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From: franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.legal
Subject: Re: British Institutions of Government: Powers of the Sovereign?
Message-ID: <1178@mmintl.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 5-Mar-86 22:17:34 EST
Article-I.D.: mmintl.1178
Posted: Wed Mar  5 22:17:34 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 10-Mar-86 00:10:33 EST
References: <693@sftig.UUCP>
Reply-To: franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams)
Distribution: net
Organization: Multimate International, E. Hartford, CT
Lines: 32
Xref: watmath net.politics:13775 net.legal:3070
Summary: Not a *complete* figurehead


In article <693@sftig.UUCP> jmg@sftig.UUCP (J.McGhee) writes:
>	Tom, a couple of people have stated that the "sovereign" has no
>power or influence in the British government and is a complete figurehead.
>I know that the "sovereign" has access to classified information. In the U.S.
>there is no access to classified information unless the individual has an
>established "need to know".

I suspect I am one of those you are referring to as having stated that the
British monarch is a complete figurehead.  That isn't what I said, and
anyway it isn't true.

What I did say, and is true, is that the Queen has very little power, and
that Britain is essentially a democracy in spite of this.  (Not a pure
democracy, but there are no pure democracies.)

The theory of the British government is that all power is derived from the
sovereign.  Most of that power has been irrevocably delegated to the
Parliament, but the sovereign is still the head of state.

The "need to know" doctrine is based on the idea that no one is completely
reliable, and therefore the fewer people who have access to information,
the better.  The British sovereign constitutes a legally identifiable class
for whom this consideration really does not apply.  Furthermore, he or she
*is* the head of state.

In practice, the President of the United States has access to any
intelligence information he desires (and whose existence he is aware of,
of course -- but *that* problem applies to everybody).  He need simply
declare that he has a need to know, and no one can gainsay him.

Frank Adams                           ihnp4!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka
Multimate International    52 Oakland Ave North    E. Hartford, CT 06108