Essay: Structure of rule in the United Kingdom

At present Queen Elizabeth II is Head of State in the United Kingdom.
Monarchy is the oldest form of government in the United Kingdom. In a monarchy, a king (male) or queen (female) is Head of State. They are also referred to as the Monarch, The Sovereign and Her or His Majesty.
Today, the British monarchy is known as a constitutional monarchy. This means that whoever is on the throne does not ‘rule’ the country, but fulfils important ceremonial and formal roles with respect to Government.
Although there is no political or executive (in charge) role, he or she continues to play an important part in the life of the nation. As Head of State, The Monarch undertakes constitutional and representational duties. These have developed over a thousand years of history. There are inward duties, with The Queen playing a part in State functions in Britain. Parliament must be opened, Orders in Council have to be approved, Acts of Parliament must be signed, and meetings with the Prime Minister must be held. There are also outward duties of State, when The Queen represents Britain to the rest of the world. For example, The Queen receives foreign ambassadors and high commissioners, entertains visiting Heads of State, and makes State visits overseas to other countries, in support of diplomatic and economic relations.
In addition to these State duties, The Monarch has a less formal role as ‘Head of Nation’. The Sovereign acts as a focus for national identity, unity and pride; gives a sense of stability and continuity; officially recognises success and excellence; and supports the ideal of voluntary service. In all these roles The Sovereign is supported by members of their immediate family known as the Royal Family.
The Queen’s role includes, but is not limited to her active duties with in the Government, the Church, the Armed Forces, Honours, Crown Dependencies, the Commonwealth, and the Monarchy itself. The embodiment of the state within the Queens person provides the nation with a figurehead that is not only dedicated in her duties, but has carried out her responsibilities to the nation without a blemish since 1952.
Executive
The executive branch can be the source of certain types of law, because they are able to make executive decrees or executive orders, and executive bureaucracies can be the source of regulations. So, the executive branch of government consists of leaders of offices, with the top leadership roles including the ‘Head of State’ (the Queen in the UK, a ceremonial position), the ‘Head of Government’ (the Prime Minister in the UK, and the de facto leader), in addition to a defence minister, an interior minister (the Home Secretary in the UK), a foreign minister, a finance minister (the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the UK) and a justice minister.
Legislation
Parliament is the British legislative body. It is made up of two houses – the House of Lords and the House of Commons. It performs four primary duties: passing laws, authorizing taxes and government budgets, scrutinizing and investigating government administration, and debating current issues.
The House of Commons, Parliament’s lower house, consists of about 650 Members of Parliament (MPs), who are elected by British citizens. These MPs make laws, control the government’s finances, and keep a close eye on government administration. The House of Lords, Parliament’s upper house, consists of over 700 Lords. Some are bishops and archbishops; others are hereditary peers, whose seats have passed down through the generations; and still others are peers appointed by the monarch for their specialized knowledge in areas useful to the government. The House of Lords participates in the lawmaking process, scrutinizes government administration, and independently investigates matters of public interest.
Head of government
The Prime Minister is an MP ( Member of Parliament) and head of the government. The leader of the party that wins the most seats in a general election is appointed Prime Minister by the Queen. The current Prime Minister is Rt Hon (The Right Honourable) Theresa May MP, leader of the Conservative Party.
The Prime Minister is officially responsible for choosing the other members of the government.
The Prime Minister used to be able to set the date for the next General Election. Since the passing of the Fixed Term Parliament Act 2011 this is no longer the case.
Cabinet of government
The Cabinet is a formal body made up of the most senior government ministers chosen by the prime minister. Most members are heads of government departments with the title ‘Secretary of State’.
