ng majorities in the Commons. There has been concern at the apparent absence of constitutional safeguards for the individual citizen against state power, especially since there are few legal definitions of civil liberties in Britain. There also appear to be few effective parliamentary restraints upon a strong government which is intent upon carrying out its policies.lack of adequate constitutional definitions in the British system has been seen as potentially dangerous, particularly when governments and their administrative bodies have a reputation for being too secretive. There have consequently been campaigns for more effective civil protection in the forms of a bill of rights; a written constitution; greater judicial scrutiny of the merits of parliamentary legislation; a Freedom of Information Act; and the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into British domestic law. But none of these suggested reforms has been achieved, and there is considerable opposition to the various proposals. critics argue that the British political system no longer works satisfactorily. They maintain that its institutions are too centralized, and that the traditional bases are no longer adequate for the organization of a complex, mass society. It is felt that political policies have become too conditioned by party politics at the expense of consensus. Questions have consequently been raised about the democratic and representative basis of national programmes. It is argued that th ere must be a fundamental reform of the existing political institutions if they are to reflect a contemporary diversity. However, changes do continue to be made to the present apparatus, and it may be that the old evolutionary principles will be successfully adapted to new demands and conditions.governmental model that operates in Britain today is usually described as a constitutional monarchy, or parliamentary system . While the monarch still has a role to play on some executive and legislative levels, it is Parliament which possesses the essential legislative power, and the government of the day which governs by initiating and controlling political policy and legislation. The correct constitutional definition of Parliament is the 'Queen-in-Parliament', and all state and governmental business is therefore carried out in the name of the monarch by the politicians and officials of the system. In constitutional theory, the British people hold the political sovereignty to choose their government, while Parliament, consisting partly of their elected representatives in the Commons, possesses the legal sovereignty to make laws.various branches of this political system, although easily distinguishable from each other , are not entirely separate. The monarch is formally head of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. A Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons and a member of the House of Lords may both be in the government of the day. A Law Lord in the House of Lords also serves the House of Lords as the highest appeal court.legislature, which consists of both Houses of Parliament and formally the monarch, is for most purposes the supreme law-making body. The executive comprises the sitting government and its Cabinet, together with government ministries or departments headed by ministers or secretaries of state, who all act formally in the name of the monarch. The judiciary is composed mainly of the judges of the higher courts, who determine the common law and interpret Acts of Parliament. The judiciary is supposed to be independent of the legislative and executive branches of government.monarchycontinuity of the English monarchy has been interrupted only by the Cromwell republic of 1649-59 although there have been different lines of descent, such as the Stuarts, the Tudors and the Hanoverians. The Crown, as distinct from any particular monarch, is thus one of the oldest secular institutions in Britain. Succession to the throne is still hereditary, but only for Protestants in the direct line of descent.monarch has a number of roles, and serves formally as head of state head of the executive head of the judiciary head of the legislature commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and supreme governor of the Church of England. It follows that all ministers and officials of the central government are the monarch's servants, and judges, military officers, peers, and bishops of the Church of England swear allegiance to the Crown. In holding these and other positions, the monarch is said to personify the British state.spite of these roles, there are difficulties in defining the precise powers of the monarch, who is supposed to reign but not rule. The monarch is also expected to be politically neutral, and should not be seen to be making political decisions. In order to avoid potential constitutional crises, proposals have often been made that rules concerning the real powers of the monarc...
