Questions tagged [constitutional-monarchy]
Questions about monarchies that have a monarch and government that is bound by a constitution
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Is it possible to live as a British/Canadian/Australian while openly disavowing the Monarchy?
Suppose a natural-born citizen of one of those countries principally objects to the notion of monarchy and in particular is unwilling to swear allegiance to a king or queen - are there any rights or ...
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Could the Queen have stopped Brexit?
If Her Majesty so desired, would she have been allowed to overrule the will of both the people and the House of Commons and prevent the triggering of Article 50?
If so, what political backlash would ...
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What would happen if the Queen died immediately before a general election?
I'm an American so I don't have a total grasp of UK politics but my understanding is that when the Queen of the UK dies, the country shuts down for a few days. It's also my understanding that prior to ...
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Why does the British PM meet the Queen every week?
The British PM traditionally meets the Queen every week to discuss government matters. However this seems like a pointless exercise given that the British monarch lacks any direct influence.
So why ...
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What is the biggest monarchy where the monarch has real power in modern day?
The best known monarchy is no doubt the various Commonwealth realms ruled over by Queen Elizabeth. However, she is generally seen as mostly a figurehead, with elected officials being the ones that do ...
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Is King Charles permitted to express opinions on politics provided he does not actually interfere with government policies?
In the aftermath of Queen Elizabeth II's death, some news outlets had started speculating what kind of monarch her successor - King Charles III - would be.
Much has been said about King Charles' more ...
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What power does the Queen have in the event of a Hung Parliament?
Media reports that Mrs. May (Conservatives) is heading to the Queen soon requesting to form a government, even though her party has no majority. Corbyn & McDonnell (Labour Party) also want to ...
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Why was Edward VIII's marriage a problem, but not Prince Charles's second?
When Edward VIII wanted to marry Wallis Simpson, the fact she had been divorced was a problem that ultimately led to his abdication.
Decades later, Charles, Prince of Wales married Camilla Parker ...
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Can Prince Charles pass the throne to Prince William of his own free will?
A recent poll shows that only a quarter of Britons want to see Charles succeed his mother as monarch. The public seems to be in favor of Prince William to have the throne:
Only a quarter of ...
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Is there a precedent indicating what happens when a UK Prime Minister advises a monarch not to give Royal Assent to legislation passed by Parliament?
A report from Buzzfeed claims that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government is:
Exploring what the consequences would be if Johnson advised the Queen not to give royal assent to any legislation ...
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If the elected UK parliament falls into disarray, can the reigning monarch take over?
Suppose that opinions in the UK parliament become so fragmented that no-one can form a government. What powers does the reigning monarch have?
At the moment Queen Elizabeth II is the Commander-in-...
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Why does the UK have a Queen instead of a King?
Why is that?
Is it because this way you know that the blood line would be still
okay or any other logical reason except for tradition?
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If the British King dies childless but with a pregnant wife, who is the monarch?
Suppose the British King dies and he is currently childless, but his wife is pregnant. Under the succession laws of the commonwealth realms, what happens? I see three natural possibilities:
The next ...
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Can the Queen still cancel Brexit?
This answer from 2017 on whether the Queen could have stopped Brexit states (emphasis mine):
Furthermore, the executive power of the British government to make and withdraw from international ...
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Do heirs to the British monarchy need to prove their fertility when they come of age to ensure the line of succession?
With the upcoming wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, royal weddings and lines of succession are being discussed again. This makes me wonder about lines of succession and providing heirs to ...
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Is there any significant political movement in England to get rid of Monarchy?
I know that there are/were significant political movements to get rid of the Queen's rule in some former colonies and Commonwealth states (from USA in 1776 to 1980/90s in Australia - see Republic ...
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How is constitutional monarchy perceived in Commonwealth realms other than United Kingdom?
Especially in countries with huge population and economy like Canada and Australia, what's the opinion of people about constitutional monarchy? Are there any well known groups or indivuals who opposes ...
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Has the British Monarch ever exercised their right to revoke land "ownership" rights for personal use?
As I understand the British monarchy, all land in the United Kingdom is owned by the monarch. Owners of houses and businesses and the like within the United Kingdom are merely granted the use of the ...
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What is the purpose of the Queen's Speech?
It has been reported Theresa May is cancelling next year's queen speech, which made me wonder what significance the queen's speech actually has, what is the purpose of it, if the prime minister can ...
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Is Herman van Rompuy's recently-created noble title hereditary?
Herman van Rompuy, briefly Prime Minister of Belgium, and later the first President of the European Council, was created Count van Rompuy (Graaf van Rompuy) by Philippe of Belgium in 2015. Is this ...
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Did any state in recent history become a Monarchy?
Are there any states in recent history - say 1900 and on - which became a monarchy after being a non-monarchy for a significant period of time before that?
Monarchy is in a literal sense, with the ...
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Which are the advantages of monarchy?
Some western democracies are monarchies (UK, Denmark, Spain...).
What are the advantages that this system gives to the people, when compared with a presidential system?
I want to stress that I'm ...
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Within what limits can the prime minister ask the queen to prorogue parliament?
In the UK, the Prime Minister can advise the Queen to prorogue Parliament at any time.
Is there any limit on how long this prorogation may last?
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Would the Parliament of the United Kingdom have the legal power to change the monarchy?
I am referring to a hypothetical scenario where parliament tries to make the heir to one of the alternate successions to the English throne the monarch. I know that Queen Elizabeth has royal ...
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Can a member of the royal family stand in parliamentary elections?
In monarchies where the monarch has limited power, with the government being mostly democratically elected, can a member of the royal family stand in elections to become a Member of Parliament and ...
