当代欧洲皇室巡礼

甘肃的Victor问：很多欧洲国家好像都有国王或女王，可同时还有议会和大选，而且这些君主平时很少露面。那么，皇室成员在国家中到底是个什么地位，或者说有什么实际作用呢？还有一个问题，君主制就是吗？废除了不行么？

Tom：这个问题有点儿复杂，不过我首先要在这里说明一点，君主立体和君主政体是有区别的。前者是大多数欧洲君主制国家所采用的形式，而后者则的确与有相似之处。在下文中，我会主要以英国为例，讲讲这方面的情况，因为君主立宪制国家在制度上都是大同小异的。

Many European countries remain monarchies today, including the UK and the Commonwealth, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Monaco. The Pope is also technically a monarch as he is the sovereign of the Holy See - however, with subjects numbering fewer than a thousand, this is not a huge deal. The larger countries are all constitutional, rather than absolute, monarchies.

Today, constitutional monarchy is almost always combined with representative democracy, and represents theories of sovereignty which place sovereignty in the hands of the people, and those that see a role for tradition in the theory of government. Though the king or queen may be regarded as the head of state, it is the Prime Minister, whose power derives directly or indirectly from elections, who actually governs the country.

In most constitutional monarchies today, the monarchy exists only at the allowance of the elected parliament. In many cases, a simple vote in parliament would be sufficient to abolish the monarchy and replace it with some form of republic. ①With the exception of post-war Italy, no modern, democratic constitutional monarchy has voted to do so. Most have ended as a result of complications following the aftermath of war or invasion (such as Austria or Germany) or because of a violent revolution (such as in Russia or Greece).

Heads of state in countries with either a partly unwritten constitution (such as the United Kingdom) or a wholly written constitution (such as Australia) generally have "reserve powers". The head of state can be a monarch or the monarch's representative.

Typically these powers are:

＊to appoint a Prime Minister;

＊to dismiss a Prime Minister;

＊to refuse to dissolve Parliament;

＊to force a dissolution of Parliament;

＊to refuse or delay the "Royal Assent" to legislation. To withhold the Royal Assent amounts to vetoing a law. To reserve the Royal Assent means to delay taking a decision for an undetermined period of time.

＊Royal Prerogative

There are usually strict constitutional conventions concerning when these powers may be used, and these conventions are enforced by public pressure. Using these powers in contravention of tradition would generally provoke a political crisis.

许多欧洲国家，包括英国及其联邦成员国、丹麦、西班牙、瑞典、挪威、荷兰、比利时、卢森堡、列支敦士登和摩纳哥在内，如今仍旧保持着君主政体。从严格意义上来讲，教皇也是君主，因为他是“圣座”（注：即梵蒂冈的正式名称）元首――然而，由于子民数量不足1000，其意义并不是很大。而较大的国家，都是君主立体，而非君主专制政体。

君主立体如今几乎始终是与代议制民主政体结合在一起的，既代表了将交予人民的理论，也代表了那些认为要在政府论中体现传统的理论。虽然国王或女王可能会被当作国家元首，但实际上统治国家的却是权力直接或间接来源于大选的首相。

如今，在大多数君主立体的国家里，君主政体只有经过由选举产生的议会的同意才能存在下去。在很多情况下，议会只需做一次表决就足以废除君主政体，代之以某种共和制。除了二战后的意大利，当代没有一个民主的君主立体国家对此进行过表决。大多数君主政体的终结，源于战后或是被侵略后所产生的复杂后果（如奥地利和德国），或者是由于暴力革命所致（如俄罗斯和希腊）。

在拥有部分不成文宪法的国家（如英国）或是拥有完全成文宪法的国家（如澳大利亚），国家元首通常都具有“专属权力”。国家元首可以是君主，也可以是君主的代表。

通常这些权力包括：

＊任命一位首相；

＊免职一位首相；

＊拒绝解散议会；

＊强制解散议会；

＊拒绝或推迟对立法“皇室训令”。拒绝给予“皇室训令”就相当于否决一项法令。延迟“皇室训令”则意味着无限期推迟做出决定。

＊皇家特权

关于何时可以使用这些权力通常都有严格的宪法规定，而且这些规定是在公众压力之下强制执行的。违背传统来使用这些权力一般都会引发一场政治危机。

Royal Prerogative

In the United Kingdom, the Royal Prerogative - the powers solely reserved for the King or Queen - was historically one of the central features of the realm's governance. Today, most prerogative powers are exercised by ministers, such as the powers to "regulate the Civil Service, issue passports and grant honours, all without any need for approval from Parliament". Some prerogative powers are exercised nominally by the monarch, but on the advice of Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom, who instruct the monarch when to use them. Some key areas of British system of government are still carried out by means of the Royal Prerogative, but its usage has been diminishing.

