Chapter 5, Politics AND Government PDF

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CONSTITUTION AND MONARCH

THE CONSTITUTION. The constitutional system has been changing since 1688. Its significant changes happened over the years because of the entry to the EU in 1973. Britain's form of government is a constitutional monarchy, and it is characterised for a monarch as head of state, but with no executive powers and with legal limitations. Britain can also be considered a parliamentary system, where the Westminster Parliament (composed by the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the monarch) in London in the legislature and possesses the power to make laws in UK matters. The House of Commons (executive government) operates throughout departments of ministries headed by ministers or secretaries of state. The House of Commons governs by going its policies through Parliament as Acts of Parliament. The legislative and the executive branches of government are independent of the judicial branch. The judges work to determine the law and interpret Acts of Parliament. In 2009 was created the Supreme Court, which is the higher court. All the parts are operating under the British constitution, which consists of distinctive elements; the majority of them are in written form. These are common law, judge-made case, law or statute law (Acts of Parliament). The constitutional elements can be edit with new conditions. The Westminster Parliament can change and create UK laws and institutions through Acts of Parliament. The judiciary can extend The common law, and general agreement can be altered, make or abolish conventions. The British people have political sovereignty to decide on the government of the UK. In contrast, parliament has the power to make laws in many territories, and British courts must give it precedence when there is any conflict between the two systems. Before Brexit, EU law was applicable in Britain and coexisted with Acts of Parliament as a part of the British constitution. It is supposed that 75 per cent of all British laws are EU laws. Parliament has committed not to legislate on matters which affects all the UK without the agreement of the Assemblies. The Scottish Parliament has the authority to legislate on issues which Westminster has no say. The Welsh Assembly hasn't primary legislative powers, and the Northern Irish Assembly can legislate in devolved matters. Even so, the

UK Parliament has the constitutional right to abolish the Scottish Parliament and Welsh and Irish Assembly.

CRITICS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM If UK governments have large majorities in the Commons, they can pass their policies through Parliament. This signifies that there are few significant parliamentary obstacles upon a strong government. It's the reason why the British constitution has often been criticised, the absence of constitutional safeguards for citizens against state power. It is said that Britain is indeed governed by small groups of bodies which may be unelected and are appointed by the government. There have been campaigns for: -An uncovered supreme authority and more effective protection of the individual liberties in the methods of a written constitution. -The necessity of a Supreme Court to preserve the independence of the judiciary from the Parliament. -Better judicial inspection of parliamentary legislation of a Freedom of Information Act. -Inclusion of the European Convention on Human Rights into national law reform of the House of Lords. In 2000, the Labour government created a Freedom of Information Act and included the European Convention into British law by the creation of a Human Rights Act, in 1998. The Freedom of Information Act can be moulded by the authorities concerned. It's the main reason because it has been criticised. The Human Rights Acts allow the Courts to rule in cases of systematic violation of Human Rights, so when they can't overrule an Act of Parliament, they declare it as a breach of the Human Rights legislation. As a result, a government could be forced to change legislation, and it can be considered an encroachment upon parliamentary sovereignty. The judges and courts have arguably achieved influence by their ruling under the Human Rights Act, but the implications of the Act have to be fully solved. Because of the lately exposed, critics nowadays feel that the British parliamentary system is out of date, they defend that it's needed a written constitution to control administrative and executive bodies to make the UK political system work satisfactorily. They also maintain that its traditional bases are not adequate for the regulation of a

heterogeneous society. Party politics condition too much the political policies and the government is too removed from the population and regional matters. Political and constitutional reforms were at the head of debate by all the political parties because of the scandal in which many parliamentarians were criticised for claiming expenses carrying out their duties. Reformation has been doing in the system.

THE MONARCHY The constitutional title of the British Parliament is "The Queen in Parliament", this means that the politicians perform government and state matters in the name of the Monarch. The Crown is sovereign by the will of Parliament and acceptance by the people. The Monarchy is the oldest lay organisation in Britain. The throne was reserved only for the eldest son, and the here must be protestant. The son had preference over any older daughters until the Succession to the Crown Act in 2013. There have been different dynasties like the Tudors, Stuarts and Hanoverians, but the Monarchy's continuity has been suspended by Crownwellian Rule (1653 - 1660). The Monarchy is a permanent part in the British system. It's head of state, leader of the legislature, judiciary and executive, commander-in-chief of the armed forces and "supreme governor" of the Church of England. The Monarch should be politically impartial, is expected to act only on the advice of government ministers, it has to reign but not to rule, and Her Majesty's Government governs Britain in the name of the Queen. The unique central power possessed by the Monarchy is to choose and designate the UK Prime Minister. In theory, Monarchy has to make a free choice if there isn't a clear majority or if the political situation is blocked, in this situations, Royal advisers and leading politicians advise finding the better candidate for commanding the House of Commons. For the critics, the Monarchy is an undemocratic, expensive and out-of-step institution. For them, it is also associated with aristocratic privilege. On the other hand, people who support the continuation of the Monarchy argue that it's a symbol of national unity and has adapted to modern requirements. However, polls show that population support the Monarchy.

