自学考试英美国家概况115132第七章

自学考试英美国家概况115132第七章

I

Chapter '7

Govern ent and A ministration The United Kingdom is a constitutional

monarchy: the head of State is a king or a queen. In practice, the Sovereign reigns,

but not rule: the United Kingdom is governed, in the name of

the .

d Sovereign, 'by His or Her Majesty's Government - a body of Minis-

ters who are the leading members of whichever political party the electorate has voted into office, and who are responsible to The system of parliamentary government is not based on a written constitution. There is no written constitution in the United King- ? . dom, that is , unlike the constiutions of most other countries, the British constitution is not set out in any single document., It is made

up of statute law, common law -and conventions (Conventions are

rules and practices which are not legally enforceable but which are

I . The Monarchy

The monarchy is the oldest institution of government, going back ? . to at least the 9th century. The continuity of the monarchy, which has had only a few changes in the direct line of succession in the past 1, 000

years, has been broken only once when, between 1649 and 113

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16609 a republic was established. Although the monarchy has

sur- vived, it seems that it has no real power

today - The present Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II, was born on

April 21, 1926- was married to the Prince

Philip, the Duke of Edin- burgh, on November 20, 1947; came to the throne on

February I 6, 1952; and was crowned on June 2, 1953. Her title in the Unit- ed Kingdom is: ''Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her Other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Common- wealth, Defender of the Faith". In the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man the Queen is represented by a

Lieutenant-Governor. Although the seat of the monarchy is in Britain, the Queen is

also head of state of a number of Commonwealth states such as

Australia,

Canada, and New Zealand. In each such state the Queen is repre-

sented. by a Governor- General, appointed by her on the advice of the

ministers of the country concerned and completely

independent of

the British Government . In British dependent territories the . from common law rules of descent. Succession,is founded on the The title to the Crown is derived partly from statute and partly hereditary principle. Sons of the SDvereign have precedence over

daughters in succeeding to the throne. When a daughter succeeds,

she becomes Queen Regnant, and has the same powers as a king.

The consort of a king (i. e. the king's wife) takes her events of 1688, only Protestant descendants of a

granddaughter of 114

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. . tress;of Hanover) are eligible to succeed. The order of

succession can be altered only by common consent of the countries of the Com- monwealt

h. The Sovereign succeeds to the throne as soon as his or her prede- - The ceremony takes

place cessor dies: there is no interregnurn . He or she is at once pro-

claimed at an Accession Council. The Sovereign's coronation follows at Westminster Abbey in

London. The eldest son of Queen Elizabeth

11 - Prince Charles, Prince of Wale

s - is the heir to the thr6ne. But when Prince Charles and I

Princess Diana were porced, many people suggested that he should stand aside from the succession in favour of his eldest son, William. Princ e

. The Queen is the symbol of the whole nation. In law, she

is head of the executive, an integral part of the

legislature, head of the judiciary, the commander- in-chief of all the armed forces of the " Crown and the supreme governor" of the established Church of England. As head of State, the Queen is informed and

consulted on every aspect of national life. On the advice. of her Ministers, she performs certain important acts of government. These include sum- . momng, proroguing (discontiriuing until the next session without dissolution) and dissolving Parliament, and giving Royal Assent to

Bills passed by Parliament. The Queen also formally appoints many

important office holders, including government ministers, judges,

officers in the armed forces, governors, diplomats, bishops and knighthood's and other honours. An important

function 115 ..... - --- - - ... - ...

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I

. is appointing the Prime Minister. In international affairs the Queen, as head of State, has the power to declare war and

make

peace, to recognize foreign states and governments, to

conclude

treaties and to annex or ~ede territory. As head of State, life, and she must show complete

impartiality. The Queen is the centre of much of the nation's ceremonial

and, - by ancient tradition, the leader of society. Royal marriages and royal funerals are marked by public

ceremony, and the Sovereign's birthday is officially celebrated in June by Trooping the

Colour on

Horse Guards Parade. State banquets take place when a foreign . bestow honours; and royal processions add significance to such occa- Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland to sions as the state opening of

Parliament. I Each year the Queen and other members of the royal family

visit many parts of the United Kingdom to inaugurate scientific, indus-

trial, artistic and charitable works of national importance. The

Queen pays state visits to foreign governments, accompanied by ? . the Commonwealth (of which the Queen is the head) . The expenditure ansing from the public duties of the Queen is

met . by the Civil List (an annual grant) and by goverment

departments

(which meet the cost of, for example, the Royal Yacht

Britannia

and the aircraft of the Queen's Flight). All such expenditure is ap- Queen's Civil List provision is required to cover the

expenditure on the salaries and expenses of the Royal Household. The Queen's pri- 116

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