The sovereign of England is termed King or Queen. Originally possessed of almost absolute power, the English ruler, at the present day possesses very little actual power and influence, much less in fact than the people of the United States have entrusted to their President. The constitutional history of England is largely the narrative of the successive steps by which the people have wrested from royal hands and taken under their own control, the powers of government.
The rights of the English people in the participation of their own government are not contained in the written document, such as we possess in our constitution, but rest upon established custom and precedent, and various charters wrested from their kings.
The English Parliament, or, to speak more exactly, the lower branch of the Parliament, called the House of Commons, rules the English people. The Parliament or law-making branch of the English government, is divided into two houses, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. The House of Lords is, as its name denotes, composed mainly of members of the noble families of England, who owe their seat in that body to the chance of birth. Theoretically possessed of powers of legislation equal to those exercised by the lower and more numerous branch (the Commons), the Lords have in reality but a small voice in the control of public affairs. The House of Commons is composed of members elected by the people. In this body reside almost all the powers of government. Its acts require the assent of the House of Lords and of the King, but this assent is almost wholly formal. The sphere of legislation allowed the English Parliament is unlimited, differing in this respect fundamentally from our Congress, which is limited in its legislative field by the Constitution. From the English Parliament is selected the "Cabinet" consisting of the principal executive officials, who guide the House in its legislation, and at the same time conduct the executive affairs of the nation. These ministers, as they are called, are appointed by the king from the party in the majority in the House of Commons. They are responsible to that body for all their actions, and retain their offices only so long as they retain the confidence and good will of the Commons.
#An Aristocracy.#—An aristocracy is a government in the hands of a select few, called the aristocracy, who transmit this authority to their children. There are to-day no aristocratic governments proper, though many nations exhibit aristocratic tendencies. In nearly all of the European countries, one branch, at least, of their legislatures is composed of members holding their seats on account of noble birth, thus admitting the aristocratic element into their governments.
#Democracy.#—A pure democracy is a government in which all the people rule directly, meeting in popular assemblies in which is determined by the votes of the majority how the government is to be administered. This form of government is obviously possible only in very small communities. Several of the Grecian states governed themselves after this manner. No perfect example of a nation with this form of government can be said to exist at this time. The nearest approach to pure democracy is found in certain cantons of Switzerland. The Roman historian Tacitus tells us that the early Germans governed themselves in a purely democratic manner, and the first governments of several of our American colonies were of the democratic type. When we come to the study of local government in the United States we shall see the democratic form followed in the New England Town Meetings.
#Republic.#—A republic is a democracy adapted by means of the introduction of the representative principle, to the government of a large and widely separated people. Under this form of government the people rule themselves, not directly, as in a democracy, but through agents or representatives of their own selection. The participation of the people in their own government consists therefore merely in the choice of officers to represent them and carry out their wishes. There exist at present several republics, the tendency seeming to be for nations to approach more nearly this form of government. France has been, since 1870, the best European example of a republic. Our own government—the United States of America—is to us the most interesting and important example of a republic.
#Popular Government.#—By the word 'popular' is meant, of or by the people, and by popular government is to be understood a government in the administration of which the people as a whole participate. Every change by which new and greater political powers are given into the hands of the common people is considered a step towards the full realization of popular government. During the last one hundred years great strides have been made in this direction by all European nations except Turkey and Russia. The extent to which this movement towards popular control of government can be safely and successfully carried is a question of very great importance. To a very large extent it depends upon the intelligence, previous training, and natural political ability of the people who are to be entrusted with their own government.
CHAPTER III.
The Functions of Government.
Broadly speaking, the functions performed by government are of a threefold order: the establishment, interpretation, and enforcement of laws. A division of government into three branches is thus called for: the legislative, the judicial and the executive. The manner in which these departments are related to each other, the extent to which they are vested in the same hands, and the degree in which they are separate from each other and independent in their workings, differ in different countries. In England, as we have seen, the executive and legislative functions are closely united. In our government, as we shall see when we come to consider its structure, complete independence of the three departments has been aimed at.