government;England;survey;seminar paper;Queen;monatchy;democracy
Answers (2)
We have both a monarchy and a democracy. It's a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. Our traditional early monarchies had the king as a military leader and pretty much a general who led troops into battle. The last monarch to do this was Richard III in 1485.
Things began to change after that and we had queens as well as kings. The role of the monarch began to be redefined and in 1649, we did away with a monarchy altogether and executed the king. After the interregnum and up until the present day powers have been ceded and the queen has power on paper only, not in practice.
Our current system is little different to many western democracies which have a figurehead (president) and someone who is actually in charge (prime minister). In the US, both roles are taken by one person. In France, both are elected posts. Here, the president's role is taken by a monarch. I'm not a major royalist but, personally, I think it's better for a head of state to serve a long term for the sake of stability and national identity. For that reason, I think the idea of constitutional monarchy works very well for us.
We have both. We have a constitutional monarchy. The Queen is Head of State but doesn't dabble in politics. She leaves that to our democratically elected government.
The Queen and senior members of the Royal Family work tirelessly in support of British and Commonwealth interests and charities.
It only cost the taxpayer a few pence. The Royal Family are net contributors to the UK economy.
When a senior member of the Royal Family visits other countries, it is a big event and does wonders for our image. Prince Harry recently had a fantastic visit to USA. Even Prince Charles does well. A Royal wedding is global news.
In contrast, a President is a career politician, backed by big business with their own agendas. You end up with a series of them feathering their nests. They would do nothing for our image. A visit by one to a foreign country is a non-event.