BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM
GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
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Form of government
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Constitutional monarchy
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Head of state
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Monarch
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Head of government |
Prime minister
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Legislature
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Bicameral legislature:
House of Commons, 646 members House of Lords, 713 members (595 life peers and 118 hereditary members) |
Voting qualifications
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Universal at age 18
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Constitution
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Unwritten; partly statutes,
partly common law and practice
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Highest court
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House of Lords, High Court of
Justiciary, (Scottish criminal cases only)
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The United Kingdom is
a parliamentary monarchy—that is, the head of state is a
monarch with limited powers. Britain’s democratic government is based on a
constitution composed of various historical documents, laws, and formal customs
adopted over the years. Parliament, the legislature, consists of the House of
Lords, the House of Commons, and the monarch, also called the crown. The House
of Commons is far more influential than the House of Lords, which in effect
makes the British system unicameral, meaning the legislature has one chamber.
The chief executive is the prime minister, who is a member of the House of
Commons. The executive branch also includes Her Majesty’s Government, commonly
referred to simply as “the government.” The government is composed of ministers
in the Cabinet, most of whom are members of the House of Commons; government
departments, each of which is responsible to a minister; local authorities; and
public corporations. Because the House of Commons is involved in both the
legislative and executive branches of the British government, there is no
separation of powers between executive and legislature.
The British constitution comprises multiple documents.
The written part consists of the Magna Carta, written in 1215; the Petition of
Right, passed by Parliament in 1628; and the Bill of Rights of 1689. It also
includes the entire body of laws enacted by Parliament, precedents established
by decisions made in British courts of law, and various traditions and customs.
The democratically elected House of Commons can alter these laws with a majority
vote. The constitution continually evolves as new laws are passed and judicial
decisions are handed down. All laws passed by Parliament are regarded as
constitutional, and changes or amendments to the constitution occur whenever
new legislation overrides existing law. Although the crown gives its royal
assent to legislation, this is a mere formality. The British monarchy stands
for the continuity of British history going back to Anglo-Saxon times, and
today it serves as a figurehead for the state. In theory, the British monarch
has enormous powers, but in reality those powers are limited and the crown
follows the dictates and advice of the ministers in Parliament. The British
monarchy has been a hereditary position since the 9th century, although
Parliament has stepped in at times to alter the succession, for example, in
1701 when the House of Hanover was selected to replace the Stuart dynasty. Primogeniture, the passing
of the throne to the eldest son when a monarch dies, has been the rule of
succession, and when there are no sons, the eldest daughter ascends the throne.
This was the case when Elizabeth II succeeded to the throne in February 1952
upon the death of her father, George VI. Her husband, Prince Philip, has the
title of Prince Consort, but no rank or privileges. The current heir to the
throne is Elizabeth II’s eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales. According to the
Act of Settlement of 1701, only Protestants are eligible to succeed to the
throne. A regent may be appointed to rule for the sovereign if he or she is
underage or incapacitated.
As the official head of
state, the monarch formally summons and dismisses Parliament and the ministers
of the Cabinet. The monarch also serves as head of the judiciary, commander in
chief of the armed forces, and Supreme Governor of the Church of England and
the Church of Scotland. In reality, the government carries out the duties
associated with these functions. Theoretically, the monarch appoints all
judges, military officers, diplomats, and archbishops, as well as other church
officers. The monarch also bestows honors and awards, such as knighthoods and
peerages. In reality, all of these appointments are made upon the advice of the
prime minister. The prime minister declares war and peace and concludes
treaties with foreign states in the name of the crown. The monarch serves as
the ceremonial head of the Commonwealth of Nations and is the ceremonial head
of state for 16 Commonwealth countries. The real work of the monarchy
consists largely of signing papers. The monarch has the right, however, to be
consulted on all aspects of national life and review all important government
documents. The monarch may also meet with the Privy Council, a now largely
ceremonial body made up of Cabinet members that serves in an advisory capacity
to the monarch. Since Britain is a democracy, the monarchy could potentially be
abolished if a majority of the population decides to do so. In the early 21st
century the monarchy generally remained popular, despite unpleasant media
coverage surrounding the marriages and relationships of the royal family. Only
Scotland had a small majority that wanted to make the United Kingdom a
republic.
The royal family endorses
developments in Britain by performing such ceremonial functions as cutting
ribbons, opening businesses, launching ships, and laying cornerstones. Many
members of the royal family are involved in charity work and maintain a public
presence by visiting shelters, hospitals, and clinics. Because foreigners are
attracted to the pageantry of royalty, tourism related to the royal family
brings a substantial amount of money into the country.
The chief executive of
the government is the
prime minister. He or she is the leader of the
party that holds the most seats in the House of Commons. The monarch goes
through the ceremony of selecting as prime minister the person from the House
of Commons who is head of the majority party. The prime minister presides over
the Cabinet and selects the other Cabinet members, who join him or her to form
the government that is part of the functioning executive. Acting through the
Cabinet and in the name of the monarch, the prime minister exercises all of the
theoretical powers of the crown, including making appointments. In the past,
prime ministers also came from the House of Lords. Today, in the unlikely
circumstance that a peer (a member of the House of Lords) is sought as a prime
minister by one of the parties, he or she must first resign from the House of
Lords and gain election to the House of Commons. When legislation comes
before the House of Commons, the prime minister can usually count on the
support of a majority of the votes because his or her party has a majority of
the seats, and party discipline tends to be strong in Britain. In some
circumstances prime ministers must depend on a coalition of strong parties. This
was the case during both world wars and during the worst of the Great
Depression in the 1930s. At times a prime minister comes from a party that does
not quite have a majority of seats in the House of Commons. In such a case,
that party must rely on an alliance with smaller parties, the smaller parties
voting with the party in power on necessary legislation. A government formed
from a party without a majority in Parliament is called a minority government.
