Abolish the Monarchy

Abolish the Monarchy PDF Author: Graham Smith
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1529908221
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
'A crucial, riveting polemic in support of one of the most precious things humanity has built - democracy itself' OWEN JONES 'Graham Smith shows what fools our rotten constitution makes of us, with a monarch as emblem of a country beset by nepotism, backhanders, chumocracy and inherited privilege. Read and rebel!' POLLY TOYNBEE We're constantly told the same things about the monarchy: But the monarchy is good for tourism.. It isn't! Evidence points to some royal weddings actually having a negative impact on inbound tourism. But the monarchy makes a big difference to charity.. Of the approx. 1,200 charities with a royal patron, 74% had no contact with their patron during the preceding year. But everyone loves the monarchy.. A January 2023 poll showed support for the monarchy is down 55 percent. It's wrong in principle and it doesn't work in practice. It doesn't have to be this way. They say Britain should be proud to have the mother of parliaments, to be a shining beacon of democracy and an example to other nations. But there's an elephant in the room. At the heart of power is a single family. They weren't elected but they live off the public purse. They aren't accountable to anyone, and yet between them they are privy to more government secrets than many cabinet ministers. Divinely appointed using a special hat, the head of the family is your superior, you his subject. Apparently he is guardian of our constitution - but we're also told he wouldn't dream of interfering in politics. If you accept the monarchy, you must accept the moral compromise that comes with it, from its erosion of the principle of equality to the secret interference in our laws. But the good news is that we don't have to accept it. True democracy is within our reach.

Abolish the Monarchy

Abolish the Monarchy PDF Author: Graham Smith
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1529908221
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book

Book Description
'A crucial, riveting polemic in support of one of the most precious things humanity has built - democracy itself' OWEN JONES 'Graham Smith shows what fools our rotten constitution makes of us, with a monarch as emblem of a country beset by nepotism, backhanders, chumocracy and inherited privilege. Read and rebel!' POLLY TOYNBEE We're constantly told the same things about the monarchy: But the monarchy is good for tourism.. It isn't! Evidence points to some royal weddings actually having a negative impact on inbound tourism. But the monarchy makes a big difference to charity.. Of the approx. 1,200 charities with a royal patron, 74% had no contact with their patron during the preceding year. But everyone loves the monarchy.. A January 2023 poll showed support for the monarchy is down 55 percent. It's wrong in principle and it doesn't work in practice. It doesn't have to be this way. They say Britain should be proud to have the mother of parliaments, to be a shining beacon of democracy and an example to other nations. But there's an elephant in the room. At the heart of power is a single family. They weren't elected but they live off the public purse. They aren't accountable to anyone, and yet between them they are privy to more government secrets than many cabinet ministers. Divinely appointed using a special hat, the head of the family is your superior, you his subject. Apparently he is guardian of our constitution - but we're also told he wouldn't dream of interfering in politics. If you accept the monarchy, you must accept the moral compromise that comes with it, from its erosion of the principle of equality to the secret interference in our laws. But the good news is that we don't have to accept it. True democracy is within our reach.

The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy

The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy PDF Author: Robert Hazell
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1509931023
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 501

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Book Description
How much power does a monarch really have? How much autonomy do they enjoy? Who regulates the size of the royal family, their finances, the rules of succession? These are some of the questions considered in this edited collection on the monarchies of Europe. The book is written by experts from Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK. It considers the constitutional and political role of monarchy, its powers and functions, how it is defined and regulated, the laws of succession and royal finances, relations with the media, the popularity of the monarchy and why it endures. No new political theory on this topic has been developed since Bagehot wrote about the monarchy in The English Constitution (1867). The same is true of the other European monarchies. 150 years on, with their formal powers greatly reduced, how has this ancient, hereditary institution managed to survive and what is a modern monarch's role? What theory can be derived about the role of monarchy in advanced democracies, and what lessons can the different European monarchies learn from each other? The public look to the monarchy to represent continuity, stability and tradition, but also want it to be modern, to reflect modern values and be a focus for national identity. The whole institution is shot through with contradictions, myths and misunderstandings. This book should lead to a more realistic debate about our expectations of the monarchy, its role and its future. The contributors are leading experts from all over Europe: Rudy Andeweg, Ian Bradley, Paul Bovend'Eert, Axel Calissendorff, Frank Cranmer, Robert Hazell, Olivia Hepsworth, Luc Heuschling, Helle Krunke, Bob Morris, Roger Mortimore, Lennart Nilsson, Philip Murphy, Quentin Pironnet, Bart van Poelgeest, Frank Prochaska, Charles Powell, Jean Seaton, Eivind Smith.

Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family

Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780241487433
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
A magnificent tribute to the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II, and a celebration of the British royal family. This book is a stunning visual guide to the world's most famous royals, from the Queen's Norman predecessors to her great-grandchildren. It features events such as the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, and profiles on key people such as Princess Diana and Prince Harry. This new edition is revised to include the most recent events and milestones, such as the retirement of the Duke of Edinburgh, the birth of Charlotte, Louis, Archie, and other new family members, Harry and Meghan's wedding, and their decision to step back as senior members of the royal family. Including rare, restricted, and exclusive photos, this book examines the Queen's life in detail from her childhood to today, but also goes back through more than 1,000 years of history to tell the story of the House of Windsor and the entire succession of kings and queens of England and Scotland. With dazzling galleries of royal artefacts and photographic tours of sumptuous royal residences, this is the perfect book for fans of the Queen and royal family, fans of the Netflix series The Crown, or anyone interested in the history of the British monarchy.

... and What Do You Do?

... and What Do You Do? PDF Author: Norman Baker
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781785906213
Category : Great Britain
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
By turns irreverent and uncompromising a book that asks important questions about the future of the British royal family.

The Fall of the Russian Empire

The Fall of the Russian Empire PDF Author: Edmund Aloysius Walsh
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bolshevism
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description


The Last King of America

The Last King of America PDF Author: Andrew Roberts
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1984879278
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 1033

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Book Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of Churchill and Napoleon The last king of America, George III, has been ridiculed as a complete disaster who frittered away the colonies and went mad in his old age. The truth is much more nuanced and fascinating--and will completely change the way readers and historians view his reign and legacy. Most Americans dismiss George III as a buffoon--a heartless and terrible monarch with few, if any, redeeming qualities. The best-known modern interpretation of him is Jonathan Groff's preening, spitting, and pompous take in Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway masterpiece. But this deeply unflattering characterization is rooted in the prejudiced and brilliantly persuasive opinions of eighteenth-century revolutionaries like Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, who needed to make the king appear evil in order to achieve their own political aims. After combing through hundreds of thousands of pages of never-before-published correspondence, award-winning historian Andrew Roberts has uncovered the truth: George III was in fact a wise, humane, and even enlightened monarch who was beset by talented enemies, debilitating mental illness, incompetent ministers, and disastrous luck. In The Last King of America, Roberts paints a deft and nuanced portrait of the much-maligned monarch and outlines his accomplishments, which have been almost universally forgotten. Two hundred and forty-five years after the end of George III's American rule, it is time for Americans to look back on their last king with greater understanding: to see him as he was and to come to terms with the last time they were ruled by a monarch.

Karl Kautsky on Democracy and Republicanism

Karl Kautsky on Democracy and Republicanism PDF Author: Karl Kautsky
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 900439284X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
Karl Kautsky on Democracy and Republicanism contains the first English-language translations of important political works by Kautsky. Ben Lewis demonstrates how Kautsky’s programmatic conclusions were positively influenced by Marx and Engels – especially the lessons they drew from the Paris Commune.

Law and Power in the Making of the Roman Commonwealth

Law and Power in the Making of the Roman Commonwealth PDF Author: Luigi Capogrossi Colognesi
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316061922
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 403

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Book Description
With a broad chronological sweep, this book provides an historical account of Roman law and legal institutions which explains how they were created and modified in relation to political developments and changes in power relations. It underlines the constant tension between two central aspects of Roman politics: the aristocratic nature of the system of government, and the drive for increased popular participation in decision-making and the exercise of power. The traditional balance of power underwent a radical transformation under Augustus, with new processes of integration and social mobility brought into play. Professor Capogrossi Colognesi brings into sharp relief the deeply political nature of the role of Roman juridical science as an expression of aristocratic politics and discusses the imperial jurists' fundamental contribution to the production of an outline theory of sovereignty and legality which would constitute, together with Justinian's gathering of Roman legal knowledge, the most substantial legacy of Rome.

"We Are Now the True Spaniards"

Author: Jaime E. Rodriguez O.
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804784639
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 521

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Book Description
This book is a radical reinterpretation of the process that led to Mexican independence in 1821—one that emphasizes Mexico's continuity with Spanish political culture. During its final decades under Spanish rule, New Spain was the most populous, richest, and most developed part of the worldwide Spanish Monarchy, and most novohispanos (people of New Spain) believed that their religious, social, economic, and political ties to the Monarchy made union preferable to separation. Neither the American nor the French Revolution convinced the novohispanos to sever ties with the Spanish Monarchy; nor did the Hidalgo Revolt of September 1810 and subsequent insurgencies cause Mexican independence. It was Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1808 that led to the Hispanic Constitution of 1812. When the government in Spain rejected those new constituted arrangements, Mexico declared independence. The Mexican Constitution of 1824 affirms both the new state's independence and its continuance of Spanish political culture.

Reluctant Empire

Reluctant Empire PDF Author: John S. Galbraith
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description