GREAT BRITAIN 



2587 



GREAT BRITAIN 



PRINCIPAL POSSESSIONS OP GREAT BRITAIN 



The small, black spot In the northwest corner of the map is the "mother country" to vast empires 

 stretching around the world. 



force of written laws. Many documents of the 

 utmost importance there are, however Parlia- 

 mentary acts, royal decrees, judicial decisions, 

 and above all, five instruments which are basic. 

 These are the Magna Charta (which see), 

 forced from King John in 1215; the Declara- 

 tion of Rights in 1689; the Act of Settlement 

 in 1701 ; the Act of Union with Scotland in 

 1707; and the Act of Union with Ireland. 

 Such a constitution is far more flexible and 

 easily changed than a single written document 

 drawn up by a constituent assembly, and it is 

 constantly changing. 



Central Government. The government of 

 Great Britain is a hereditary constitutional 

 monarchy, the preference being given to male 

 heirs. 



Executive Branch. Nominally, the Crown 

 holds the supreme executive power, and there 

 have been kings in the long course of English 

 history who have actually been all but abso- 

 lute. One power and privilege after another 

 has been assumed by Parliament, however, and 

 the Crown retains merely such rights and 

 duties as have not been forbidden it by Parlia- 

 ment. Among those powers which still remain 

 to the Crown are the declaration of war; the 

 making of treaties; the granting of pardons 

 and the issuing of passports; the appointment 

 of diplomatic and many administrative officers ; 

 the command of the army and navy; the 

 appointment of high officers in the Church of 

 England, of which the king must be a com- 

 municant; and the summoning and dissolution 

 of Parliament. Now, in -theory at least, Great 



Britain has never departed from the doctrine 

 that "the king can do no wrong" that is, Par- 

 liament can never hold him responsible for any 

 of his acts. 



Since entire irresponsibility on the part of 

 the executive works for despotism, the actual 

 executive supremacy is vested in the king's ad- 

 visory body the Ministry, or Cabinet, which is 

 directly responsible to Parliament. The min- 

 isters must be members of Parliament, and 

 belong to the party which at the time is in 

 the majority in theTIouse of Commons. Cus- 

 tom has outlined the method of procedure 

 thus: The leader of the majority in the House 

 of Commons is invited by the king to choose 

 a Cabinet, usually accepting himself the post 

 of Prime Minister, or Premier. After con- 

 sultation with other strong men of his party, 

 this leader sends to the king a list of the men 

 he thinks most suitable as heads of the various 

 departments, and the king at once appoints 

 them. These Cabinet members may be mem- 

 bers of the House of Lords or of the House of 

 Commons, but if of the latter, they must imme- 

 diately resign and come before their constitu- 

 ents for reelection. Unless they have made 

 themselves extremely unpopular in which 

 case they would not be likely to be chosen by 

 the leader they need not fear the results of 

 this election. 



These ministers perform a very important 

 legislative function, for almost every promi- 

 nent measure brought forward in Parliament 

 is introduced by them. If the Cabinet ad- 

 vances some policy on a seri9us question and 



