Page 161 - DPOL202_COMPARATIVE_POLITICS_AND_GOVERNMENT_ENGLISH

Comparative Politics and Government

Notes some sound advice to clear his head. While the tenure of the Prime Minister is quite uncertain
as he comes and goes with the political wind, the king enjoys a very long life and his association
with many governments makes him a mentor by whom a wise minister is obliged. While recalling
his personal experiences, former Prime Minister Clement Attlee once mentioned that the monarch
by virtue of keeping himself continuously in touch with public affairs acquires great experience
which the Prime Minister cannot have despite his long political career. Even a slight hint from
the side of the king is a big counsel to the Prime Minister and he may easily depend upon it as
the king is not at all involved in political intrigues of factions and groups.
3. Right to Warn: The advisory functions of the king have got an importance of their own and a
wise and sagacious king should not press his counsels to the point of creating a crisis. The
mystic aura of royalty and the traditional reverence for his highest office lend special weight to
his counsels. A Prime Minister like Asquith in his memories notes that a monarch may not only
advise his ministers, he can also point out objections and suggest alternative measures which
the ministers accept with utmost respect. As he is the best informed member and the only one
who cannot be forced, says Jennings, to remain quiet and his special status “gives him power to
press his views upon the minister making a proposal and (what is sometimes even more
important) to press them on the Minister who is not making proposals. He can do more, he can
press those views on the Prime Minister, the weight of those authority may in the end produce
the cabinet decision.”
Reinterpretation of Jennings: Bagehot’s assessment of the functions and powers of the monarch
reflects a situation considerably out of date, but Jennings presents a more plausible explanation in
this regard. Much change in the sphere of monarch’s functions and powers has taken place since the
time of Bagehot and his ‘favourite Queen’. Among modern writers, Jennings illustrates that the
functions and constitutional position of her monarch are governed by four factors — his office as an
integral part of the constitutional set up, his place in the Commonwealth of Nations, his status as a
social figure and, lastly, his personal equation.
1. The monarch is the integral part of the British constitutional system. The framework of cabinet
government is such that it can not operate smoothy without the monarch. The monarch appoints
the Prime Minister and other ministers and administers to them the oaths of office and secrecy;
he summons and prorogues the Parliament and dissolves the House of Commons; he puts
signatures on the bills passed by the Parliament and thereby affords them constitutional validity;
he acts as the fountain-head of honour and justice as well as ‘defender of the faith’.
2. The monarch provides the golden link of the empire, a lace that joins, like the different beads, the
various parts of the Commonwealth of Nations. Though a titular head of the state, British king
stands as the shield of imperialism and also as the symbol of peaceful relationship between the
‘mother country’ and its colonies whether dependent or self-governing dominions. The
Commonwealth of Nations thus finds a cementing bond in the great office of the monarch as the
dominions pay final allegiance to the king and the republics regard him as the ‘symbol of friendship.’
3. Apart from being an integral part of the political system of the country, the monarch wields a
great social influence. So exalted is the position of the monarch that the British people say that
while the sovereign is in the Buckingham Palace, all is right with the realm. The monarch
personifies the majesty of the state. Undoubtedly, the king holds the most dignified post of the
nation. An appeal made by the king during the days of national crisis, vision granted by him to
the people on ceremonial occasions, a word of counsel given by him to settle a major problem
etc. all are the living proofs of the unique social position enjoyed by the monarch who by the
long traditions of constitutional government has become representative of the people.
4. We come to the axiom of the personal equation of the monarch which is, indeed, the most
important factor in determining his real and exalted position. His popularity and the role which
he plays in the social and political life of his country is an undisputed affair evident from the
fact that even now while the people think in terms of reforming the upper chamber of the
Parliament on the lines of a democratic set up, no such thing is heard about the great office of
the monarch.

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