I. The King of England and the Monarchy
The British monarchy has a long history, and the power of kings has risen and fallen several times in history. 65438+At the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008, after the British bourgeois revolution, the British bourgeoisie compromised with new noble and continued to retain the monarch in form. The absolute monarchy has gradually developed into a dual monarchy and a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. In this process, the kingship was weakened and gradually developed from "real position" to "virtual position", and the king became a virtual head of state. Legally speaking, today's British king still has supreme status and power, but in political practice, the king's power is restricted by a series of constitutional customs, and most of the real power is in the hands of the cabinet or parliament. The king of England only acts according to the wishes of the cabinet and parliament. This is manifested in:
1, Wang unified and died, ignoring politics;
2. The king can't get involved in party politics, and must remain neutral on the principle of "justice";
3. The king's policy suggestions to the cabinet are not binding, while ministers are obliged to listen to the king's suggestions and act accordingly;
4. The King exercises legislative, executive, judicial and other powers upon the entrustment or recommendation of Parliament or Cabinet.
Although the king has no real power, he is by no means useless. The reason why Britain still retains the king and implements the monarchy is because the king has irreplaceable functions, including:
1, the king is a symbol of national unity and national unity;
2. The king is the guarantee of the continuity and stability of the national political system;
3. The king is a tool to coordinate party struggles and social contradictions;
The king plays the role of "political adviser", providing opinions and suggestions to the Prime Minister and government ministers.
Therefore, some western scholars call this role of the British monarch "useless and useful". Almost all the activities of parliament and cabinet are carried out in the name of the king of England, which shows that it gives the government dignity and legitimacy and strengthens the legitimacy of government activities. The appearance of the king in Britain is an important symbol of maintaining people's moral feelings. Therefore, the long-term existence of monarchy in Britain has its inherent foundation.
Two. Parliament and democracy
Parliament is the highest legislative body and the highest authority in Britain. Britain believes in the principle of "parliament is supreme", and the British parliament consists of three parts: the king, the upper house and the lower house. Among them, the king of England is hereditary, the upper house is composed of various hereditary nobles and lifelong nobles, and only the lower house is elected by universal suffrage. The distribution of power in parliament has also undergone great changes in history. Today, a bicameral model has been formed in which the lower house holds the main power. The main functions and powers of the British Parliament are:
1, legislative power; In theory, parliament can legislate on all issues in all fields, and the laws it makes have no other power to amend or repeal except itself. )
2. Financial supervision power: including approving public expenditures, approving tax plans and reviewing public accounts;
3. Administrative supervision power: including inquiry, investigation, debate, raising cases of no confidence, etc.
4. Judicial power. (Except the judicial power is exercised by the upper house alone, other functions are mainly exercised by the lower house. )
Although, in fact, the British cabinet is more and more in power, and the parliament can be said to be a "vassal" or "slave" of the cabinet, in law, the British parliament is "supreme; As far as authority is concerned, it is all-encompassing. " /World Government Dictionary, China Legal Publishing House, 199 1 Edition, p. 620. /Why does Britain put parliament in the supreme position and advocate "parliamentary sovereignty"? The main reason is that parliament is a symbol of the people's mastery of power, and the lower house of parliament is elected by universal suffrage, which can most effectively represent public opinion. "Parliamentary sovereignty" comes from "people's sovereignty". Parliament is the carrier of British representative democracy, so in a sense, parliamentary sovereignty is a symbol of British democracy.
Third, the prime minister and cabinet system.
Cabinet is the core of the British government and the tool for the Prime Minister to exercise power. The British government consists of the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers and non-cabinet ministers. From the perspective of power structure, the Prime Minister is the center of government power, cabinet ministers cooperate with the Prime Minister to exercise major decision-making power, and non-cabinet ministers only exercise policy implementation power as the Chief Executive.
