The Monarchy and the Constitution

by Bogdanor, Vernon

• ISBN13: 9780198293347
• ISBN10: 0198293348
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-02-12
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

In the increasingly questioning world of the 1990s, the role of the monarchy in a democracy is again coming under scrutiny. Its critics argue that the monarchy is a profoundly conservative institution which serves to inhibit social change; that it has outlived its usefulness; that it symbolizes and reinforces deference and hierarchy; and that its radical reform is therefore long overdue. Rejecting these arguments, Vernon Bogdanor makes a powerful case for the positive role that monarchy plays in modern democratic politics. Ranging across law, politics, and history he argues that far from undermining democracy, the monarchy sustains and strengthens democratic institutions; that constitutional monarchy is a form of government that ensures not conservatism but legitimacy. The first serious examination of the political role of the monarchy to appear in many years, this book will make fascinating reading for all those interested in the monarchy and the future of British politics.

Author Biography

A regular contributor to the national press and television, Vernon Bogdanor is Reader in Government, and Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Acknowledgements	p. ix
The Evolution of Constitutional Monarchy	p. 1
The Basic Constitutional Rules: The Rules of Succession	p. 42
The Basic Constitutional Rules: Influence and the Prerogative	p. 61
The Appointment of a Prime Minister	p. 84
Three Constitutional Crises	p. 113
Hung Parliaments and Proportional Representation	p. 145
The Financing of the Monarchy	p. 183
The Sovereign's Private Secretary	p. 197
The Sovereign and the Church	p. 215
The Sovereign and the Commonwealth	p. 240
The Future of Constitutional Monarchy	p. 298
Sovereigns Since Henry VIII	p. 310
Prime Ministers Since 1782	p. 311
Private Secretaries Since 1870	p. 313
Member States of the Commonwealth, 1995	p. 314
Some Constitutional Episodes Involving the Use of Royal Power Since 1900	p. 316
Select Bibliography	p. 318
Index	p. 323
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