THE PRIVY COUNCIL The Privy Council is constitutionally united to the Monarchy. Royal advisers form it into the executive branch of the Monarch's government. In the 18th and 19th Centuries, its powerful position was rejected, and its functions were given to a parliamentary Cabinet and new ministries. Four hundred Privy Councillors work through small groups as advisers of the Monarch on the approval of government business.

THE UK PARLIAMENT ROLE AND POSITION The UK Parliament is located in Westminster's palace (London). It's formed of the elected House of Commons, the Monarch and the non-elected House of Lords. The House of Commons and the House of Lords contain members from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. Parliament has legal sovereignty and the power to create, amend or abolish institutions and laws for any parts of Britain. The implementation of the government's policies in reserved topics while devolved matters are dealt with by the authorised bodies of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. All three parts of Parliament must pass a legislative decree before it can become an Act of Parliament and law. Five years is the maximum time of a Parliament duration. Usually, it is dissolved earlier, and a general election is called. The Prime Minister's power to choose election was given up after the 2010 election and a fixed them of the five years' duration was substituted. To vote to result in a dissolution of Parliament is necessary a 55 per cent majority in the House of Commons. If a PM dies, is given a peerage or resigns, is called a by-election only for her/his seat. It's not necessary to dissolve the Parliament. At present, the House of Lords consists of Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual. Lords Spiritual and the Archbishops of York and Canterbury and 24 senior bishops of the Church of England. The Lords Temporal is compound of 92 peers and peeresses. There have been mainly demanding that the unrepresentative, unelected House of Lords should be substituted. The House of Commons has 650 members of Parliament, who are chosen from all parts of the UK by voters from the age of 18.

LEGISLATION AND PROCEDURE It is known that Parliament procedure in Houses of Parliament is based on custom, exemplar and specific rules. The meetings on the House of Commons take place every weekday afternoon, so many Ministers of Parliament spend the weekend in their voting districts attending to voters. It is felt that the resources and pay should be improved; it's the reason why some of them might follow part-time professions apart from their charges as MP. Ministers of the Parliament elect the Speaker, who is the chief officer of the House of Commons. The Speaker interprets the rules of the House and is supported by three deputed speakers. They are assumed to be political representative and impartial. The Speaker is in charge to protect the House from any violation of procedure by controlling discussed and votes. The Speaker has the casting vote when there is an equalled result and can force to remove or exclude a member from the House. In both Houses of Parliament, the debate usually starts with a proposal, which has to be decided by a majority vote at the end of the mentioned debate. In the Commons, Ministers of Parliament can record their vote with a "Yes", "No" or abstain from voting. Votes' results are published daily in the parliamentary publication called "Hansard". Debates are also radio reporting and televised. Before the creation of a new law or make changes in a real one, the government will begin several documents before starting the process of creating a law in the Parliament. White Papers are a preliminary document which details the prospective legislation, and a Green Paper is a consultative document which allows parties that are interested in, to start their case before introducing a proposal into Parliament. The procedure to make a law starts with a draft law, which takes the form of a Bill. Some Bills may be "private" because they are related to matters such as local government while some are "private members." But most Bills are "public" because they involve state business. Then, Bills must pass through both Houses and receive the Royal assent before they become law. Firstly, it has to be approved by the Commons; then the Lords can block a non-financial Bill. They can propose corrections, and if amended the Bill, it goes back to the Commons for consideration. Nevertheless, the Lords' role now is to act as a form of revision, more than as an enemy of the elected Commons. When the Bill has passed within the Lords, it is sent to the Monarch for the Royal approval. Finally, the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament and joins the statute book as representing the law of the state at that time.

