La Cantatrice chauve, Eugène Ionesco

discuss the characteristics of the British parliamentary monarchy

A parliamentary monarchy is a political system where the function of head of state is embodied by a monarch and where the elected Parliament exercises the executive powers, determines national policies...

How does the British parliamentary be designed and how does it works?

On the one hand, we will remind the history of the political power in the United Kingdom, on the other hand, we will see how the power is distributed in this political system and to conclude we will pay attention to the functioning of the two houses.

First and foremost, in 1215 dukes, archbishops and nobles made a revolution against the king. They were disabused that the king was above the law. They want to limit the king s influence. On June 15, 1215, the king meets the rebels at Runnymede and they sign the Magna Carta. The document contains 63 rules like barons are consult for raise taxes, every man has a right to a fair trial… Magna Carta is now a piece of the constitution. It’s an agreement between king and population, it’s a balance of power.

During all the XVII century, rights are affirmed in this country. We can quote the Habeas Corpus, which was voted by the parliament in 1679, or king William who signed the bill of rights.

Whereas this rich history the way that’s the British parliamentary is working is very unique.

The monarch is head of state, while the Prime Minister is head of government. In England, executive power is exercised by Her Majesty's government on the name of the monarch. Members of the government are chosen by the Prime Minister. The government comes from Parliament beside is accountable to it. Legislative power is the prerogative of the Government and the two Houses of Parliament: the democratically elected House of Commons and the House of Lords.

The British monarch is the supreme governor of the Church of England and the head of state of the Commonwealth Realms. Today, the role of the monarch is constitutional and limited to ceremonial functions.

For being more precise we are going to discuss the two houses.

During the XIVe century, the parliament was dived in two chambers: nobles and bishops on one side and knight on another. It’s the beginning of the bicameralism.

So today, the Parliament is the reunion of the two houses whit the monarch.

The House of Lords is the upper house. Because of their composition, we understand that they are conservative. Members are life peers appointed by the monarch and hereditary peers. There is no fixed number, today there is 775 personnel and it’s always grow-up. This chamber started as a counsellor of the monarch.

Besides, the House of Common is the lower house. It composes of MPs elected by people during elections. Its roles are

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