I. Geography
United Kingdom includes:
Great Britain:
England
Wales (1536)
Scotland (1707) note interest in autonomy, statehood
Northern Ireland
(1922)
note Protestant-Catholic conflict 1970s-2000s peace
in 2007 (hopefully)
Note recent plans to give restructure Northern Ireland,
Wales, and Scotland
II. History: Gradual evolution towards democracy
1215 Magna
Carta, limitations on king (list of kings: http://www.scotlandroyalty.org/kings.html)
1265 Parliament
formed
1534 Establishment
of Church of England
1649 King Charles
I beheaded, dictatorship of Oliver Cromwell (1649-1660) 1
| 2 |
1689 Glorious Revolution,
supremacy of Parliament
1700s Development of parliamentary
procedures
1832 Great Reform
Act, principle that MPs represent voters,
voting expanded
1872 More voting
reforms
1911 Parliament
Act, House of Commons dominates Lords
1918 Woman > 30
vote
1928 universal adult
suffrage
1945 Labour government,
welfare state
1979 Margaret Thatcher
becomes Prime Minister, restrains welfare state
Contrast with France's 12 Republican
and Imperial Regimes
| 1750 Bourbon Monarchy | |
| 1792 First Republic | |
| 1804 First Empire | |
| 1815 Bourbon Restoration | |
| 1830 July Monarchy | |
| 1848 Second Republic | |
| 1851 Second Empire | |
| 1875 Third Republic | |
| 1940 Vichy Government | |
| 1944 Liberation Government | |
| 1946 Fourth Republic | |
| 1958 Fifth Republic |
III. The British Constitution
1. Monarchy has unlimited power
BUT, monarch delegates power to Parliament,
which elects
head of government
So, Parliament has unlimited power
No written
constitution to limit action
No judicial
review
No special
procedure to amend constitution
Parliamentary act changes constitution
Recent Exceptions: European
Court of Human Rights has some power, Strasbourg France
2. Head of State and Head of Government
Head of state
English system:
symbolic figurehead, no power.
Some systems:
head of state is mostly symbol,
but has some political power (Italy, Israel)
French/Russian
system: head of state has very substantial powers
Head of government
Manages day-to-day
activities of government
Major patterns:
a. Monarchy
Hereditary Head of State
Head of Government (Prime minister) elected by members of parliament
(MPs elected by people)
Examples: United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway,
Spain, Belgium, Holland, Japan, Thailand
b. Parliamentary
Republic
Elected Head of State
Head of Government (Prime Minister) elected
by members of parliament
(MPs elected by people)
Examples: France, Italy, Poland, Finland, India, Pakistan, Israel, Russia
c. Presidential
Republic
People elect President
both Head of State and Head of Government
Examples: United States, Mexico, other Latin American countries