The prime minister is the head of the cabinet and occupies the position of the actual chief executive. Traditionally, the leader of a political party or a coalition of political parties wins a majority in the House of Commons in the general election. So, in fact, the prime minister has three identities: head of government, leader of parliament and leader of political parties, which also gives him great power:
1, as a bridge between the cabinet and the king of England, has achieved great kingship and become the "uncrowned king";
2. Have the right to form and reorganize the cabinet, and to appoint and remove cabinet and government members and other important officials;
3, leading the activities of the cabinet and the government;
4. Control the parliamentary operation through the parliamentary caucus;
5. To lead and control the behavior and direction of the ruling party.
The Cabinet, under the leadership of the Prime Minister, exercises its functions as usual. 19 18 the main functions listed in the report of the meeting of members of government agencies are:
1. Make a final decision on the policies submitted to Parliament;
2. Exercising the highest executive power in accordance with the policies adopted by Parliament;
3. Coordinate and delimit the powers of various administrative departments at any time.
To sum up, as MacIntosh said, "The main task of the British cabinet is to coordinate administration." However, this kind of coordination power is manipulated by the Prime Minister, but actually coordinated by the Prime Minister. The "Cabinet Government" became the "Prime Minister's Government".
Fourth, political parties and the two-party system
The political party system is the core element of the work of the British government. The main political parties in Britain are: Labour Party, Conservative Party, Liberal Democratic Party, Scottish National Party, Welsh National Party and some political parties in Northern Ireland. At present, Britain implements a two-party system, that is, the two main political parties take turns to organize the government to take charge of state power and manage state affairs. The two ruling parties are the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. Their embryonic form is the Tories and Whigs in Parliament. The former advocates safeguarding sovereign privilege, while the latter advocates parliamentary sovereignty. 1832 after the parliament passed the electoral reform law, the original political factions were transformed into political parties, that is, the Tories were transformed into conservative parties, and the Whigs were transformed into liberal parties, forming a system in which the two parties took turns to govern. This is the earliest political party system in the world. After World War I, the Labour Party replaced the Liberal Party and took turns to be in power with the Conservative Party, which pushed the modern British two-party system to a new stage.
The main functions of the ruling party are:
1, take power and formulate policies;
2. Comprehensive interests and public opinion;
The main functions of the opposition party are:
1, monitoring the legitimacy and rationality of the ruling party;
2. Maintain the stability and continuity of the political system.
Political parties are the internal motive force and mechanism for the long-term existence and development of British bourgeois democratic political system. The Labour Party and the Conservative Party took turns to govern, which realized the peaceful and democratic replacement of the ruling party and the opposition party, maintained the social and political stability of Britain, and was an effective method and means for the British bourgeoisie to maintain and improve its rule.
Five, the outstanding characteristics of the British political system
1, the tradition gradually developed to the modern.
Britain is a country that attaches great importance to historical traditions, and its government system is the product of compromise between the bourgeoisie and feudal nobles, which was established through the process of continuous improvement and gradual progress.
In the historical process of its formation, the British bourgeois government system is characterized by the establishment of a new system on the old system, and in the process of the coexistence of the old and new systems, the power of the old system is gradually transferred to the hands of the new system, and it is constantly evolving in the direction of the modern system. For the old system that cannot be abolished, Britain pays great attention to maintaining their legal status, so that they can still play some special roles in the new system. Therefore, traditional and modern factors have promoted the development of British politics in contradiction, compromise and mutual utilization.
Among the above-mentioned political subjects, the reservation of the British King and the House of Lords in Parliament belongs to the inheritance of tradition, while the House of Commons, the Cabinet and the political parties are modern forces that have gradually developed with the growing bourgeoisie. And political power is gradually shifting from the former to the latter. Take legislative power as an example. Historically, after the British bourgeoisie obtained the legislative power of parliament, it still maintained "the king is in parliament", allowing the House of Lords representing the aristocratic system and the House of Commons representing the * * * system to coexist. In the later development process, the legislative power was gradually transferred from the king to the House of Lords, making the king a "virtual monarch" and then from the House of Lords to the House of Commons, making the House of Lords a sanatorium for retired politicians. Today, the legislative power has been transferred from the House of Commons to the government cabinet.
