What you should know before and after Lecture 1

What you should know before and after Lecture 1

Outline of the lecture.

1. Introduction to the Monarchy.

What is the monarchy ? It is a system of government in which the head of state is a monarch, whose power is shared with a constitutionally organized gov. The UK system of gov is known as as a constitutional monarchy.

A monarchy is different from republic in some points :

- head of state is  the president.

• with more or less is a power.

what role does the sovereign play in the British political system ?

The queen has responsibilities, has power in the legislative and executive branch and has symbolic power in the judicial branch, she doesn’t really have power, she is more symbolic.

1. The sovereign and the branches of government

Executive branch ( Government) :

The government is known as her majesty government.

The sovereign appoint the prime minister and the cabinet. She has an important role in the political branch, for instance, she signs the papers of the nomination during election in order to accept it. Every week there is a meeting btw queen and the prime Minister. The sovereign can also use the royale prerogative.

Legislative branch ( Parliament) : 

(the queen and parliament).

The queen has the power to make decision without the approval of the parliament. She is head of the armed forces. Moreover, the sovereign needs to approve when a bill passes through parliament before it becomes law. We usually say that she has to ratifie it which is called  a Royal Assent. All law are made in the name of the queen, its symbolic, and in the beginning of a law there is a sentence that say so.

In theory the Queen can say no to a bill, but she never does it.

She opens each session and prorogues parliament, she’s the only who can do this. During the opening of Parliament, the Sovereign reads a speech explaining what laws the government plans to enact.

Judicial ( Court) :

The sovereign is responsable in any judicial decision, and is considered to be the fount of justice. She has to choose the most important judges, the judges are appointed by the Sovereign. But in fact she doesn’t do it, this fonction is given to other people, so she just has to approve the people chosen. The courts are run in the name of the sovereign and criminal cases are initiated by the crown prosecution service.

• on behalf or R v Smith.

1. How much power does the sovereign really have?

In fact she has little power, the prime Minister actually tells the sovereign who to appoint as ministers and judges. The Royal Prerogative are almost all exercised on the advice of the government.  Moreover any important decisions about the army is made by the government. When a bill has passed through parliament the royal assent is a formality. The queen’s speech is written by the gov and not herself. The decision to prorogue or to dissolve a law is determined by the parliament. Almost juges are appointed by a judicial appointment commission not directly the queen. This commission select judges from a list of candidates and give the appointee to the government who passes the names on to the monarch who automatically makes the appointment.

Conclusion

To conclude, the power wasn’t always as week as it is now. Indeed, the legislative executive and judicial power which were previously held by the crown has now greatly decreased. It now plays a symbolic role in the institutions (traces of the past when it held real power). We say that « the sovereign reigns but does not rule ».

how did the monarchy come to lose its power ?

An historical process resembling a rise and fall more than a gradual decline. The monarchy strengthened its power during the renaissance, this brought it into a conflict with parliament. In the end the parliament won, the monarchy lost, they took the king’s head by the way. To conclude when the parliament won, they took all the power that used to held the monarchy.

1. A Short History of the Monarchy

1. The Norman Conquest to the Magna Carta

Let’s start with Norman invasion on 1066, led by William the conqueror who defeated king Harold at the battle of Hastings and then took control of most England and Wales. He developed a feudal system, with a feudal pyramid of power. To have a full power he also needed to have the church on his side.

The relation btw a king and his nobles wasn’t always easy : Because his nobles didn’t want to pay taxes while he asked them for too much money. In consequence when the people didn’t want to give the money they were being confiscated their lands.

The king abused his royale power. If he lost their lands in battle?????

At the beginning of the 13th century King John did all these things quoted above. He also got in trouble with the church and was excommunicated.

The Baron’s rebellion : the main Barons family rebelled against John in 1215, they forced the king to accept few thing that he didn’t accept before. Such as that he would no longer abuse his royal power, and as they realized he wouldn’t keep his promises, they made him sign it.

The document that he signed was called MAGNA CARTA, a very signification document in English constitutional history.

MC’s main aspects :

It was a peace treaty btw the king the barons and the church in which the king agreed to limit his Royal Power.

- He would ensure the freedom of the church

- He wouldn’t require high taxes to be paid by the feudal lords

• He wouldn’t detain freeman arbitrarily : only the nobles.

- They would ensure trial by judges, he had to garantie that people would be judge by judges.

- A council of 25 barons would ensure the MC was observed, they would tell if the king respected the MC.

Significance of MC :

Its impact was very symbolically significant in the long term, its established principales such as the fact that even the king had to respect rules. The limitation of the kings power, the necessity of a consultative body for the king (the seeds of parliament). Certains rights to freedom from detention.

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