From Autocracy to Constitutional Monarchy
The origins of constitutional monarchy in Britain go back a long way. Until the
end of the seventeenth century, British monarchs were executive monarchs,
which means that they had the right to make and pass legislation.
But even in early times there were occasions when the Sovereign had to act in
accordance with the law and take into account the will of his people.
With the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215, for example, the leading
noblemen of England succeeded in forcing King John to accept that they and
other freemen had rights against the Crown.
In the seventeenth century, the Stuart kings propagated the theory of the
divine right of kings, claiming that the Sovereign was subject only to God and
not to the law.
Widespread unrest against their rule led to civil war in the second half of the
seventeenth century. In 1688-9 Parliamentarians drew up a Bill of Rights, which
established basic tenets such as the supremacy of Parliament.
The constitutional monarchy we know today really developed in the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as day-to-day power came to be
exercised by Ministers in Cabinet, and by Parliaments elected by a steadilywidening electorate.
One of the most important writers on the subject of constitutional monarchy
was a Victorian economist and writer called Walter Bagehot (1826-77). He
describes the way in which monarchy symbolises the unity of the national
community. He wrote: "The nation is divided into parties, but the crown is of
no party. Its apparent separation from business is that which removes it both
from enmities and from desecration, which preserves its mystery, which
enables it to combine the affection of conflicting parties ...."
From the point of view of political power, according to Bagehot, the main
influence of the Sovereign was during a political ministry, for the Sovereign had
three rights: "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to
warn". According to Bagehot, a Sovereign would, over the course of a long
reign, accumulate far more knowledge and experience than any minister.
Bagehot's views of how monarchy works proved influential, and by the reign of
King George V (1910 – 1936), the principle of constitutional monarchy was
firmly established in Britain.
The Bill of Rights Act 1689 set out the foundations of constitutional monarchy.
Rights obtained by Parliament included:
 Freedom from Royal interference with the law;
 Freedom from taxation by Royal prerogative;
 Freedom to petition the King;
 Freedom to elect members of Parliament without interference from the
Sovereign.
www.royal.gov.uk › The Queen and the UK › The Role of the Monarchy
At a later time we will examine how Canada (beginning in Nova Scotia)
adopted the British Parliamentary System of democracy and how our country
proceeded from an autocratic government (Governor and Council) through to a
representative form of government and finally to responsible government as a
self-governing Constitutional Monarchy .