2. The government system of combining power.
The establishment of the British government system has implemented a typical separation of powers. The complex relationship between political subjects makes various powers closely combined. This is manifested in:
The king of England is the source of all power. Although the king of England has lost his real power in the whole political system, his tentacles are still everywhere. Almost all the activities of parliament and cabinet are carried out in the name of the king of England.
The prime minister has three terms: parliamentary leader, government leader and political party leader, which closely links parliament, government and the ruling party. Therefore, legislation and administration are closely combined. Through elections, the majority party in the House of Commons became the ruling party and played a major role in legislation. The leader of the ruling party serves as the prime minister, organizes the cabinet and holds the executive power. At the same time, all judges are directly appointed by the Chief Justice as a member of the cabinet, or appointed by the king on his recommendation, so the cabinet indirectly controls the judicial power. Therefore, the cabinet is actually a collection of legislative power, executive power and judicial power. It is not only the maker of rules, but also the executor and referee.
Similarly, the ruling party is in power. Traditionally, when forming a cabinet government, the prime minister has to select cabinet members from his own political parties in both houses. In this way, the ruling party not only controls the majority of seats in the parliament, but also dominates the cabinet government. In addition, since the Chief Justice, the judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal and the judges of the Court of Appeal are all recommended by the leaders of the ruling party to the king, the political orientation of the leaders of the ruling party can easily influence judicial officials. In a sense, the ruling party partially controls the judicial power.
Britain is a constitutional monarchy. The monarch is the head of state and the executive branch is led by the Prime Minister.
Alfred the Great
brief introduction
Alfred (849 ~ 899), King of Wessex (87 1 ~ 899). I received military training when I was young. In 868, he joined the army, and his brother, King Reed of aitel, led the army to support Mercia kingdom against Danish invasion. In 87 1 year, the Danes acceded to the throne when they invaded Wessex. In times of crisis, he retreated to the deep mountains and reorganized the army. In 876, he defeated the Danish army in the battle of Eddington, forcing them to make peace and retreat to London (known as the "Danish area" in history) north of Chester. Since then, in order to consolidate national defense, troops have been sent to guard the border, castles have been built, and the navy has been actively expanded. In 885, he led an army to repel the Danish army that invaded the Kingdom of Kent, and occupied London the following year. From 892 to 896, he led the army to defeat the Danish army invading from the European continent again. During his reign, he paid attention to culture and education, translated a large number of classic works and compiled the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
List of life events
Alfred made up his mind to drive the vikings out of British territory since he was a teenager. He joined the army at the age of 19, and went with his brother aitel Reid I to help Bergred in Mercia, and took part in the battle against the Danish army that landed in the east of England. In 87 1 year, the Danes invaded Wessex. He fought side by side with his brother and fought against Danish pirates with the greatest courage. Later, aitel Reed died and Alfred succeeded to the throne.
Since Alfred 87 1 came to power, most of his time and energy have to be devoted to how to resist the invasion war of Danish vikings. But as a great king, Alfred's genius lies in that he does not attribute the success of governing the country only to the bravery of soldiers, but implements a very open and flexible policy, such as how to get along well with neighboring countries and how to negotiate with the invading Danish vikings. In these respects, Alfred showed flexible diplomatic skills everywhere.
During Alfred's reign, although Danish vikings invaded England successively in 868, 87 1 year, 876, 885 and 886, under his leadership, after a long and arduous battle, the English finally drove away the Danes in most of the territory.
What is commendable is that Alfred is not only a diligent monarch, but also a wise man. He manages the country in good order, and there are many small inventions in his spare time. He invented the famous horn lamp and timing candle in England. More importantly, in the middle ages when most people were ignorant, he felt the ignorance of the priests and the people under his rule, so he opened a court school like Charlemagne and gathered many prestigious teachers from abroad. During his reign, he paid the most attention to culture and education. He compiled the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, strongly advocated science, and awarded many awards to scientists in medicine and other disciplines, which made great progress in academic research in England at that time.
