DEMOCRACY

AND
GOVERNMENT
By : Farhan Zhovran
 A. Democracy
and Government
in the past

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 1. Democracy and Government
in the past
• In 1066, the last ruler of the Anglo-Saxon monarchy was
crowned Harold II, he lost and died when Norman’s conquest
of Britain and the British Monarchy appointed the victoriuous
Norman leader, William the conqueror and his descendants.
• From 1080s, the leadership of South Wales was held by the
successors of Norman families who married other Wales
noble families to the British throne with some of their
leadership held by the British king in his own right. The
process was completed in the 13th century when northern
Wales, a prince, became a British royal client country, while
the Magna Carta began the process of reducing the political
power of the British monarchy.
• From 1603, when Scottish rulers king James VI inherited the
throne as James I, both the British and Scottish empires were
held by a single ruler.
• From 1649-1660, the tradition of the monarchy was divided
by the republican British Commonwealth, which led to the
war of the three kingdoms.

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 1. Democracy and Government
in the past
• In 1707, the British and Scottish kingdoms joined to form the
kingdom of Great Britain and in 1801, the kingdom of Ireland
joined to form a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
• The British ruler became the head of the nomination of entire
British empire, which covered a quarter of the earth’s surface at
the height of its glory in 1921.
• In 1920s, 5 out of 6 Irish people wanted Ireland to emerge from
this unity as an Irish free state and the Balfour declaration
acknowledge the change of dominion from the empire to be a
separate state and governed itself in the commonwealth of
nations. After World War II, most of the colonies and territories
of the British alliance gained independence, effectively ending
the empire. George VI and his successor Elizabeth II, adopted
the title of the Commonwealth as a symbol of the free
association of its independent member states.
• The United Kingdom and 15 other Commonwealth monarchies
that share the same people as rulers of their monarchy are
called the commonwealth of the term English monarchy and the
rulers of the British monarchy are still used to refer to these joint
institutions and individuals. However, each country has
sovereignty and independence from others, and have the 4
monarch’s rulers have titles and titles for each kingdom.
 B. Democracy
and Government
in the future

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1. Politic
The political system of the British empire is a
multi-party system. Since the 1920s there have been
two dominant parties: the Conservative Party and the
Labor Party. Before the labor party rise, the liberal party
was a large political party. Minority coalitions and
governments are sometimes formed in the English
system, but the first-past-the-post electoral system
tends to maintain dominance from both sides, although
each of them has previously relied on a third party
namely the liberal democrate to obtain majority status.
The Concervative-Liberal Democrat government
coalition has served from 2010 to 2015 (the first
coalition since 1945). The coalition ended after
parliamentary elections on May 7, 2015, where
conservative parties won 330 seats at The House of
Common, while their colition partners lost 8 seats.
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2. Law
The developing English legal system is the
basis of the legal system used in most Commonwealth
countries and the United Staes except Louisiana.
Although it has become part of the United Kingdom,
the English and Wales court legal systems are still in
use. Under the Unity Agreement, the legal system used
in England and Wales is separate from the legal system
used in Scotland.
• The court system is headed by the Senior
Court of England and Wales, is namely :
• High Court
• High Court of Justice for civil cases
• Crown Court for criminal cases

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3. Devolved Administrations
Subdivisions of regional government in the UK
consist of four levels of administrative divisions that are
controlled by various types of administrative entities
and created with the aim of regional governance. The
highest level of regional government in the UK consist
of nine regions : Northeast England, Northwest
England, Yorkshire and Humber, East Midlands, West
Midlands, East England, Southeast England, Southwest
England and London.
This division was established in 1994 with the
status of a Government Office Region to distribute
various policies and regional programs of the United
Kingdom Government

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C. Election

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 1. There are six types of elections in the
United Kingdom:
1. Elections to the House of Commons of the
United Kingdom
2. Elections to devolved parliaments and
assemblies
3. Elections to the European Parliament
4. Local Elections
5. Mayoral Elections
6. Police and Crime Commissioner elections
Within each of those categories, there
may be by-elections as well as general elections.
Since the passing of the Fixed-term Parliaments
Act 2011 for general elections, all six types of
elections are held after fixed periods.
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2. There are six electoral system are used :
1. the single member plurality
system (first past the post)
2. the multi member plurality
system
3. party-list proportional
representation
4. the single transferable vote
5. the additional member system
6. the supplementary vote
3. Elections are administered locally :
1. in each lower-tier local authority
2. the polling procedure is operated by
the acting returning officer or
returning officer
3. the compiling and maintenance of
the electoral roll by the electoral
registration officer (except in
Northern Ireland)
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