Between 1974 and 1979, for example, a minority Labour Party government was able
to stay in power because the Liberal Party generally voted with it.
The Cabinet developed during the 18th
century out of informal meetings of key government ministers during the reigns of
the Hanoverian monarchs, who took relatively little interest in politics.
During the 19th century this committee of key ministers evolved into an
effective body that wielded the monarch’s executive power.
The Cabinet has about
20 members, or ministers, all of whom must be members of Parliament (MPs).
Members of the Cabinet are leaders of the majority party in the House of
Commons or, more rarely, members of the House of Lords. Cabinet ministers who
head a particular government department, such as the Ministry of Defense, are
known as secretaries of state. The prime minister serves as the first lord of
the treasury and as minister for the civil service. In addition to the various
secretaries of state, the Cabinet includes nondepartmental ministers who hold
traditional offices—such as the lord president of the council, the paymaster
general, and the lord privy seal—and ministers without portfolio, who do not
have specific responsibilities but are assigned to specific tasks as needed.
The lord chancellor holds a unique position. The lord chancellor’s executive
duties as a Cabinet member include being responsible for legal affairs in the
United Kingdom, but he or she is also head of the judiciary, which is a
separate part of the British government. The prime minister has the power to
move members of the Cabinet from post to post, or to drop individuals from the
Cabinet entirely. Former Cabinet ministers may retain their positions as
members of Parliament.
Two key doctrines of Cabinet
government are collective responsibility and ministerial responsibility.
Collective responsibility means that the Cabinet acts unanimously, even when
Cabinet ministers do not all agree upon a subject. If an important decision is
unacceptable to a particular Cabinet member, it is expected that he or she will
resign to signify dissent. Ministerial responsibility means that ministers are
responsible for the work of their departments and answer to Parliament for the
activities of their departments. The policy of departmental ministers must be
consistent with that of the government as a whole. The ministers bear the
responsibility for any failure of their department in terms of administration
or policy.
The Privy Council is a
large, and generally ceremonial, body of more than 450 members that developed
out of the royal council that existed in the Middle Ages. By the 18th century
the Privy Council had taken over all the powers of the royal council. The Privy
Council comprises all current and former Cabinet members, as well as important
public figures in Britain and the Commonwealth. The council advises the monarch
and arranges for the formal handling of documents. It has a large number of
committees, each with a specific task, such as dealing with outlying islands,
universities, or legal matters. The most important committee is the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council, which is the highest court of appeal for
certain nations in the Commonwealth, some church-related appeals, and for
disciplinary committees of some professions.
Parliament comprises three parts: the
crown, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. Over the course of
centuries, the seat of power has passed from the crown to the Lords to its
final resting place in the House of Commons. Parliament originated in the great
councils called by the crown during the Middle Ages. Through these meetings,
medieval monarchs sought the advice of their subjects, exchanged information
about the realm, and gathered petitions. In other words, Parliament originated
with the royal wish to gain the approval and sanction of the realm for acts of
state. Later, Parliament served to supplement royal revenues by making grants
of taxation—that is, by granting the monarch’s request for extra subsidies to
pay for wars. The crown invited all great nobles and church leaders to attend
these councils. By the end of the 13th century representatives from the
counties, called knights of the shire, and representatives of the towns, called
burgesses, were also being summoned to attend regularly. The knights and the
burgesses eventually came to sit separately from the nobles and church leaders,
in what eventually became the House of Commons. The nobles and church leaders
sat in what came to be called the House of Lords.
By the end of the Middle
Ages Parliament had taken on a form that would be recognized today. It
legislated and approved taxes and passed laws. Long, complicated struggles
between the monarch and the two houses of Parliament resulted in the government
gaining power, while the crown lost power. In the 20th century the House of
Commons successfully struggled to curtail the power of the House of Lords.
Today the House of Lords can only delay legislation. For the past 280 years the
monarch’s royal assent to legislation has been given automatically. (For more
information on the history of Parliament, see Parliament, British.)
Parliament is elected
roughly every five years and is dissolved by the crown on the advice of the
prime minister, who then calls a general election. Parliamentary sessions are
held each year and begin in October or November. Parliament meets at the Houses
of Parliament in London, officially called the New Palace of Westminster. The
Parliament of the United Kingdom legislates for the entire nation and includes
representatives from England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The House of Lords today is
more a place of discussion and debate than one of power, and it normally passes
legislation already approved by the House of Commons. Its members are not
elected. The House of Lords is made up of the lords temporal, the lords
spiritual, and the law lords.
The lords temporal are
either hereditary peers or life peers. The House of Lords long consisted
primarily of hereditary peers, but the House of Lords Act passed by Parliament
in 1999 abolished peers who inherit their position, with the exception of 90
interim members who will hold their power until the next stage of reform. These
90 members were chosen by committee in 2001. Today, the majority of members of
the House of Lords—about 600—are life peers. Life peers are appointed by the
monarch for the duration of the person’s lifetime. These appointments are
usually made in recognition of outstanding careers or contributions to society.
Famous people who have been made peers are former British prime ministers
Winston Churchill and Harold Wilson. The lords spiritual include the
archbishops of Canterbury and York; the bishops of London, Durham, and
Winchester; and the 21 next most senior bishops. The law lords, or lords of
appeal, assist in the judicial functions of the House of Lords.
The House of Lords has
the power to introduce bills, although bills dealing with financial matters can
only originate in the House of Commons. The Lords can also offer amendments to
bills passed by the House of Commons, and Commons is obligated to consider
these amendments before passing a bill into law. The Lords have the right to
delay legislation, and may delay bills for up to about a year. Financial bills,
however, may only be delayed for a month, and they become law in 30 days
whether or not the House of Lords approves of them. The terms of the Parliament
Acts of 1911 and 1949 forbid the Lords from disapproving nonfinancial bills if
the House of Commons has passed them in two successive sessions. The only
exception is a bill to lengthen the life of a Parliament past five years, which
requires the assent of both chambers.