Among the powers theoretically possessed by the monarch in the United Kingdom under the Royal Prerogative are:

＊The appointment and dismissal of ministers;

＊The dissolution of parliament and the calling of elections;

＊Clemency and pardon;

＊The awarding of honours;

＊The declaration of war;

＊The declaration of an emergency;

＊The minting of coins;

＊The issuing and revoking of passports;

＊The expulsion of a foreign national from the United Kingdom;

＊The creation of new universities;

＊The appointment of bishops and archbishops in the Church of England;

＊The printing of the authorised Church of England version of the Bible;

＊The publication of all statutes, legislative instruments and so on.

The prerogative also traditionally included duties, not just rights. The foremost of these were the defence of the realm and the keeping of the peace.

In the United Kingdom, The Queen has numerous theoretical "personal prerogatives". ②In practice, however, there are no circumstances in modern British government where these could be exercised; few have been exercised in the last century. Her Majesty's personal prerogatives are:

1. The appointment of a prime minister. This was last done in 1974 when Parliament was deadlocked and The Queen appointed Harold Wilson as prime minister;

2. The refusal to dissolve Parliament when requested by the Prime Minister. This was last reputedly done in 1910 (but George V later changed his mind);

3. The dismissal of a Prime Minister and his Government. This was last done in Britain in 1834 by King William IV;

4. The refusal of the Royal Assent, last exercised in 1708 by Queen Anne.

The Queen's personal prerogatives are quite distinct from those of her Governors-General. In 1975, the Australian Governor-General John Kerr dismissed the Government, causing a massive outcry still felt today in the republican movement. (The Queen's Private Secretary later admitted the Queen thought he had acted "prematurely").

皇家特权

在英国，“皇家特权”（国王或女王专属的权力）在历史上是王国统治的重要特征之一。如今，大多数的“皇家特权”都是由大臣们来执行的，如“管理行政事务、颁发护照和颁授荣誉，所有这些无需议会批准”。虽然有一些“皇家特权”名义上由君主来执行，但要在首相和内阁的建议之下才能执行，他们会告诉君主何时使用这些权力。在英国政府体系中，某些核心区域仍旧要用到“皇家特权”，不过其作用已经逐渐弱化。

在“皇室特权”中，理论上属于英国君主的权力有：

任免大臣；

＊解散议会和召集大选；

＊减免罪行；

＊颁授荣誉；

＊宣布战争；

＊宣布紧急状态；

＊铸造钱币；

＊颁发和吊销护照；

＊将外国居民逐出英国；

＊建立新大学；

＊任命英格兰教会的主教和大主教；

＊印刷《圣经》的英格兰教会官方版本；

＊颁布所有法令、法律文书等等。

传统上，这类特权不仅包含权力，还包括责任。这里面最重要的就是保卫王国和维持和平。

在英国，女王拥有众多理论上的“个人特权”。然而，实际上，在当代英国政府里，并没有可以使用这些特权的地方；而在上个世纪也鲜有使用。女王陛下的个人特权有：

1.任命一位首相。上一次使用这一权力是在1974年，当时议会出现了僵局，女王任命哈罗德・威尔逊为首相；

2.拒绝首相提出解散议会的请求。据说，上一次使用这一权力是在1910年（不过乔治五世后来改变了他的主意）；

3.免职首相并解散其政府。上一次在英国使用这一权力是在1834年，是由威廉四世国王行使的。

4.拒绝给予“皇室训令”，上一次是在1708年由安妮女王行使的。

女王的个人特权与其总督的特权迥然不同。1975年，澳大利亚总督约翰・克尔解散了政府，引发了一场至今仍在共和运动中产生影响的大规模公开抗议。（女王的私人秘书后来承认，女王曾认为他的行动采取得“过早”）。

monarchy /`m4n9ki/ n.君主政体；君主制

sovereign /`s4vrin/ n.君主

Holy See /`h9uli s1/ n.(宗圣)圣座；宗座

subject /`s7b_ikt/ n.国民

Prime Minister /praim `minist9/ 首相

abolish /9`b4liH/ vt.废止；废除

aftermath /`3ft9m2F/ n.结果

unwritten constitution 不成文宪法

written constitution 成文宪法

dissolve /di`z4lv/ v.解散

amount /9`maunt/ vi.相当于

veto /`v1t9u/ vt.否决

Royal Prerogative /`r4i9l pri`r4G9tiv/ 皇家特权

realm /relm/ n.王国

nominally /`n4min9li/ adv.名义上地

cabinet /`k2binit/ n.内阁

clemency /`klem9nsi/ n.宽厚(行为)

pardon /`p3dn/ n. 赦免

revoke /ri`v9uk/ vt.废除

expulsion /iks`p7lH9n/ n.逐出

bishop /`biH9p/ n.主教

archbishop /`3tH`biH9p/ n.大教主

statute /`st2t(t/ n.法令

foremost /`f5m9ust/ adj.最重要的

deadlock /`dedl4k/ vt.使陷入僵局

reputedly /ri`p(tidli/ adv.据说

outcry /`autkrai/ n.公开抗议

① with the exception of 除……以外

② in practice 实际上