4 PART 1: POLITICAL LIFE: MONARCHY AND THE GOVERNMENT

- Politics= política (término abstracto)

- Politicians= politicos (personas)
- Policy/policies= plan o acción que tiene intenciones de hacer efecto
British people have a relaxed attitude towards politics
Politicians are rewarded with suspiciousness because they tend to be dishonest and lie
British are not enthusiastic about voting→In general, there is voter apathy, also reflected in
low turnouts

CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM

- Britain is a constitutional monarchy, a country governed by a king/queen who excepts

the advice of parliament
- It is also a parliamentary democracy because the government, which is controlled by
the Parliament, is elected by the people. (Democracy because everyone over 18 can
vote and chose the members of the Parliament who are going to represent their
interests)
- The official head of the State is the monarch but she/he has very little power→ “A
sovereign who reigns but does not rule”
- There is no constitution. There are rules, regulations, principles for running the
country, but there is not a written document. They have an unwritten constitution
which is formed by different sources:
• Statute laws (acts of Parliament)
• Common/ Case law (laws made by judges)
• Customs and conventions (laws that have been followed throughout the
centuries such as the Magna Carta…)

PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM

The system is constituted by 3 branches:

- Legislative branch
• House of commons+ House of Lords (the law is proposed and approved by the
parliament)
- Executive branch
• Cabinet+ Ministries (find the way to make those laws effectives)
Cabinet= the Prime Minister+ the leading political of the ruling parties
- Judiciary branch
• Judges of the Higher courts (interpret those laws and decide if the laws can be
implemented or not)
 THE MONARCHY

It is determined by the Bill of Rights

• The monarch is not divine by right but in terms of the parliament. (It put an
end to absolute monarchy and restricts the queen/king’s power)→The
monarch cannot make any legal decision without the parliament
- The monarch cannot be a Catholic or marry a Catholic (cannot be Catholic consort)
- Changes introduced in October 2011 (summit of all the 16 commonwealth realms in
Perth, Australia):
• End of male primogeniture rule (the eldest child regardless of sex perceives
his/her brothers→ gender equality)
• The rule that none that marries a Roman Catholic can be a monarch
disappears (they can marry whoever they want but they, themselves, still have
to be protestants)

In theory, the monarch is:

- The head of the State of the executive, legislative and judiciary branches
(“my government”/ “the Crown against”/ “Her majesty’s prisons”)→ queen’s way of talking in order to
declare it is hers
- Commander-in-chief on the armed forces
- Governor of the Church of England (officially it is the Archbishop of Canterbury)
- Executive branch
• The monarch chooses the Prime Minister and the ministerial positions (in
reality she cannot choose the leader by herself, she has to choose and accept
the leader with more votes) (it is the Prime Minister who chooses the other
minister positions)
- Legislative branch
• Presides the state of opening of Parliament (in the House of Lords)
• Gives a speech about what her government will do that year
• She summons and dissolves the Parliament
• She gives royal assert before any bill becomes a law
(1708 Queen Anne last to refuse)

THE ROLE OF THE MONARCHY

The monarch is:

- The personal embodies of the government (the symbol)→ people can be critic with
parliament, but if they are with the queen, they will be accused of not being patriotic
- A possible final check against governmental abuse (against a government being
dictatorial)
- The representation of the country. She does ceremonial duties: Glorified ambassadors
- Other reasons: continuity, national pride, pageantry and glamour (also provides
entertainment such a soap opera)
THE ROYAL FAMILY

❖ Queen Elizabeth= “Queen Mother” → deceased in 2002

• Queen Elizabeth II + Prince Philip (Duke of Edingburgh)→deceased 2021
o Prince Charles (Prince of Wales) + Princess Diana (Princess of Wales):
deceased 1997→ divorced in 1996
➢ Prince William (Duke of Cambridge) + Catherine (Duchess of
Cambridge)
* George+ Charlotte+ Louis of Cambridge
➢ Prince Harry (Duke of Sussex) + Meghan (Duchesse of
Sussex)→ stepped back in 2020 from being senior member of
the British royal family
* Baby Archie

→Prince Charles + Camile Parker Bowels (Duchess of Cornwall)

o Princess Anne (Princess Royal)

o Prince Andrew (Duke of York) + Sarah “Fergie” (Duchess of York)→
divorced
o Prince Edward (Earl of Wessex) + Sophie Rhys Jones (Countess of
Wessex)
THE FUTURE OF THE MONARCHY

