Political System

The most important fact in understanding the nature of the British political system is the fundamental continuity of that system. There has not been a revolution of the kind experienced by so many other countries and Britain has not been invaded or occupied for almost 1,000 years. This explains why almost uniquely in the world the British have no written constitution. Any change in the political system has been gradual and pragmatic and built on consensus.

To simplify the British political history, it is worth mentioning there has essentially been a struggle to shift political power and accountability from the all-powerful king to the national parliament that was increasingly representative of and accountable to ordinary people. Quite a few milestones are easy to notice along this long and troubled road to full democracy.

The key date in this evolution was 1215 when King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta which involved him sharing power with the barons. This is regarded as the first statement of citizen rights in the world.

The so-called Model Parliament was summoned by King Edward I in 1295 and is regarded as the first representative assembly. Unlike the absolute monarchs of other parts of Europe, the King of England required the approval of Parliament to tax his subjects.

The bicameral structure of the British Parliament - Commons and Lords - emerged in 1341 and the two-chamber model of the legislature has served as a model in very many other parliamentary systems.

It was the 19th century when the franchise was seriously extended. The great Reform Act of 1832 broadened the vote from 400,000 citizens to 600,000, but this legislation - promoted by the Whigs (forerunners of the Liberals) - was only carried after being opposed three times by the Tories (predecessors of the Conservatives). In 1918 the country achieved a near universal franchise and the last extension of the franchise (to 18-21 year olds) was made in 1970.

Another important feature of the British political history is that three parts of the United Kingdom - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - have a special status and have local administrations with a wide range of responsibilities. However, England - which represents about 84% of the total UK population of around 60 million - does not have a clear and strong sense of regionalism. So, the British political system does not have anything equivalent to the federal system of the 50 states in the USA.

One more essential characteristic of the British political system is that, since 1973, the UK has been a member of the European Union (EU). Therefore the UK Government and Parliament are limited in some respects because certain areas of policy or decision-making are a matter for the EU which operates through a European Commission appointed by the member governments and a European Parliament elected by the citizens of the member states.

The UK is a constitutional monarchy but the powers of the monarch as a head of state - currently Queen Elizabeth II – are essentially ceremonial. The most important practical power is the choice of the Member of Parliament to form a government, but the monarch invariably follows the convention that this opportunity is granted to the leader of the political party with most seats in the House of Commons.

The monarch is determined on the hereditary and primogeniture principles, which means that the oldest male child of a monarch is the next in line to the throne. Under the terms of the Act of Settlement of 1701, the monarch and the monarch's spouse cannot be Catholics because the UK monarch is also the Head of the Church of England. These archaic arrangements are currently under review.

In the classical political theory, there is a concept of 'separation of powers', a term coined by the French politician and the enlightenment thinker Montesquieu. The three arms of the state are:

· the executive – the Ministers who run the country and propose new laws;

· the legislature – the elected body that passes new laws;

· the judiciary – the judges and the courts who ensure that everyone obeys the laws.

This is not the case in the UK because all Ministers in the government are members of the legislature, some senior judges sit in the upper house of the parliament and the formal head of the judiciary is a senior minister. This is an illustration of how pragmatic and flexible the British political system is.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-17