The English ConstitutionIndependently Published, 2020 M02 16 - 256 páginas * This edition contains: 1) Walter Bagehot's The English Constitution (the updated 1872 version) and 2) The Text of the Magna Carta (1215) 1) The English Constitution - Bagehot's book explores the nature of the constitution, Parliament and the monarchy. It also compares British and American systems of government. The book has been translated into several languages since its first publication in 1865. Bagehot's comments are key to understanding the principles of constitutional monarchy. He defines the rights and role of a monarch as: i) the right to be consulted; ii) the right to encourage; and iii) the right to warn. He divides the constitution into two components: the "dignified" (which is symbolic) and the "efficient" (the system of work) In regard to the American system of government, Bagehot is critical of the fixed nature of the presidential terms and the presidential election process. He believed that the reason America succeeded as a free country was simply because the American people had a "genius for politics".2) The Magna Carta (1215) - The Magna Carta is the great charter agreed by King John of England at Runnymede in 1215. It was drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury to encourage peace between the King and rebel barons. It offered the protection of church rights and the barons from illegal imprisonment, swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown.About The Author - William Bagehot (1826-1877) was born in Somerset, England. He was a journalist and businessman who wrote about government, economics and literature. Along with Richard Holt Hutton, he founded the National Review and was editor-in-chief of The Economist. Bagehot wrote The English Constitution in 1867, during the period when Parliament enacted the Reform Act of 1867. In hist book Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market (1873) Bagehot explored finance and banking. |