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In European monarchies, do any of the monarchs have the right of legislative initiative?
Which of the European monarchs have the right of legislative initiative? Are there any who do? I'm finding it difficult to find any information on the internet about the right of initiative in various ...
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Why is support for the monarchy so high in Romania?
A Romanian news outlet published a recent poll on the Romanian public's sentiment towards restoring the monarchy.
Translated:
Over half of Romanians (56.4%) believe that if Romania had adopted the ...
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What kind of legislative power does the British monarchy possess?
When did the British monarchy actually hand over its legislative powers to the parliament? Why is the monarchy still present today? There seems to be no real need for it anymore. Not only that I think ...
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A Spanish judge has jailed two key members of the Catalan independence movement. Have others been ever accused and convicted for sedition?
As of 16th October 2017, A Spanish judge has jailed two key members of the Catalan independence movement. As the BBC news reports:
Jordi Sánchez and Jordi Cuixart, who lead prominent separatist ...
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Could Gibraltar become an independent country, under the Queen?
The treaty of Utrecht specifies that if Britain wants to get rid of Gibraltar, Spain gets first dibs.
"And in case it shall hereafter seem meet to the Crown of Great Britain to grant, sell or by any ...
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Is there a contingency for Royal assent if the sovereign is unable to fulfil their duties in a timely manner
[I'm going to use the current Brexit example, but my question extends to other similar circumstances]
Certain situation require a bill be made into law in a timely manner, as with the blocking of no ...
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Can the British Prime Minister change the election date on his own?
According to this news item,
Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon said he did not trust Boris Johnson not to call an election for mid-October and then change the date afterwards.
This implies ...
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What will happen if the person the Conservative party membership elects as leader cannot command a majority in the House of Commons?
It would seem to me a distinct possibility that if the Tory membership elect a pro-Brexit ERG person as party leader, that the Queen might not call him/her to the Palace.
It is a fundamental axiom ...
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What other times have there been a Queen's Speech without a majority government?
So the Queen's Speech is today and The Conservatives have a minority government, which got me wondering, what other times has a Queen's Speech occurred without a majority government?
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Are there non historical reasons for a monarchy?
Currently there are around 45 monarchies in the world (list of current sovereign monarchs). Going through the list I do not see many cases in which the monarchy being introduced in recent history.
...
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Can the UK parliament legislate on prorogation? [duplicate]
As I understand it, prorogation is a power which can be exercised only by the monarch who must act on whatever advice they receive from the prime minister.
With this in mind, is prorogation ...
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Can the crown veto constitutional Amendments in Canada?
I know that this would be practically be suicide for the Crown's power to do so, but hypothetically, could they?
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What are the consequences for the UK monarch for making political comments?
This question has been inspired by the fact that Prince Charles has made comments about the UK government's new immigration policy of sending immigrants to Rwanda for processing. He called the policy &...
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How can the monarchy in Spain disappear?
At the moment, there is a monarchy in Spain for long time. Before was more important and relevant but nowadays it seems only as a figure that does not have such a relevance
What are the possibilities ...
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As the British Monarchy has given up divine right, how can they maintain the motto Dieu et mon droit (God and my right)
If the English Bill of Rights 1689 makes clear that the British Monarchy does not rule by divine right how can the British Monarchy reasonably retain the motto "Dieu et mon droit" (God and my right) ...
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Is a consitutional monarchy really a democracy?
According to Wikipedia, the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with a parliament. Basically meaning a monarchy that is restrained by constitution with a parliament that makes the rules, as ...
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Could a democratic removal of the British monarchy ever be practically implemented?
There seems to be increasingly anti-monarchist sentiment in the UK, and although I don't see this happening any time soon I think it's worthwhile asking how this would ever work.
How would this ever ...
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How could the PM prorogue Parliament without the Queen's consent?
In theory, only the Queen can prorogue Parliament:
The Queen formally prorogues Parliament on the advice of the Privy Council.
https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/occasions/prorogation/
Based ...
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Can the PM block a bill by advising the Queen not to give royal assent? [duplicate]
It appears to be unequivocal (them's the rules) if controversial (a lot of people don't like it) that for a bill that's passed both houses to pass into law it then needs Royal Assent from the Queen &...
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How many members of the Privy Council are there, and how many are required to form a quorum?
Former Prime Minister John Major has suggested that the government could obtain an "Order of Council" postponing the Benn Act until after 31 October. He indicates that this would not require the ...
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Does the queen really have to listen to the Prime Minister when appointing a new one?
According to this answer on Theresa May's successor:
The party will now elect a new leader, and May will then resign as PM, and recommend to the Queen that her successor as Conservative leader is ...
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Power of Monarchs [duplicate]
Why do people claim that monarchs in constitutional monarchies like the monarchy of the United Kingdom contain no power when de jure they hold almost all of the power in the country with the country ...
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Must parliamentary democracies hold a vote of confidence when choosing its Prime Minister?
While many parliamentarian systems require the parliament to hold a vote to confirm its Prime Minister (e.g. Germany, Ireland, Finland), that is not always the case. Here are some examples:
Denmark: ...
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Can a country without a constitution be a Constitutional Monarchy?
I am doing research on the subject of false-authority. The most objective thing to base it on seems to come from the soundness of the terms governments use to define themselves.
One of the main ...
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Has the monarchy in the UK delegated even its symbolic power to the government, or does it still retain its symbolic power?
I quote three excerpts from the same article in Wikipedia:
Though the ultimate executive authority over the government is still formally by and through the royal prerogative, these powers may only be ...
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