These powers of the House
of Lords are limited because most Britons believe that in a modern democracy a
nonelected house should only act as a forum for opinion, one that is
comparatively free from party politics and pressures. Although this house has
relatively little power, many Britons would like to either abolish it
completely or replace it with some form of elected second chamber.
The House of Commons is the
source of real political power in the United Kingdom. Its members are
democratically elected by universal suffrage of citizens over the age of 18.
Certain groups that are denied the right to vote, however, include members of
the House of Lords, some detained mental health patients, sentenced prisoners,
and those convicted of corrupt or illegal election practices in the previous
five years. In addition, certain persons are excluded from standing for
election to the House of Commons. They include peers; clergy from the Church of
England, the Church of Scotland, the Church of Ireland, or the Roman Catholic
Church; people sentenced to more than a year in prison; and those with unpaid
bankruptcy bills.
Members of the House of
Commons are elected from geographical constituencies determined by population,
and each MP generally represents a constituency of 60,000 to 70,000 people.
Four permanent boundary commissions exist, one each for England, Wales,
Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Their purpose is to keep the constituencies
equal and the boundaries fair. The commissions review the constituencies every
8 to 12 years and recommend changes based on population shifts. Based on a
review conducted in 1995, the elections of 1997 and 2001 were held for 659
constituencies in the United Kingdom: 529 in England, 72 in Scotland, 40 in
Wales, and 18 in Northern Ireland. A subsequent review by the Boundary
Commission for Scotland reduced the number of constituencies there to 59.
Accordingly, the number of seats in the House of Commons was reduced to 646 as
of the 2005 general elections.
British citizens living
abroad may vote in British elections for up to 20 years after they have left
Britain. Those temporarily living overseas as members of the military or other
state service may vote in their home constituencies. In 1992 a record high of
78 percent of the electorate voted in the general election. In 1997 a reported
71 percent of the electorate voted. Voter turnout dropped to 59 percent in 2001
and then rose slightly in 2005 to 61 percent.
A session of Parliament
lasts for five years unless the prime minister dissolves Parliament, which can
happen for a number of reasons. Although the monarch officially dissolves
Parliament, this happens only after the prime minister calls for it. The prime
minister can dissolve Parliament over a major issue that he or she believes
should be submitted to the voters. The prime minister also might dissolve
Parliament if the tide of public opinion seems to be flowing strongly on the
side of the party in office. Holding a general election when public opinion is
highly supportive of the party in power enables that party to possibly gain
more seats in the House of Commons, and so extend their stay in power with a
stronger majority.
Parliament can also be
dissolved if the government is defeated on an important piece of legislation.
When a Parliamentary majority votes against the legislation it is treated as a vote
of no confidence for the prime minister and his government. A specific vote by
that name may be taken to indicate that the majority of MPs are against the
legislation. This tradition is so deep that actual votes of no confidence are
rarely taken. The government of Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan was
dissolved in 1979 when a vote of no confidence was taken after union workers
went on strike in reaction to the government’s attempt to limit wage increases.
There had been no such vote of no confidence in Britain since 1924. When the
prime minister dissolves Parliament, a general election is held for all the
seats in the House of Commons.
The members of the majority
party sit on one side of the house, directly facing the minority party members.
Each side has a so-called front bench where its most important political
leaders sit. The prime minister and his or her Cabinet colleagues sit in the
majority party front bench. The opposition party front bench is occupied by
what is called the Shadow Cabinet, which consists of the opposition party
leader and those who would receive Cabinet posts if the opposition leader
became prime minister. Debates in the House of Commons can be quite lively.
C-SPAN television in America often broadcasts the raucous sessions when the
prime minister answers questions from the house.
Most legislation is initiated
by the Cabinet in the form of public bills, or legislation pertaining to the
general law, which govern the population as a whole. Individual members of
Parliament may introduce private bills to address specific or local concerns,
such as the railways or local authorities. Ministers of departments initiate
most of the public bills relating to their department; these kinds of public
bills are called government bills. When a bill is passed into law, it then
receives the royal assent. Much of the Cabinet’s work on legislation is
accomplished in specialized committees, which debate and publish reports that
help shape legislation.
Bills may be introduced
into either the House of Commons or the House of Lords, except for financial
bills, which may be introduced only in the House of Commons. Each bill is given
three separate readings in each house. In the first reading, the bill is
presented without debate. After the bill is read a second time, the house
debates the bill’s general principles. The bill then goes to a committee for
thorough study, discussion, and amendment. At the third reading, the bill is
presented to the house in its final form and a vote is taken.
If the bill is passed
on the third reading, it is sent to the other house, where it goes through the
same procedure. If passed by the second house, the bill is sent to the monarch
for the ceremonial formality of royal assent before becoming law. If amended by
either house, the amendments must be resolved by both houses before the bill is
sent to the monarch. The House of Lords can delay legislation for no more than
one year (30 days for financial bills). A bill originating in the House of
Lords can be tabled and not considered in the Commons, but a bill originating
in the Commons will become law, even without the approval of the House of
Lords, if it passes Commons again in the following year’s session.
Britain has a long judicial
history. Its legal system has been emulated throughout the world and many of
its key principles and rights are part of U.S. law. The principles derived from
British law include the right to trial by jury; the right to due process of
law; freedom from unlawful imprisonment, called the writ of habeas corpus; the
trial system of prosecution and defense; and the presumption that a person is
innocent until proven guilty.