UK PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS The UK is distributed for Westminster parliamentary elections to the House of Commons into 650 constituencies which contain approximately 66,000 voters. Every electorate has one Minister Parliamentary to the House of Commons at a general election. General elections are by secret voting, although voting is not obligatory. The candidate who wins the most votes in a district is elected Minister Parliamentary for that region, what is known as the "first past the post" system or a simple majority. British, Irish Republic and Commonwealth citizens may vote if they are resident in the UK.

THE PARTY-POLITICAL SYSTEM British elections at Parliamentary and depend on the party political system, which existed since the 17th century. For the general elections, the parties present their policy programmes to the electorate for consideration during the campaign previous to Election Day. Every party choose its candidate in each district, and they are elected to the Westminster Parliament. There have been nine Labour, eight Conservative and one Conservative/ Liberal Democrat government in Britain since 1945. The Labour party highlighted the social equity, the balance of opportunity, economic planning and the state ownership of services and industries. In the past, it was supported by the working class, the trade unions and a middle-class wing. Its electoral bastions are historically in Scotland, the Midlands, northern English industrialised cities and South Wales. However, in the 1990s the party tries to grab middle-class electors in southern England and to take account of improving social and economic conditions. Tony Blair was responsible for modernised the party as the New Labour, moving to the centre, capturing voters from the Conservatives and distancing itself from the state ownership, trade unions and the party's doctrine past. The Conservative Party is a right-of-centre party with right and left-wing sectors. It highlights the individual ownership of property and in personal, social and economic freedom. The party's living comes from the business interest and the middle and upper classes, but there is an appreciable number of workers and women. The party's fortresses are in southern England, and it suffered a massive electoral defeat at the 1997 and 2001 general elections. At the 2005 election, the party improved its performance,

but it was still far from a better position to return to government. David Cameron emphasised that it needed to modernise and change its image into something more attractive to voters. The Liberal Democrats party were formed in 1988 when the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party merged into a new one. Their strengths are in constitutional reforms and civil liberties. They are powerful in south-west England, Wales and Scotland, although they lack a clearly defined identity and policies which make them distinct. Smaller parties are also represented in the House of Commons; they gain some seats in the Commons. These parties are the Plaid Cymru (the Welsh National Party); the Ulster Unionist and the Democratic Unionists (Protestant Northern Irish Parties); the Scottish National Party; Sinn Féin (Republican Northern Irish Party); the Green Party and the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). If no party obtain an overall majority in a general election and neither forms a majority government, the most voted party would be able to govern only by depending on the support of smaller parties in the Commons on a case by case basis or by constituting a formal alliance with another party or group of smaller parties. The largest minority party become official Opposition. Its role is to try to overthrow a government by defeating it in a vote. If the government has a majority and can include the support of its MPs and coalition colleagues, this manoeuvre will be unsuccessful.

THE UK GOVERNMENT The UK government is the executive part of the political system in Britain, consists of 100 ministers who can be elected from both Houses of Parliament and who are designated by the monarch on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and are capable to Parliament for the control of national affairs. The Prime Minister is designated by the monarch and usually is the head of the majority party in the Commons, as do most ministers who are questioned and held accountable for governments actions. However, the Prime Minister is historically the connection between monarch and Parliament. The Cabinet is a small executive body in the government which was originated in meetings that the monarch had with ministers in a royal Cabinet, in time this grew into a parliamentary body. Habitually includes nearly 20 senior ministers, who are chosen and controlled by the prime minister.

In theory, the Cabinet collectively started and decides government policy at its weekly meetings. Although the Cabinet meets in private, consultations and debates are leaked to the media. Government offices or ministers are the main instruments by which the government performs its policy. Departments are staffed by the civil servants who are accountable for the implementation of government policies.

UK parliamentary control of the government. British governments have historically led to rule pragmatically. The accent was on whether policies worked and were commonly satisfactory. There is a balance between efficient governments and public accountability. Constitutional theory suggests that Parliament should control the executive, but critics have defined it as an elective dictatorship. Frequently, opposition parties can only oppose the Commons and hope to convince the electorate to replace the government in the next general elections. Often it is maintained that the original work of the House and parliamentary control is done in the selection of committees.

Attitudes to politics. Polls show that British politicians and political parties do not rate highly in Briton's opinions. Politicians are with the least admired professionals, and they never respond to the specific question public ask to them, the majority of respondents said that they didn't hope chosen representatives tell the truth. Politicians are also criticised and ridiculed in the media. On the other hand, people appear to be more interested in the political method and issues than is popularly thought....