The Lacrista Empire

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Essay #1- Constitutional Monarchies (631 words)

There is an abundant amount of constitutional monarchy governments around the world. But what exactly is a constitutional monarchy? It is a system of government where there is a monarch ruling, but the monarch’s powers are restricted to those given under the constitution and laws of the nation. Without a constitution to keep it in check, a monarchy could easily transform into a tyranny. Can you imagine leaving it all up to chance in your country to see who the next ruler became? It could be a greedy king, an evil king, a king who doesn’t have common sense or one that just isn’t interested in ruling over a country. One who’d rather be a scientist, or something. Your beloved country would start spiraling down into chaos. But having a constitution reign in a king’s powers can help a government be balanced and run smoothly. Citizens will have more rights and the king will be equal. Some good examples of this are some countries in the world today.
Australia is a constitutional monarchy. Their head of state is the English Queen Elizabeth II. She is represented in Australia by the
Governor-General. : “A Governor-General appointed by the Queen shall be Her Majesty's representative in the Commonwealth, and shall have and may exercise in the Commonwealth during the Queen's pleasure, but subject to this Constitution, such powers and functions of the Queen as Her Majesty may be pleased to assign to him.” (Quote from source 2). Today, the Governor-General has many responsibilities given to him by the constitution. Some include: “Being Queen’s representative, Appoints sitting times for Parliament, May accept resignations of Senators and advise State Governors of such vacancies, May dissolve the House of Representatives, With the Executive Council, may issue writs for House of Representatives elections, Can accept the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives,”, (quote from source 3). Australia runs smoothly with a constitutional monarchy, being one of the world’s developed countries.
Japan is also a constitutional monarchy. In Japan, the power held by the emperor has changed throughout the country's history. As early as the 17th century, Japan was ruled by the shoguns; military rulers who passed their power down family lines. The emperor was returned to power in the 19th century following a political uproar known as the Meiji Restoration. However, the real power rested with powerful families called the daimyo. Under the current constitution, the emperor is a "symbol of state" but holds very little power. (source 4) Japan, having this system of government, is one of the most advanced countries in the world.
Thailand is yet another constitutional monarchy. Even though their king is just a figure head, Thais regard their king,
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, as a true royal symbol, a source of pride for the country. King Bhumibol Adulyadej holds the title of the world's longest reigning monarch, having held the throne since 1946.
This quote clearly explains the difference between a
regular monarchy and a constitutional monarchy:
“Throughout most of history, governments - usually monarchies headed by kings, emperors, pharaohs and other major or minor tyrants - actually owned everything under their rule, including, believe it or not, the people. In those regimes the population was considered to be subjects, not citizens. That means that the people were treated as the underlings, subjected to the will of the ruler.”
---- Tibor Machan, The Orange Grove, The Orange County Register, Apr 15, 1999.
No wonder there are almost no more existing absolute monarchies in the world; the people got smart and wanted more freedoms over their governments. A constitutional monarchy offers these freedoms while still keeping your traditional monarch. The Lacrista Empire will rule with a fair queen and constitution, and the Lacrista nation will be citizens, not subjects.
Sources:

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