The judicial system has
its roots in the Anglo-Saxon period, when the monarch established local courts
to provide justice for all subjects. Monarchs delegated the power to hear cases
to royal justices, who presided over courts in the monarch’s name. The British
legal system relies on common law, which is based on custom and on decisions in
previous legal cases, called precedents. Common law originated in the 12th
century, growing out of the rules and traditions that ordinary people had
worked out over time. Through the centuries common law evolved as it incorporated
legal decisions made in specific cases, and it remains the basis of British law
except when superseded by legislation. Unlike the United States, Britain does
not have a Supreme Court that reviews legislation to determine its
constitutionality; that responsibility falls to Parliament.
Those who practice law
in Britain are divided into solicitors and barristers. Solicitors perform the
everyday work of the law, particularly legal matters that can be handled solely
with paperwork. Barristers plead cases in court. In Scotland barristers are
called advocates. Solicitors engage barristers when they believe a client needs
to go to court. Eminent barristers and, since 1996, some solicitors, may become
Queen’s Counselors, or QCs. When they do it is said that they “take silk,’
because they switch from wearing cotton gowns to silk gowns in court.
Barristers with long and distinguished careers may be chosen to become crown
judges by the lord chancellor, the head of the judicial system in England and
Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own legal systems.
Britain has several layers
of courts and two kinds of legal proceedings, criminal and civil. Criminal law
is concerned with acts punishable by the state, such as murder. Civil law
involves disputes between private parties, either individuals, organizations,
or companies. The final court of appeal for both civil and criminal cases is
the House of Lords, where appeals are heard by the law lords.
Criminal cases are handled
in one of two ways. Petty offenses, such as simple theft or vandalism, are
brought before a local magistrate, or justice of the peace (JP). These unpaid
magistrates are appointed by the lord chancellor. They are members of the
community who are assisted by legal experts. The vast majority of criminal
cases in Britain are minor enough to be handled by JPs. More serious criminal
offenses, such as murder, rape, and robbery, are sent to a Crown Court, where
they are tried before a High Court or a circuit judge and a jury of local
citizens. The Crown Court also hears appeals from the magistrate’s court.
Convictions and sentences from the Crown Court may be taken to the Court of
Appeals for the Criminal Division. The final court of appeals is the House of
Lords.
Civil cases are heard
in county courts before a single judge. County courts hear cases dealing with
families, property, contracts, and torts (violations of a legal duty imposed by
the state that cause injury to an individual). Above the county courts is the
High Court, which hears more complicated civil cases. High Court cases are sent
to one of three divisions: the Family Division, which handles complex divorce
cases, adoptions, and matters relating to children; the Chancery Division,
which handles business matters and estate cases; or the Queen’s Bench Division,
which handles property matters and torts, as well as maritime and commercial
cases. Appeals are heard by the Court of Appeals for the Civil Division, and
ultimately by the House of Lords.
A more informal and less
expensive alternative to civil and criminal courts is a tribunal, which handles
minor cases outside of the official court system. Tribunals are made up of lay
people and are regulated by the law. They settle disputes between private
citizens, grievances between employers and employees, and complaints between
citizens and public authorities.
British political parties date from the
17th century, when the Whig and the Tory parties appeared during the time of
the Revolution of 1688 (see Glorious Revolution). Whigs believed in a
strong Parliament and came from the landed classes who were allied with the
merchants and Nonconformist or non-Anglican Protestants. Tory supporters came
from the landed aristocracy and were defenders of the king and the Church of
England. In the 1800s the Whigs merged with other parties interested in social
reform to form the Liberal Party. The Tories took on the additional name of the
Conservative Party in the 1830s in order to appeal to a broader electorate, and
both names are used interchangeably. The Conservative Party is still a major
party in the United Kingdom, but the Labour Party, founded around the turn of
the 20th century, grew to become the primary opposition to the Conservatives,
taking the place of the Liberals. The Liberal Party evolved into the Liberal
Democrat Party, the third most popular party in Britain.
Since its founding days,
the Labour Party has drawn traditional financial and electoral support from the
trade unions. The Labour Party has a socialist element, supporting state
control of important industries and a more equal distribution of wealth. After
World War II (1939-1945), the Labour government nationalized a number of industries
and established the welfare state, which provided people with social security,
unemployment insurance, and the National Health Service. Subsequent
Conservative governments denationalized industries but kept the National Health
Service and the main provisions of the welfare state. In recent years, trade
union membership has declined, as has union influence in the Labour Party. At
the same time, the Labour Party has moved toward the political center; in 1995
it gave up its commitment to socialism and the nationalization of industries.
The Labour Party won the May 1997 general elections by a landslide, taking 418
of the 659 seats in Parliament. Labor retained its majority-party status
following the 2001 and 2005 general elections.
The Conservative Party
favors private enterprise and minimal state regulation, and accepts the mixed
economy, which involves private ownership of businesses with some government
control. Although a mixed economy entails more public spending than
conservatives in the United States would support, the British business
community is a strong supporter of the Conservative Party because it has
historically supported private enterprise and a free market. In the 1980s the
Conservative government under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sought to
increase private enterprise and reduce public legislation by introducing more
competition into the National Health Service and by selling off public housing.
Thatcher’s domestic policies were highly controversial and eventually led to
the downfall of the Conservative government in the mid-1990s. Subsequently, the
Conservative Party became the largest opposition party in Parliament, as the
Labour Party won three straight victories (in 1997, 2001, and 2005).
The most important of
Britain’s minor parties is the Liberal Democrat Party, formed in 1988 from the
remnants of the Liberal Party and a majority of the Social Democratic Party.
The Liberal Democrats make up the third largest party in Parliament, after
Labor and the Conservatives. Other parties include the Scottish Nationalist
Party; Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party that seeks self-government for
Wales; and parties in Northern Ireland—Sinn Fein, the Ulster Unionist Party,
the Democratic Unionist Party, and the Social Democratic and Labour Party.
