Religion in Britain

England was a Catholic country until the 16th century. Then, for a variety of reasons some of them connected with the matrimonial instability of Henry VIII, it ceased to acknowledge the authority of the Pope and recognized the King as the head of the English Anglican Church.

The structure of the Church of England is simple. The heads of the Church, under the Queen, defender of the Faith, are the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. Dioceses are administered by bishops. The bishops are addressed as “My Lord”. 26 bishops sit in the House of Lords. The Church of England is the spiritual home of the nation.

3. BRITISH DEMOCRACY

• The Constitutional Monarchy

• The House of Lords

• The House of Commons

• Political Parties

• The Mass Media

• Class Society

• The Commonwealth

The Constitutional Monarchy

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. This means that it has a monarch (a king or a queen). Everything today is done in the Queen’s name. It is her government, her armed forces, her law courts and so on. She appoints all the ministers, including the Prime Minister. Everything is done, however, on the advice of the elected Government, and the monarch takes no part in the decision-making process.

The Queen exercises a real influence corresponding to her knowledge of public affairs. She has “the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn”. Thus, she plays an essential role in the practical working of the constitution.

The monarch is officially the Head of the State, and the Head of the Church, moreover, is the Head of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The present Queen Elizabeth II was born in 1926. She succeeded to the throne on the death of her farther King George VI, in 1952. She is married to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The Queen’s heir is Charles, Prince of Wales, born in 1948. Her Majesty has got a daughter – Princess Ann, and two more sons – Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.

The House of Lords

The British Parliament consists of two chambers known as the House of Lords and the House of Commons and the Sovereign as its head. About 900 peers (are entitled) sit in the Upper House. Some are life peers (created since 1958) – they are those men and women who were given a title as a reward for important public service; 9 judges and 26 bishops sit in the House of Lords; but most peers hold hereditary titles (dukes, barons, earls).

The House of Lords has always been conservative and was tolerated as such until it rejected Liberal proposals for taxing the rich in order to finance social reforms.

The work of the House of Lords includes examining and revising bills from the House of Commons and discussing important matters which the Commons cannot find time to debate.

The Speaker of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor. The special seat on which the Lord Chancellor sits in the British Parliament is called the woolsack.

The House of Commons

After centuries of political struggle, the House of Commons has finally established its supremacy over the Crown and the House of Lords. At present its 625 members, elected by the whole adult population at intervals of not more than five years, known as Members of Parliament (MPs). Governmental power is placed in the hands of a few members of Parliament, the Cabinet, headed by the leader of the majority in the Commons, the Prime Minister.

Based on the two-party system, Members of Parliament sit on two sides of the hall; one side is for the governing party and the other for the Opposition. The House of Commons is presided over by the Speaker. The House of Commons plays the major role in law-making.