Formal members of the Cabinet are drawn exclusively from the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
eSwatini [Absolute Monarchy]
Swaziland also known as eSwatini now, is an absolute monarchy, and King Mswati III (The current king) has ultimate authority over the cabinet, legislature, and judiciary. There is a prime minister and a partially elected parliament, but political power remained largely with the king and his traditional advisors, the most influential of whom remained the queen mother. The Ngwenyama (lion) is a hereditary leader, rules the country, with the assistance of a council of ministers and a national legislature. The Ndlovukati (The mother of the king) is in charge of national rituals, and acts as regent if her counterpart Ngwenyama dies and the heir has not performed royal adulthood rituals or is indisposed. If the king’s mother is no longer living, one of the king’s wives may act as Ndlovukati.
The monarch’s power is delegated through a dualistic system: modern and, statutory bodies, like the cabinet, and less formal traditional government structures. At present, parliament consists of an 82-seat House of Assembly (55 members are elected through popular vote; the Attorney General as an ex-officio member; 10 are appointed by the king and four women elected from each one of the administrative regions) and 30-seat Senate (10 members are appointed by the House of Assembly, and 20 are appointed by the king, whom at least the half must be women). The king must approve legislation passed by parliament before it becomes law. The prime minister, who is head of government is appointed by the king from among the members of the House on recommendations of the King’s Advisory Council and the cabinet, which is recommended by the prime minister and approved by the king, exercises executive authority.
Executive
The primary function of the Executive arm of government is to execute the decisions of the judiciary, to implement the laws made by the Legislature and see to the overall administration of the country. Furthermore, it is the Executive’s role to defend the Constitution of the country. The Executive authority of Swaziland vests in the King as the Head of State. The King may exercise the executive authority either directly or through the Cabinet or a Minister. In His capacity as the Head of State the King has authority to sign and assent to Bills, summon and dissolve Parliament, receive foreign envoys, reprieve or commute sentences, declare State of emergency, confer honors, establish any commission or vusela and order a referendum.
The Executive arm consists of the Cabinet and civil servants. The Cabinet is made up of the The Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and 18 Ministers. They are responsible for policy making, administration and executing the functions of government. The Prime Minister is the Chairman of the Cabinet and the leader of Government in business. He is appointed by the King with the recommendation of the Kings Advisory Council (Liqoqo) from the House of Assembly. The King appoints Ministers form both chambers of Parliament and on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. At least half of the Ministers are appointed among the elected members of the House.
Legislation
The main function of the Legislature is to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of Swaziland. The power of the King and Parliament to make laws is exercised through bills.  A bill may be introduced into either chamber for debate or passage into law except for a money bill, which must only be introduced in the House of Assembly before it proceeds to the Senate. The Parliament of Swaziland is a bicameral chamber consisting of the Senate and the House of Assembly.  Section 94 (1) of the Constitution states that the Senate shall consist of not more than thirty one members. Currently, the Senate consist thirty (30) members. Ten (10) Senators, at least half of whom must be female, are elected by members of the House of Assembly so as to represent a cross-section of Swazi society. Twenty (20) Senators, at least eight of whom must be female are appointed by the King acting in His discretion after consultation with such bodies as He may deem appropriate.
In terms of section 95 (1) of the Constitution the House of Assembly shall consist of a maximum of seventy six members. The House currently consists of sixty-six members, fifty-five of whom were elected from tinkhundla areas serving as constituencies and ten members were nominated by the King, as provided for by the Constitution. The sixty-sixth member is the Speaker of the House who was elected from outside the House as sanctioned by section 102 of the Constitution.
Head of government
The head of government is the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the King after the election of a new parliament. The prime minister is a member of parliament and serves a five-year term. The prime minister cannot serve more than two consecutive terms. The current prime minister is Sibusiso Dlamini, who was appointed for a third term, by the king, on 17 September 2013. As a head of government, he chairs the cabinet meetings.
Cabinet government
The cabinet of the Swaziland government is appointed by the king on advice from the prime minister. The members of the cabinet must be members of either Houses of parliament. The members of the cabinet are known as ministers, and they head government departments called ministries. They head their respective portfolios until the end of the parliament’s term, or unless there is a cabinet reshuffle, dismissal, or death.