The current voting system
is called “first past the post.” This means that the party and candidates
receiving the most votes win the election and become the party in power even if
they do not receive more than 50 percent of the vote. Under this system, smaller
parties have proportionally less representation in Parliament than their share
of the popular vote, as their candidates often do not garner enough votes in
constituencies to send members to Parliament. As a result, some people support
a system of proportional representation, which is used in a number of European
countries. In such a system, which can take various forms, the number of seats
a party receives in the legislature is proportional to the number of votes the
party receives in the election. Critics of proportional representation assert
that it produces too many political parties and leads to weak governments. A
commission was set up in 1997 to review voting reform and consider switching to
proportional representation.
Government of France
Form of government
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Presidential
republic
|
Head of state
|
President
|
Head of government
|
Prime minister (premier) |
Legislature
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Bicameral
legislature:
National Assembly, 577 deputies Senate, 321 senators |
Voting qualifications
|
Universal at age 18
|
Constitution
|
28 September 1958;
amended in 1962, 1992, 1993, and 2000
|
Highest court
|
Court of Cassation
|
France is a presidential republic with a
centralized national government. France’s current system of government, known
as the Fifth Republic, is based on a constitution that was adopted by popular
referendum in 1958. This constitution significantly enlarged presidential
powers and curtailed the authority of parliament. The president, elected by
direct popular vote, is head of state. This official appoints the prime
minister, who is head of government. The French parliament consists of two
chambers: the National Assembly and the Senate. The National Assembly is more
powerful than the Senate, although both chambers share legislative authority.
The Constitutional Council, established by the 1958 constitution, has authority
to supervise elections and referenda and to decide constitutional questions.
Until the French Revolution of 1789, France was a
monarchy, governed by famous kings such as Henry IV and Louis XIV. The
revolution abolished the monarchy but failed to establish a durable democracy.
Power fell to Napoleon Bonaparte, and he eventually created an empire. Upon
Bonaparte’s military defeat in 1815, the countries arrayed against him restored
the French monarchy. The revolution of 1848 abolished the monarchy once again,
and in 1852 Napoleon III, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, established a new
empire. This regime crumbled in 1870 when Napoleon III was taken prisoner by
Germany during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871).
Democracy returned to France under the Third
Republic, a system of government formally established by the constitution of
1875. A president, elected by a two-chambered parliament, replaced the emperor,
and a cabinet responsible to the parliament exercised legislative powers.
Governing during the Third Republic often proved challenging: Parliamentary
coalitions shifted continually between elections, and cabinets fell frequently.
The Third Republic survived until 1940, when German troops occupied France
during World War II and an authoritarian collaborationist regime was
established at Vichy.
In 1946, after the war ended, French
voters approved the constitution of the Fourth Republic. The new constitution
included several revisions intended to ensure a stable government, but it did
not resolve the nation’s recurrent cabinet crises. France had 26 different
governments during the Fourth Republic’s 12-year existence. In 1958 an
insurrection in Algeria, then under French control, created fear of a coup
d'état in France itself. General Charles de Gaulle, a French resistance leader
during World War II, was invited to form a new government and draft a new
constitution. De Gaulle favored a presidential system with a strong, stable
executive at the center of power. His constitution was overwhelmingly approved
by popular referendum and established the legal basis of the Fifth Republic. De
Gaulle took office as the first president of the Fifth Republic.
The constitution of the
Fifth Republic took effect on October 4, 1958. It created a hybrid form of
republican government based on elements of both presidential and parliamentary
systems. The constitution trimmed the authority of parliament and vested the
president with crucial powers, including the right to dissolve the National
Assembly and to choose the prime minister. Yet the prime minister retained
significant authority as head of the Council of Ministers (commonly called the
government) and leader of the majority party or coalition of parties in the
National Assembly.
According to the constitution,
national sovereignty belongs to the people. Under the principle of universal
suffrage, the constitution gives the people the right to exercise their
political will in periodic elections and referenda. All French citizens who
have reached the age of voting eligibility, and who have not been deprived of
their civil rights, are entitled to vote. Citizens can be deprived of civil
rights temporarily, or permanently, if they are convicted of certain crimes.
Women gained the right to vote in 1944. The Fifth Republic’s age of voting
eligibility, initially set at 21, was lowered to 18 in 1974.
As a requirement of its
membership in the European Union (EU), the French parliament approved a
constitutional amendment allowing citizens of EU member countries who are
residents in France to vote in elections for seats on France’s municipal
councils. The same group may also vote to fill France’s seats in the European
Parliament, the representative assembly of the EU. Citizens of any EU country
can be elected to a French municipal council or to a French seat in the
European Parliament, but they may not serve as mayors or as assistant mayors.
Constitutional amendments may be proposed by the
president, at the request of the government, or by the members of parliament.
Amendments are adopted after they win approval by both chambers of parliament
and by a subsequent popular referendum, or merely by approval of three-fifths
of parliament.
The constitution gives executive authority to both
the president and prime minister. The former is head of state; the latter, as
leader of the Council of Ministers, is head of government. Under Charles de
Gaulle’s leadership, the powers of the presidency completely overshadowed those
of the government. The system forged by de Gaulle remains largely in place,
although the government has gradually gained responsibility for a range of
national policies, especially in the domestic sphere. Under a precedent set by
de Gaulle, all presidents since 1958 have taken primary responsibility for
foreign policy and for national defense.
The president of France is the official head
of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. The president appoints the
prime minister and Council of Ministers and presides over council meetings. One
of the president’s most important powers is the right to dissolve the National
Assembly and call new legislative elections. Article 16 of the constitution
permits the president to assume special emergency powers during a national
crisis. In doing so the president must consult the Constitutional Council and
may not dissolve the National Assembly or prevent it from meeting. The
president is also authorized to take certain policy matters to the people in
national referenda, such as the referendum authorizing ratification of the 1992
Maastricht Treaty, also known as the Treaty on European Union.
