Mika+Singh+Research+paper

Name: Mika Singh Country: Britain Committee: High School: Date:

=Should the British monarchy be abolished? =

The British monarchy have been around for many of years, dating back to hundreds of years ago. Many things have changed during the past years, the power and responsibilities that were once allocated to the monarchy is not the same. These days’ people have different opinions to why Britain still has a monarch. Some people are for the queen and some people argue that she is not needed. It all comes down to perception.

The monarchy serves as a symbol for the British. They represent the pride that their country posses. Politically the queen is the Head of State, the head of the armed forces and the head of the Church of England. Most countries have two houses of government and a Head of State; the US has the House, the Senate and the President. The British Prime Minister controls the House of Commons (roughly equivalent to the House); the House of Lords (even more approximately equivalent to the Senate) is much weaker than the Commons; so he actually has much more direct authority than the President of the US, so it's important that there is some counterbalance. The British PM cannot actually take power as a dictator because technically the army belongs to the Queen and she has the authority to dissolve parliament. The Queen cannot seize power because it would cause some type of revoluti on. If the monarchy was abolished then the counterbalance that is somewhat displayed would be upset and the government structure would change, drastically. There would have to be a new head of state and the different branches would change.

The British people s ee the monarchy as a symbol of British unity, so it's fair to say that they respect the Crown. People also say that the monarchy is a part of British history and that removing them would be changing history. Other people argue that having them around is a waste of time and money. The family has their own fortune making them extremely wealthy and yet they still have services paid for them such as security. They are there for most of the ceremonial aspects of Britain and are seen as a symbol. In the 21st century citizens of Britain don't see why they would still need a monarchy. Since the queen doesn't have a direct law making role in parliament, the monarchy is in some way, just there.

Citizens of Britain that support the monarchy wouldn't be too pleased if all of a sudden the monarchy were abolished. There would be up rest between the citizens that are for and against the idea of having a monarchy. If the monarchs stay it doesn't do any damage to the British political structure, they're more there for history and symbolism. Many other countries in Europe have Kings and Queens so it's not only Britain that has a monarchy. The US has relations with the queen as well as the British PM, so the relationships between other countries with the monarch present are not different or in conflict. I would say that the British monarchy gives the British people something to identify to and continues history, something that has been going on for years. Their political aspect doesn't really have a distinguished role so with the monarchy still being present doesn't really harm Britain. The monarchy should be able to stay but they shouldn't be given so many honors as they are receiving right now. That way people would focus on other things than the royal family. They would still be present and be acknowledged but they shouldn't be treated better than other people simply because they're royalty. The PM is the main job that deserves some honor.

The idea of abolishing the monarchy could bring conflict with people not accepting it or being for it. Taking away a part of history of a country could lead to unrest. At the same time the money that is being given to the monarchs could be used for a different cause that would directly benefit the people of Britain. The parliament can work without the queen being head of state, there could be a new role opened up to someone else that is elected by the people. It doesn't affect the people politically but social and history wise could bring changes.