Power and Rule Flashcards
What is the Royal prerogative?
The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy, as belonging to the sovereign and which have become widely vested in the government
Why did Charles come into conflict with parliament?
He was not calling parliament and was raising taxes without their help. He was also suspected of having Catholic sympathies and was acting tyrannically.
Who was the most powerful person in a county?
The Lord Lieutenant
What did a coroner do?
Hold inquests into deaths
What was the role of a JP?
To keep the peace and take part in quarter sessions
What was the typical demographic of the people who worked in the government?
They were often gentry. Most government work was part-time, unpaid and voluntary.
What % of men would be involved in govt each year and over a lifetime
5%, 50%
When was the act of union and what did it do?
1707, created a parliamentary union between England and Scotland but kept their legal systems separate.
What was the definition of a good king?
A king who took advice from noblemen and met with parliament
Collinson quote: demonstrating power of local government
“Locality habitually starved the centre of resources and had the capacity to bring national governments to their knees”
Quote - how Smith desrcribed the queen and the state
The “life, head and the authority of all things to be done in the realm of England”. “A society of free men collected together and united by a common accord”
What was govt like beyond whitehall?
Part time an amateur
What % of men had the vote by 1715
20%
Goldie quote, on the democracy of England
“England was far more democratic between 1688 and 1715 then immediately after 1832”
Number of parish officers at one time 17th century
50,000
Regional variation in officeholding
London, 1/10 in any one year
Wealthy ward would be 1/3
What was houserow?
A system of selection for low levels of local govt. Houses would alternate taking up different positions.
When was the poor relief act introduced?
1601
Example of those in the electorate
Not a narrow, elite electorate at this time, there were cobblers, fishmongers, bricklayers and soapboilers.
Specification of whether women could vote in Chelsea 1735
They could not, even taxpaying women, hints that they may have been able to before
Why may local policy have been more important than national policy? Goldie
Were a lot of distinctions of different levels of govt. There were boroughs, parishes, towns, counties, wards, ridings, stokes. Would have taken a long time to get any national policy across.
Was illiteracy a barrier?
It was in some forms but not in others. Many police constables were illiterate with over half being illiterate in the mid 17th century.
Quote, Goldie, office holding
Office was coextensive with being a human, it was part of your duty and responsibility for being a part of society.
Example of a woman holding office
1712 Elizabeth Eyre at Woodland in Derbyshire was headborough and overseer.
How many people attended parish meetings at the end of the 18th century
800,000 most were not enfranchised
When was an English monarch most powerful?
When they acted in collaboration with parliament and the law
The effectiveness of the Scottish polity
Generally successful in its own right despite not emulating England, generally undersold by English historians. Huge importance of local government
How had the British government changed between the beginning of the 17th and 18th centuries?
Parliament had become much more powerful leading to a new era of stability
Why had the concept of the royal prerogative broken down during the 17th century?
King’s like Charles the 1st had brought about the idea of a despotic and tyrannical King and events of the 1640s and 50s made people associate absolute monarchy with tyranny
What was the most important change which limited the monarchs power?
The act that made the monarch have to be in communion with the church of England, not the other way round. Took the controls of religion away from the personal faith of the monarch.