The president is elected by direct popular
vote for a term of five years. The president’s term of office was originally
seven years, as established in the 1958 constitution, but voters approved a
referendum in September 2000 to reduce the term of office to five years. The
shorter term took effect with the presidential election in 2002. The
constitutional revision was the most significant since 1962, when a referendum
backed by de Gaulle established direct election of the president by popular
vote. (Before 1962, presidents were elected by an electoral college of government
bodies.) There is no limit to the number of terms a president can serve.
In general, the president works with the
government to define policy goals and seeks to achieve these goals with the
help of a parliamentary majority. The government is primarily responsible to
parliament, which can check the actions of the government in several ways.
Members of parliament can submit written and oral questions to the government
and organize investigative committees. When the National Assembly adopts a
motion of censure, or when the assembly refuses to approve the prime minister’s
program, the prime minister must tender the government’s resignation to the
president.
Presidential power is tied to the president’s
support in the parliament. When the president has the strong support of a
parliamentary majority, the prime minister tends to serve as a deputy of the
president. When the president’s party is in the parliamentary minority,
however, the president still appoints a prime minister from a party in the
majority coalition. In this power-sharing arrangement, known as cohabitation,
the prime minister and president may disagree about policy goals and work to
limit each other’s influence. The first episode of cohabitation occurred from
1986 to 1988 under Socialist president François Mitterrand, after the Socialist
Party lost its majority in the National Assembly. In 1997 President Jacques
Chirac lost his conservative majority in the National Assembly, leading to a
period of cohabitation with Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin.
D.
|
The
Legislature
|
The French parliament is divided into two houses,
the National Assembly and the Senate. As the legislative branch of government,
parliament is engaged primarily in the debate and adoption of laws. Legislation
relating to government revenues and expenditures is especially important. The
other principal duty of parliament is to oversee the government’s exercise of
executive authority, although this oversight capacity was restricted somewhat
by the 1958 constitution.
The 577 members of the National Assembly
are directly elected for five-year terms. Candidates for the National Assembly
are elected by majority vote in single-member electoral districts. Runoff
elections are required if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the
vote. Candidates who win at least 12.5 percent of the first round vote are
eligible to run in second round.
The 321 members of the Senate are
elected indirectly by an electoral college. A law approved in July 2003
introduced a number of reforms in senatorial elections. The law specified that
senators would henceforth be elected to six-year terms, with one-half of the
Senate elected every three years. Previously, senators were elected for
nine-year terms with one-third of the Senate elected every three years. In
addition, the law increased the number of Senate seats from 321 to 346, to take
effect in 2010.
In principle, the National Assembly and the
Senate share equal legislative power. In practice, however, legislative
authority is tilted to the National Assembly, since the Senate may delay, but
not prevent, the passage of legislation. If the two chambers disagree on a
bill, final decision rests with the National Assembly, which may either accept
the Senate’s version or, after a specified period, readopt its own. The
Economic and Social Council acts in an advisory capacity on economic and
budgetary matters to the National Assembly and the government. It consists of
representatives from groups of workers and employers and from professional and
cultural organizations.
The constitution of the Fifth Republic
introduced two distinctive measures intended to streamline the legislative
process. The first measure granted the government the authority to demand an
up-or-down vote on an entire bill or any portion of a bill, in either chamber.
This reduces the opportunity for members of parliament to propose endless
amendments to bills they oppose. The second measure authorizes the government
to win adoption of a bill in the National Assembly without an actual vote. To
do so, the government announces that it considers rejection of the bill to be
tantamount to a vote of no confidence in the government. If opponents of the
bill fail to submit and win a majority vote on a motion of no confidence, the
bill is adopted.
Laws must be promulgated by the French president
to take effect. The president may ask parliament to reconsider a law or any of
its articles, and parliament must honor the request. The president may also
request the Constitutional Council to rule on the law’s constitutionality. In
such cases the law may not be implemented until the court has rendered its
judgment. Prior to the Fifth Republic, laws adopted by parliament were not
subject to judicial review.
The parliamentary year was traditionally
restricted to two separate sessions that ran from October to December and from
April to June. In 1995 the constitution was amended to provide a nine-month
parliamentary session to run continuously from October to June. In addition,
the constitution permits the National Assembly to censure the government in a
motion passed by an absolute majority of assembly members. Sponsors of failed
motions of censure are barred from introducing similar motions during the same
session.
E.
|
The Judiciary
|
Prior to the French Revolution in 1789,
judges in France exercised significant legislative and administrative powers.
The revolution stripped judges of much of their power and independence. An extensive
collection of laws drafted under the direction of Napoleon Bonaparte, known as
the Code Napoléon, affirmed the importance of limiting judicial power. The
code, based largely on Roman, or civil, law, directs judges to apply legal
rules passed by legislative bodies to specific cases. This civil law tradition
contrasts with the English common law tradition in which judges rely on
precedents—customs and decisions in previous cases—to resolve cases. The
succeeding French republics maintained the ideal of a subordinate judiciary
with little independent authority.
The judiciary regained some of its independence
and power under the constitution of 1958. The constitution established a new
body, the nine-member Constitutional Council. The council is authorized to rule
on the constitutional validity of national elections, referenda, legislation,
and parliamentary procedures. Members of the council are appointed for
staggered, nonrenewable, nine-year terms; the president, National Assembly, and
Senate each appoint three members. All former presidents also have seats on the
council.
The French judiciary has two main branches.
One branch of courts hears administrative cases (cases involving
disputes over government regulations); another branch hears civil and criminal
cases. Jurisdictional disputes between the two judicial branches are resolved
by the eight-member Tribunal of Conflicts. Sitting judges in the criminal,
civil, and administrative courts cannot be reassigned or terminated without
cause by the executive or legislative branches of government.
