fraser, Rebecca. The. George III (1727-1760) " The Story of Britain. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2003.
The government within the monarchical society was populated by the aristocracy. It was they who were depended upon for directing the course of governmental affairs. The controls of all co...
A1. England was run by a Parliament and per history had very limited involvement of the monarchy or direct rule by the king. As well as the colonial legislatures; members were elected by property-holding men and governors were given authority to make decisions on behalf of the king. This system our leadership and how it controls its people the reason many
The RP helps to keep our powers separated which avoiding the judicial tyranny. After the formation of the two houses of parliament, which called the legislature, the creation of our statutes prevail to the RP. In the case of De Kayser, RP and statute found to co-exist and statute prevails, for the reason that the representatives in the House of Commons are elected from the public in order to create statute to help the development of the country. Moreover, the constitutional conventions are also part of our unwritten constitution and have conflict to the royal prerogative. Some of the RP powers are included to the conventions such as the automatic granting of royal assent, which the Queen should sign after the convention. Finally, the fire brigades union case mentioned that the executive cannot exercise the prerogative in a way which would derogate from the due fulfilment of statutory duty. The data indicates that the current prime minister, has power to overrule the UK’s parliament recent vote of a military intervention in Syria by using the RP which bypass any common decision of acts of war. Generally, powers such as the parliamentary immunity and prerogative powers, destroy the equality and justice of the society, by giving permission, to avoid the soft process of the legitimate society and finally breaking the rule of law. Supporting this argument, a member of parliament, Jack Straw strongly
An issue that has remained debatable since the Jackson litigation was what ought to be the ultimate controlling factor in the British constitution: parliamentary sovereignty or the rule of law. This essay sets out to consider the reputedly irreconcilable tension between the two fundamental constitutional principles by analysing the extensive obiter dicta in Jackson and relating it to judicial review which upholds the rule of law. The contention of this essay is that despite the courts' deferential attitude towards the sovereignty of the laws of Parliament, the rule of law may potentially gain dominance and surpass parliamentary sovereignty to become the ultimate controlling factor in the British constitution.
Sayle, Charles Edward and Stanhope, Philip Dormer. Letters written by Lord Chesterfield to his son by Earl of Chesterfield. Oxford: Oxford University Press, USA, 2013. Print.
In 1603 the Scottish and English monarchies were united and at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the monarchy of the United Kingdom was deprived of the decision-making privilege they once had. For the purpose of this essay, I intend to examine the many different arguments both for and against the British monarchy being abolished. Proponents argue strongly that the monarchy symbolises all that is British throughout Britain and the Commonwealth Realms. However, contrary to this, the monarchy receives exorbitant financial aid from the British taxpayers to maintain the monarchy. Does the monarchy have a place in the twenty first century?
The extent to which the judiciary and the legislature are able to regulate the exercise of prerogative powers by the executive has increased. However, there are still some who are concerned by the lack of control that can be exerted by the other constitutional bodies. The challenges to the power of the Monarch was by the reign of James I (1603-25) the monarch was faced with an increasingly effective Parliament, culminating in the temporary abolition of the monarchy in (1625). Consequently, the monarchy’s powers were eroded by both revolution and by legal challenges, which included the case of Proclamations (1611), the monarchy could not change the law by proclamation. The law of the land, which required that the law be made by Parliament, limited the prerogative.
In a constitutional monarchy, a directly or indirectly-elected prime minister will serve as the head of government and will exercise poli...
The British Monarchy. “The Queen in Parliament.” The Royal Household. Accessed May 4, 2014. https://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/QueenandGovernment/QueeninParliament.aspx.