From 878 to 885, he invited many famous scholars from Mercia, Wales and even continental Europe to his palace, and weddings were always held in his court. As we all know, the author of the theory of natural differentiation is John Scott. In 843 AD, John Scott went to France at the invitation of King Charles of France, and was appointed as the headmaster of the court school. After Charlie's death, John Scott was hired by Alfred the Great as the dean of Mazbury Abbey and accel Abbey.
King Alfred himself has a high level of education and artistic attainments. He taught himself Latin, and since 887, he has personally translated a large number of Latin classics into Anglo-Saxon. The Pastoral Code written by the first official Pope Gregory I of the Roman Empire was translated into Anglo-Saxon by Alfred himself. This canon has been used as a guide for bishops for thousands of years.
In 876 AD, the Danes marched on Wessex again. Alfred changed the tactics that the British used for simple defense when pirates attacked. He secretly organized troops to raid the pirate forces in Eddington. This battle made the Danes dizzy and made the pirates dare not rob again for a long time, which not only ensured the safety of people's lives, but also gave their troops a chance to rest.
In 878 AD, when the pirate leader Gutron led the Danish army to advance to Wessex, Alfred gave the pirates a heavy blow again. At the same time, he used the ingenious strategy of "dividing the land" to finally force Gouteron to accept the agreement, thus enabling Alfred to gain the right to rule his own country and neighboring Mercia. However, the agreement he signed with the Danish Vikings also included compensation for the Danes. According to the agreement, the Danes will formally control a large area in the north and east of England, that is, from the mouth of the Thames to the Irish Sea, diagonally across England, which is called "the place where Danish laws are implemented". The Danes ruled this vast area with an area of 25,000 square miles, and it also became the widest and richest area among the Viking colonies outside Scandinavia.
In the agreement, Guterres also made concessions. He not only accepted the baptism of Christianity, but also made Alfred the Great his godfather. This event predicted that the Danish vikings who moved to the "Danish law enforcement place" would be integrated with the local people.
In 886 AD, Alfred recaptured London from the Danish Vikings and liberated most of the south. When he occupied London, all the British who did not accept Danish rule supported him as king.
In 892 AD, a Danish army attacked England from the European continent, and Alfred attacked it head-on. Seeing that it was difficult to win, the Danes had to declare a truce and withdraw their pirate team. The Danes failed to attack again, mainly because Alfred took extremely safe defensive measures in the war. He reinforced the old fort and built a new one strategically. In addition, under his leadership, England built bigger warships and trained sailors.
It is worth mentioning that during Alfred's reign, England developed in military affairs, diplomacy, science, literature and religion. Alfred has an open mind and a wide range of hobbies. He is interested in everything, regardless of business, astronomy, geography and customs.
evaluate
Alfred the Great, like King Arthur, led the British people against the invaders, but he was far greater than King Arthur. He not only curbed the Norman invasion, but also made outstanding contributions in politics and culture. He did four great things for England in his life: First, he promulgated the Alfred Code, which compiled the laws of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom in previous dynasties and later became the basis of English common law. Secondly, he rewarded the scholarship of establishing schools for aristocratic children, organized the compilation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and personally arranged the translation of Bede (673-735), the father of English literature, and The Comfort of Philosophy by Portius into English, which laid the foundation for the formation and development of English and British native culture. Third, he abolished the compulsory military service system and used land to strengthen the control of the army, which was the embryonic form of the feudal knight later. Of course, Alfred the Great's most important and widely known is his military achievements to the Danes; In the 1970s, almost all of England fell. In 87 1 year, Alfred the Great succeeded to the throne after his brother Ethel Reid I (865-87 1) was killed. He devoted his life to fighting the Danes. Finally, London and the area south of the Thames were successfully recovered, and the invaders were forced to retreat to the Danish area north of the Thames. Later, Alfred the Great's successor, Edward I of England of England (899-924), completely drove the Danes out of England in 9 18. Since Alfred the Great, his descendants have been King Wu for five times in a row, defeating the invading Nordic people and fully reviving Saxon rule in Britain. He was one of the most outstanding monarchs in medieval Europe and was called "the father of the British nation" by the late Buddha.