Most cases involving administrative law are
heard initially by administrative tribunals. Decisions in these tribunals may,
upon appeal, work their way up through a hierarchy of appellate courts. At the
apex of this system is the Council of State, a tribunal founded by Napoleon
Bonaparte. The Council of State has final appellate jurisdiction in
administrative law and advises the government on the legality of decrees,
regulations, and rulings issued by the executive.
Minor offenses, such as traffic violations,
are usually heard first by a police tribunal. Other criminal cases, except
felonies, are heard first by correctional courts. Felonies are heard by courts
of assizes. Only the latter employs a jury. Most civil cases are heard first
either by a Tribunal of Instance or by a Tribunal of Great Instance, depending
on the amount of money at stake. The Court of Cassation has final appellate
jurisdiction in all matters of criminal and civil law.
Several specialized courts exist to try crimes of
a political nature, should they arise. Cases alleging high treason by the
president of the republic are heard in the High Court of Justice, comprising 24
members of parliament. Cases alleging professional misconduct by members of the
government are heard by the Court of Justice of the Republic.
Political factions have
long competed for power in France. The origins of organized political parties
in France can be traced back to the Third Republic. Today French parties span
the full political spectrum, from far left to far right. During the Third and
Fourth republics, numerous poorly organized political parties competed for
power. Individual parties rarely succeeded in winning a parliamentary majority,
and coalitions of parties were needed to form governments. Political alliances
shifted continually, leading to weak, unstable governments.
The introduction of a
strong presidential system during the Fifth Republic greatly reduced the number
of political parties. Many parties merged or joined coalitions with other
groups to enhance their political influence. Since the election of Charles de
Gaulle, the Fifth Republic’s first president, most political parties have
served mainly as organizations to mobilize support for particular presidential
candidates. As the identities of the candidates change from one election to the
next, so the parties change their names and alter their platforms. Party
politics in the Fifth Republic are more stable and coherent than they were
under earlier republics. Compared with political parties in other Western
democracies, however, most French parties remain weakly organized with small,
often passive, memberships.
There are several important
political parties and coalitions in France. On the right is the Union for a
Popular Movement (UMP), a coalition initially named the Union for the
Presidential Majority, which had formed in 2002 to promote the reelection of
President Jacques Chirac. The UMP was created by the merger of the Rally for
the Republic (RPR) and by a bloc of leaders from the Union for French Democracy
(UDF). Founded by Chirac in 1976, the RPR espoused a modern form of Gaullism, a
political philosophy that, among other things, championed a strong national
government and an aggressive foreign policy. The Union for French Democracy
(UDF) was originally closely tied to former French president Valéry Giscard
d’Estaing. The UDF, which continues as an independent political force, supports
European integration and free-market policies. On the extreme right is the
National Front (FN), led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, and the National Republican
Movement (MNR), founded by Le Pen’s former deputy, Bruno Mégret. The FN and MNR
espouse nationalist, anti-immigrant platforms.
On the left of the political
spectrum is the Socialist Party, founded in the early 20th century and reformed
by François Mitterrand. Under the leadership of Mitterrand, who held the
presidency from 1981 to 1995, the Socialist Party pursued a moderate socialist
program and promoted closer economic and political cooperation within the
European Union (EU). The French Communist Party, once a powerful political
bloc, has seen its share of the vote decline steadily in recent decades. In the
1950s and 1960s the French Communists typically won 25 percent of the vote in
national elections; today the party receives less than 10 percent of the vote.
Environmentalist parties, including the Green Party, have grown in importance,
capturing about 5 percent of the vote in the 2002 elections to the National
Assembly.
The French electoral system
influences the behavior of political parties in legislative races. A candidate
for a seat in the National Assembly must compete in two rounds of voting,
unless the candidate claims more than 50 percent of the vote in the first
round. Typically, the two leading candidates who meet in the second round
represent parties on the left and right. Other parties on the left and right
often withdraw their candidates from the second round to improve the chances of
candidates on their side of the political divide. Agreements between parties
often specify in advance which party will withdraw in favor of the other.
Sometimes, such agreements between parties are concluded even before the first
round of voting. These agreements can promote electoral alliances, and
sometimes even shared platforms among parties.
- Government of India
Form
of government
|
Federal republic
|
Head
of state
|
President
|
Head
of government
|
Prime minister
|
Legislature
|
BICAMERAL
Lok Sabha (House of the People), 545
members
Rajya Sabha (Council of States), 245 members |
Voting
qualifications
|
Universal at age 18
|
Constitution
|
26 January 1950; amended 1975,
1986, 1992, 2000, 2002
|
Highest
court
|
Supreme Court
|
The Republic of India
is a federal republic, governed under a constitution and incorporating various
features of the constitutional systems of the United Kingdom. The power of the
government is separated into three branches: executive, parliament, and a
judiciary headed by a Supreme Court. India is a union of states, but its
federalism is slightly different. The central government has power over the
states, including the power to redraw state boundaries, but the states, many of
which have large populations sharing a common language, culture, and history,
have an identity that is in some ways more significant than that of the country
as a whole.India’s constitution went into effect
in 1950, providing civil liberties protected by a set of fundamental rights.
These include not only rights to free speech, assembly, association, and the
exercise of religion—echoing the United States Bill of Rights—but also rights
such as that of citizens to conserve their culture and language and to
establish schools to aid this endeavor. The constitution also lists principles
of national policy, such as the duty of the government to secure equal pay for
men and women, provision of free legal aid, and protection and improvement of
the environment. India has universal voting rights for adults beginning at age
18.
