The State System of the UK

Plan

Monarchy

Executive

Legislative

House of Commons

House of Lords

Judiciary

Elections and Parties

Local Government

European Union

Monarchy

The UK is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power exercised on behalf of the monarch by the prime minister and other cabinet ministers who head departments. The cabinet, including the prime minister, and other ministers collectively make up Her Majesty's Government. These ministers are elected from and are responsible to Parliament, the legislative body, which is traditionally considered to be "supreme". The UK is one of the few countries in the world today that does not have a codified constitution, relying instead on traditional customs and separate pieces of constitutional law – Acts of Parliament.

In 1215 the nobles forced king John to accept Magna Charta (The Great Charter) which was aimed to limit some powers of the king. In 1265 Simon de Montfort summoned the first parliament. Since then the so-called British constitution has evolved as a result of countless Acts of Parliament. The Bill of Rights (1689) was a major step towards constitutional monarchy and since then the power of the parliament has grown and the power of the monarch has weakened.

The head of state, theoretical and nominal source of executive, judicial and legislative power in the UK is the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. However, sovereignty in the UK no longer rests with the monarch, since the English Bill of Rights in 1689, which established the principle of Parliamentary sovereignty.

The British Sovereign possesses many hypothetical powers, including the right to choose any British citizen to be her Prime Minister and the right to call and dissolve Parliament whenever she wishes. However, in accordance with the current uncodified constitution, the Prime Minister is the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons, and Parliament is dissolved at the time suggested by the PM. The monarch retains the ability to deny giving a bill Royal Assent, although in modern times this becomes increasingly more unlikely, as it would cause a constitutional crisis. Queen Anne was the last monarch to exercise this power, which she did on 11 March 1708 with regard to a bill "for the settling of Militia in Scotland". Other royal powers called royal prerogative, such as patronage to appoint ministers and the ability to declare war, are exercised by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, with the formal consent of the Queen.

Today the Sovereign has an essentially ceremonial. However the monarch does continue to exercise three essential rights: the right to be consulted, the right to advise and the right to warn. As a consequence of these ideals, PMs hold weekly confidential meetings with the monarch.

Although the abolition of the monarchy has been suggested, the popularity of the monarchy remains strong in the UK. Support for a British republic usually fluctuates between 15% and 25% of the population, with roughly 10% undecided or indifferent. The current monarch is HM Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953

Executive

The Government performs the Executive functions of the UK on behalf of the Sovereign. The monarch appoints a PM, from the members of the House of Commons who is most likely to be able to form a Government with the support of the House. The PM then selects the other Ministers which make up the Government and act as political heads of the various Government Departments. About twenty of the most senior government ministers make up the Cabinet. The ministers are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the PM. The majority of ministers are members of the House of Commons, although there are some representatives of the Lords. The PM may make changes in the size of their cabinet and may create new ministries and make other changes. The PM informs the queen of the general business of the Government, presides over the Cabinet and is responsible for allocation of functions among ministers.

The Government of the United Kingdom contains a number of ministries known as departments, e.g. Ministry of Defence. These are politically led by a Government Minister who is often a Secretary of State and member of the Cabinet. He or she may also be supported by a number of junior Ministers.

The Government has the major share in controlling and arranging the business of the House. As the initiator of policy, it dictates what action it wishes the Parliament to take. The major functions of the Cabinet are: the final determination of policies, the supreme control of the government and the coordination of government departments.

Implementation of the Minister's decisions is carried out by a permanent politically neutral organization known as the civil service. Its constitutional role is to support the Government of the day regardless of which political party is in power. "Whitehall" is often used as a synonym for the central core of the Civil Service. This is because most Government Departments have headquarters in and around the former Royal Palace of Whitehall.

Legislative

Parliament is the national legislative power of the UK It is the ultimate legislative authority in the UK composed of the elected House of Commons and the unelected House of Lords, whose members are mostly appointed. The House of Commons is the more powerful of the two houses.

The Parliament Act 1911 fixed the life of a parliament at 5 years, although it may be dissolved. It can make, unmake or alter any law. The life of the Parliament is divided into sessions, each lasting for one year. Each session begins and ends most often in October and November.

The UK is divided into parliamentary constituencies of equal population, each of which elects a Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons. Of the 646 MPs there is currently only one who does not belong to a political party. In modern times, all Prime Ministers and Leaders of the Opposition have been drawn from the Commons, not the Lords.

One party usually has a majority in Parliament – the party that wins most seats at a general election, or which has support of the majority of the House of Commons, usually forms the government. The largest minority becomes the official opposition with its own leader and its own ‘Shadow’ cabinet whose members act as spokesmen on the subjects for which ministers have responsibility. The members of any other party support or oppose the Government according to their party policy.

The basic procedure for business in the Commons is a debate on a particular proposal, followed by a resolution which either accepts or rejects this proposal. Sometimes the resolution just expresses a viewpoint, but most often it is a matter of framing a new law or of approving (or not approving) government plans to raise taxes or spend money in certain ways. Occasionally, there is no need to take a vote, but there usually is, and at such times there is a 'division'. That is, MPs have to vote for or against a particular proposal. They do this by walking through one of two corridors at the side of the House – one (right) is for the 'Ayes' (those who agree with the proposal) and the other (left) is for the 'Noes' (those who disagree). All speeches in the House of commons are addressed to the Speaker and he calls upon the members to speak.

Before a proposal for a new law starts its progress through the parliament, there will be much discussion. Most bills begin life in the House of Commons, where they go through a number of stages.

First reading:This is a formal announcement only, with no debate

Second reading: The house debates the general prin­ciples of the bill and in most cases, takes a vote.

Committee stage:A committee of MPs examines the details of the bill and votes on amendments (changes) to parts of it.

Report stage:The House considers die amend­ments.

Third reading:The amended bill is debated as a whole.

The bill is sent to the House of Lords, where it goes through the same stages. (If the Lords make new amendments, these will be consid­ered by the Commons.)

After both Houses have reached agreement, the bill receives the royal assent and becomes an Act of Parliament which can be applied as part of the law.

House of Lords.The House of Lords has 724 members (though this number is not fixed), constituted of hereditary peers, life peers (Lord Temporal), and bishops of the Church of England (the Lords Spiritual).

It currently acts to review legislation formed by the House of Commons, with the power to propose amendments, and exercises a suspensive veto. This allows it to delay legislation it does not approve of for twelve months. However, the use of vetoes is limited. Persistent use of the veto can also be overturned by the Parliament Act by the Commons.

The House of Lords is currently also the final court of appeal within the United Kingdom, although in practice only a small subset of the House of Lords, known as the Law Lords, hears judicial cases. However, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 outlines plans for a Supreme Court of the UK to replace the role of the Law Lords.

Outside Parliament, party control is carried out by national and local organizations. Inside Parliament and partly in the House of Commons it is carried out by officers known as Whips. Duties which are common to the Whips of all parties include keeping members informed of forthcoming parliamentary business; ensuring the attendance of members and their party vote.

Judiciary

The Lord Chancellor is the head of the judiciary in England and Wales. He appoints judges and magistrates for criminal courts on behalf of the Sovereign. However, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 removes much of the power in this role and gives it to others in the British government, mainly the newly created post of Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs. Another part of The Lord Chancellor's duties in the House of Lords have been replaced by a dedicated "Lord/Lady Speaker", who acts as a permanent presiding officer for the House of Lords.

In addition to the House of Commons, Scotland now has its own parliament and Wales and Northern Ireland have assemblies.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 2082