- There is almost no public debate about the existence of the monarchy (the attitude
towards monarchy is or in favour or do not care)
- During the 1980s and 1990s there was a coaling of enthusiasm due to the response to
Lady Diana’s death. The royal family behaviour is explained through the “stiff upper
lip” (retain emotions). People loved Diana and could not understand the behaviour of
the royal family
- The royal family is seen as a Model of Christian family life (which has caused a lot of
problems because they had to change their attitude)
• Marital scandals (divorces Sarah and Andrew/ Charles and Diana)→Created
distance between the ideal image of the royal family and the reality
o Sarah “Fergie” and Andrew: sex- abuse- scandals
o Charles and Diana: adultery scandal (“there were 3 of us in this
marriage so it was a bit crowded” said Diana)
• Edward VIII and Ms. Simpson
o Edward abdicates after a year of reign because he met a girl and had
to choose between marring her or reign
- Jubilees (anniversaries of the queen’s coronation)
• Silver (25 years)→ 1977 with a spontaneous celebration by people
• Golden (50 years)→ 2002—no celebration because of the response of the
royal family to Diana’s death
• Diamond (60 years)→ 2012—more party and celebration than the one from
2002+ a tour through the city to celebrate (by the queen)
- Public money (people do not feel great with the money the royal family cost—
monarchy do no practical job)
• Windsor Castle fire (1992)→ people were empathetic with the situation
because it was the queen’s favourite palace. But when it was announced that
the reparation would be paid with public money, they were unhappy because
the queen was the richest women in the world
• Paying taxes (1992)→ the queen starts paying due to the citizens’ complaints
• Members dropped from the Civil list→ list of people of the royal family who
received money to attend their own business
• The queen opened part of the Buckingham Palace to use the money it cost
enter on it to repair Windsor Castle. Ever since then, Buckingham has had its
doors opened to the public
- The future royal style: is less grand, less distant? → the queen has cooperated in
several documentaries as well as in the opening of the Olympic games in 2012 to stay
closer to the population
 THE GOVERNMENT

- The term “government” can be interpretated in 2 different ways:

1) Government refers to all the politician who run government departments or have
special responsibilities
2) Government refers to the prime minister and other members of the cabinets
(prime minister+ leading politicians in the governing party)
- “Collective responsibility” → A constitutional convention in parliamentary systems
that members of the cabinet must publicly support all governmental decisions made in
Cabinet, even if they do not privately agree with them. If he/ she shows disagreement
to the public he/she is forced to resign his/her position in the cabinet
The members in the cabinet are from the same party and that which has won the
elections, unless there is a coalition (when a party does not reach a majority and needs
support of others)
- “Shadow cabinet”→ the members of the government’s opposition and its leader. The
shadow cabinet looks carefully to the leading party government policies, develop
alternative policies, and hold the government to account for its actions and responses.

Terminology

- Ministro= Secretary of State (is the head of departments)

- Ministro de medioambiente= Secretary of State for the Environment→ head of the
department of the environment
- Ministro de Exteriores= Foreign Secretary→ head of the department of Foreign and
Commonwealth Office
- Ministro de Interior= Home Secretary→ head of the department of the Home Office
- Ministro de Economía= chancellor of the Exchequer→ head of the department of
Treasury
THE PRIME MINISTER

- It is the leader of the government as well as the leader of the party that wins the most
seats in the parliament
- Powers:
• the position is described with the phrase “Primus inter pares” (the prime minister
is just another member in the parliament, but it is actually the one holding the
most power)
• he has the power of choose/ dismiss ministers and propose the life peers (honour
given to an individual that expires when he/she dies)
• “Cabinet reshuffle”→ a habit undertaken by the prime minister that is made to
change the members of the cabinet each one or two years
• He is the one who communicates the government’s decisions to the queen
• He directs all the government departments
• He has the last word in deciding government policies (the rest of the cabinet has to
go alone with whatever the prime minister says)
- The 10 of Downing Street is the official house of the prime minister (a normal house to
demonstrate that he is not that important). It is also the place where the cabinet meet
and where the cabinet office works
- The 11 of Downing Street is where the Chancellor of the Exchequer lives
- The 12 of Downing Street is where Chip Whips lives (the one who ensures that all the
members of the parliament vote)
- In the media: Downing Street and the number ten is used to refer to the Cabinet
- The prime minister also has another house, Chequers (in the countryside)
- Whitehall Street→ a street where most department offices are located. Whitehall is
also used to refer to the government

Remarkable Prime Ministers

- Tony Blair (1997-2007)→ Labour Party

- Gordon Brown (2007-2010)→ Labour Party
- David Cameron→ Prime Minister, Conservative Party Coalition government (2010-2015)
- Nick Clegg→ Deputy Prime Minister, Liberal Democrat
- David Cameron (2015-2016)→ Conservative Party (in 2016 sets a referendum where
people is asked whether to stay or not in Europe. He wanted to be in the European
Union, and not happy with the votes in favour of leaving, he resigns)
- Theresa May (2016-2019)→ Conservative Party (deals with Brexit process)
- Boris Johnson (2019-…)→ Conservative Party

Britain has a 2-party system= 2 parties tend to governate

THE CIVIL SERVICE

A collective term for the sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired
on professional merit rather than appointed or elected.

- Only includes people working for the government. They work in departments
- In spite of the fact that the government and everything changes, the civil service does
not change. It is always the same people working, they remain because they are
employed by the Crown and not by individual departments
- It is a career and the most senior positions are those who have worked there more
than 20 years
- They obtain high salary, job security, chances to be awarded an official honour
- They have a lot of control over ministers
- The most senior civil servant is the “Permanent Secretary”, who is the one who knows
the most about the members of the parliament
- There is a tendency of ministers to appoint external experts and political advisers
together with the Civil Servants, due to this they are losing importance
• Civil servants are impartial and have a job for life
• External experts are not impartial because they are hired by certain politician
and their jobs are not for life