The Indian parliament
has amended the constitution many times since 1950. Most of these amendments
were minor, but others were of major significance: For example, the 7th
amendment (1956) provided for a major reorganization of the boundaries of the
states, and the 73rd and 74th amendments (1993) gave constitutional permanence
to units of local self-government (village and city councils).
EXECUTIVE: The head of state of India
is the president. The role of president, modeled on the British constitutional
monarch, is largely nominal and ceremonial. Most powers assigned to the
president are exercised under direction of the cabinet. The president’s major
political responsibility is to select the prime minister, although that choice
is circumscribed by a constantly evolving set of conventions (for example, that
the leader of the party with the largest number of seats in parliament should
be given the first opportunity to form a government).
The president is elected
for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of the elected members
of the national and state legislatures. The president is eligible for
successive terms. The vice president is elected in the same manner as the
president and assumes the role of the president if the president is
incapacitated or otherwise unable to perform his or her duties.
A council of ministers,
or cabinet, is headed by a prime minister and wields executive power at the
national level. The council, which is responsible to parliament, is selected by
the president upon the advice of the prime minister. Each council member heads
an administrative department of the central government. In most important
respects, the Indian cabinet system is identical to that of Britain. There is a
constitutionally fixed division of responsibilities between national and state
governments, so that the national government has exclusive powers over areas
such as foreign affairs, while the states are responsible for health-care
systems and agricultural development, among other areas. Some areas are the
joint responsibility of both the national and state governments, such as
education.
The actual administration
is carried out by a many-tiered civil service, almost all of whom are recruited
by a competitive, merit-based examination. At the top is the Indian
Administrative Service (IAS), whose senior members serve as the administrative
heads of departments, responsible only to their minister. All members of this
service are assigned to particular states and spend most of their early career
serving in those states. They typically start as district-level administrators
and rapidly move to head state-level departments. Additional central government
civil services include the Indian Foreign Service, the Indian Police Service,
and services for audits and accounts, posts and telegraphs, customs and excise,
and railroads.
LEGISLATURE: The constitution vests
national legislative power in a parliament of two houses: the Lok Sabha
(House of the People), the lower house, and the Rajya Sabha (Council of
States), the upper house. The Lok Sabha consists of 545 members directly
elected by universal adult suffrage, except for two members who are appointed
by the president to represent the Anglo-Indian community. The number of seats
allocated to each state and union territory is proportional to its population.
The term of the Lok Sabha is limited to five years, but the president may
dissolve the house upon the advice of the prime minister, or upon defeat of
major legislation proposed by the government. A provision of the constitution
that was intended to expire after ten years, but which has been consistently
extended, allocates reserved seats to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
in proportion to their share of the population.
Members of the Rajya Sabha
are elected by the members of the state legislative assemblies, except for 12
presidential appointees who have special knowledge or practical experience in
literature, the arts, science, or social services. The elected members are
chosen by a system of proportional representation for a six-year term;
one-third of the Rajya Sabha is chosen every two years. A two-thirds majority
is required for some constitutional amendments to pass; some amendments also
require ratification by one-half of the states.
Judicial authority in India is exercised through a system of national courts
administering the laws of the republic and the states. All senior judges are
appointees of the executive branch of the government, with their independence
guaranteed by a variety of safeguards. Noteworthy among these safeguards is a
provision requiring a two-thirds vote of parliament to remove a judge from
office. The highest court is the Supreme Court; all Supreme Court judges serve
until a retirement age of 65. The top court at the state level is called the
High Court; members of the Supreme Court are selected from among justices of
the High Courts. Judges of the High Courts are in turn selected from
subordinate courts operating at the district level. Important judicial posts at
the district level are filled by members of the administrative service.
Political parties play
an important role in India’s democracy. For many years a centrist national
party known as the Congress Party was the most powerful political party in
India. Established in 1885 as the Indian National Congress, it led India in the
struggle for independence. Its members have included influential figures such
as Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. With few exceptions, the Congress
Party provided the country’s prime ministers until the mid-1990s. The Congress,
also known after 1977 as the Congress (I) Party, significantly declined in
popular support in the 1990s due to allegations of corruption.
A Hindu nationalist party,
the Bharatiya Janata (Indian People’s) Party (BJP), became the largest single
party in the Lok Sabha in 1996 and retained that position in the 1998 and 1999
elections. Unable to win an outright majority, it led a multiparty coalition
called the National Democratic Alliance. The BJP found its base of support in
the growing Hindu middle class. It continued policies of economic
liberalization that had been initiated by the Congress Party. The reforms led
to rapid and sustained economic growth, but much of India’s population remained
in poverty. In the 2004 elections, the BJP lost control of the Lok Sabha to the
Congress Party, which had campaigned on a platform that appealed to India’s
rural poor.
Other important parties
in India include the Janata Dal (People’s Party), a secular, socialist party
appealing to lower caste and Muslim voters. The Janata Dal was a key member of
the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The Janata Dal and the BJP are the
primary successors to the Janata (People’s) Party, which was a coalition of
opposition parties that formed in 1977 and defeated the Congress Party in that
year’s elections. The coalition’s victory represented the first change in the
ruling party of the national government after India gained independence.
However, the coalition fractured in 1979 and its government collapsed, leading
to the return to power of the Congress Party in 1980.
The far left of the political
spectrum is dominated by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which draws
support from urban and rural laborers, and the more moderate Communist Party of
India. Both parties have been significant participants in coalition politics.
Regional parties are of
major importance in many states, including Tamil Nādu, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab,
and several smaller states, particularly in the northeast. These regional
parties deliberately focus on support of particular people of a particular
state and thus have no ambition of extending their reach to other states. They
elect a significant number of members of parliament, and many have been
included in coalition governments by forming alliances with larger parties.
How to cite this article:
Adams, William James, Jordan–Bychkov, Terry G., and
Kaiser, Thomas E. "Britain, France, India" Microsoft® Encarta®
2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.
