Government and Administration of the United States | Page 3

nominally elective, as in
England, kingship is practically hereditary, the regular line of descent
being departed from only upon rare occasions.
The amount of power actually exercised, the responsibility borne by the
sovereign varies widely in different countries, and upon the basis of
these differences monarchial forms of government are classified under
the two heads, Absolute and Limited Monarchies.
#An Absolute Monarchy.#--An absolute monarchy is one in which the
sovereign or ruler is possessed of supreme power and authority, and
controls absolutely, without limitation or interference, all the powers of
government. His word is law and requires not the sanction of the
people. His commands are absolute and require not the formality of
judicial procedure, and are not necessarily in conformity with existing
laws. Implicit obedience to his commands, however arbitrary, may be
demanded, and there is no appeal. These are, theoretically, the powers
of the absolute monarch. Practically, however, he is constrained to keep
within fair bounds of justice and good policy, lest his subjects be
goaded to rebellion and revolution. The absolute form of monarchy
exists to-day in the empires of Russia and Turkey.
#A Limited Monarchy.#--A limited monarchy is one in which the ruler,
though at the head of the government, is not absolute, but is limited in
his powers by the action of a body of men, selected by the people, who
make the laws by which the nation is to be governed. The respective
rights and powers of the sovereign and of the law-making body, are
determined by a collection of rules, written or unwritten, collectively
known as the constitution. The constitution contains the fundamental
law of the land. All acts of the government to be valid, must be
constitutional, that is to say, in conformity with the rules laid down in
the constitution. For this reason limited monarchies are also known by
the name of Constitutional Monarchies.
England is the most conspicuous example of a limited or constitutional
monarchy. In consideration of our former connection with her, and the

extent to which we have derived our ideas of government from her
political institutions, it will be of great assistance to us if we stop for a
moment to consider her government, before proceeding to a study of
our own.
The sovereign of England is termed King or Queen. Originally
possessed of almost absolute power, the English ruler, at the present
day possesses very little actual power and influence, much less in fact
than the people of the United States have entrusted to their President.
The constitutional history of England is largely the narrative of the
successive steps by which the people have wrested from royal hands
and taken under their own control, the powers of government.
The rights of the English people in the participation of their own
government are not contained in the written document, such as we
possess in our constitution, but rest upon established custom and
precedent, and various charters wrested from their kings.
The English Parliament, or, to speak more exactly, the lower branch of
the Parliament, called the House of Commons, rules the English people.
The Parliament or law-making branch of the English government, is
divided into two houses, the House of Lords, and the House of
Commons. The House of Lords is, as its name denotes, composed
mainly of members of the noble families of England, who owe their
seat in that body to the chance of birth. Theoretically possessed of
powers of legislation equal to those exercised by the lower and more
numerous branch (the Commons), the Lords have in reality but a small
voice in the control of public affairs. The House of Commons is
composed of members elected by the people. In this body reside almost
all the powers of government. Its acts require the assent of the House of
Lords and of the King, but this assent is almost wholly formal. The
sphere of legislation allowed the English Parliament is unlimited,
differing in this respect fundamentally from our Congress, which is
limited in its legislative field by the Constitution. From the English
Parliament is selected the "Cabinet" consisting of the principal
executive officials, who guide the House in its legislation, and at the
same time conduct the executive affairs of the nation. These ministers,

as they are called, are appointed by the king from the party in the
majority in the House of Commons. They are responsible to that body
for all their actions, and retain their offices only so long as they retain
the confidence and good will of the Commons.
#An Aristocracy.#--An aristocracy is a government in the hands of a
select few, called the aristocracy, who transmit this authority to their
children. There are to-day no aristocratic governments proper, though
many nations exhibit aristocratic tendencies. In nearly all of the
European countries, one