Department of Political Science and InternationalRelations Program in Master Degree

THE CONTRASTS BETWEEN SAUDI ANDBRITISH POLITICAL SYSTEM

STUDY IN COMPARATIVE POLITICS BETWEEN ABSOLUTEMONARCHY IN SAUDI ARABIA AND CONSTITUTIONAL

MONARCHY IN BRITAIN OVER THE LAST DECADE .

Written by

ADEL SAADAN

Supervision by

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Assist. Prof. Dr. FİLİZ KATMAN

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Contents Acknowledgement Introduction The Constitution The Arms Of The States1-The Executive2-The Legislature3-The Judiciary

The Relations Between The Arms Of The State

Political Parties Elections And Campaigns Style Of Politics Conclusion

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Acknowledgement

I would like to give special thanks to Assist. Prof. Dr. FİLİZ KATMAN, professor in Istanbul Aydin University /Political Sciences and International Relations department, for her guidance and help. Manyideas and  examples are from Dr. Filiz’s classes and handouts.

The success and final outcome of this article required a lot of guidance and assistance from many people and I am extremely fortunate to have got this all along the completion of this article work. Whatever I have done is only due to such guidance and assistance and I would not forget to thank again Prof. Dr. FİLİZ KATMAN.

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IntroductionComparison and contrast of evident similarities and bright contrasts between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia andone of the European country the Kingdom of Britain ,both of the countries have similar environment, geographic shapes: mountains, seas, lakes and forests, but differentclimates. There also differences between the political

system, religion, nation, history, and culture.Monarchy, form of government in which sovereignty is vested in a single person whose right to rule is generally hereditary and who is empowered to remain in office for life. The power of this sovereign may vary from the absolute to constitutional strongly limited bycustom or constitution.

Well ,this article discusses the comparison between the absolute monarchy in Saudi Arabia and constitutional monarchy in Britain, to clarify the contrasts and similarities in the two system political ,in terms of theconstitutions ,the arms of the states : A-Executive B-legislature C-judicial , the relations between the branches of the states, political parties ,elections and

campaigns. and the style of politics .

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II.1THE CONSTITUTION The most fundamental difference between the Saudi

and British political systems is the constitutionThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a sovereign Arab IslamicState. Its constitution is Almighty God's Book, The Holy Qur'an, and the Sunna (Traditions of the Prophet Mohammad), that means they have no written a constitution by their own self1. The British constitution is unwritten or, uncodified ,this means that the UK does not have a single document called the constitution, but instead its constitutional provisionsare scattered over various acts of Parliament and otherresources.

Government in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia derives its authority from the Book of God and the Sunna of the Prophet (PBUH), which are the ultimate sources of reference for this Law and the other laws of the State.

1 Arab Political Systems: Baseline Information and Reforms – Saudi Arabia, http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/saudi_arabia_aps.doc (last access October 7, 2006).

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By contrast the UK constitution also has unwritten sources , most of the material which makes up the British constitution is written down in a number of different documents, including within statutes, court judgments, acts of parliament , treaties , EU law , common law , conventions , royal prerogative and works of authority2.

Besides the fact in the kingdom of Saudi , there is no authority can alter or change any material of its constitution ,because of the only reference of the constitution of Saudi is the Holy Qur'an, and the Sunna(Traditions) of the Prophet (PBUH). On the other hand in the UK that the current constitutional arrangements reflect the principle of parliamentary sovereignty ,this means that parliament can change the constitution as it wishes .

II.2 THE ARMS OF THE STATES 1-Executive:

The most obvious - and certainly the most visible - of the differences between the Saudi and British politicalsystems is that the Saudi is a absolute monarchy system, with the apex of power is the King . In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ,the government is headed by the King, who is governs and exercise all the powers ,the King is also the prime minister the chief of state, the head of government, and commander in chief of the military of Saudi Arabia3.

2 Amanda Briney. “Geography of the United Kingdom. ” About.com.eduction, April 26, 2011.

3 The official website of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington.“THE BASIC LAW OF GOVERNANCE: Government, Legal system And

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In Britain ,the monarch is a powerless symbolic figure head, and the country is governed by it legislature, although Britain has a parliamentary system and the Prime Minister, indeed the head of government, is supposed to simply be the executive of a ruling political party. Also the Prime Minister holding officeand power only so long as he or she commands a majorityof votes in the House of Commons.

In Saudi Arabia the King governs with the help of the Council of Ministers, also called the King's Cabinet. The Council of Ministers, is appointed by the King every four years, and includes many family members .There are 22 government ministries that are part of the Cabinet . Also the King appoints a Crown Prince to help him with his duties. The Crown Prince issecond in line to the throne.(previous reference 3) In Britain The Prime Minister is head of the UK government, he is ultimately responsible for all policyand decisions. He also appoints members of the government, the Prime minister appoints around 100 members of the Government and members of the Cabinet each appoint a couple of Special Advisers, so the totalnumber of political appointments is around 150 4.Moreover he is the principal government figure in the House of Commons. British Prime Minister usually headsa government with a majority of seats in the House of Commons and the ability to pass almost any legislationthat he wishes.

Judicial Structure. ”, http://www.saudiembassy.net/about/countryinformation/laws/The_Basic_Law_Of_Governance.aspx.

4 A SHORT GUIDE TO THE BRITISH POLITICAL SYSTEM. ” Roger Darlington's world website, 24 December (2013), http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/Britishpoliticalsystem.html.

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2-legislature: In Saudi, the King has power of legislative functions,

he is advised by a legislative body called the Majlis Al-Shura(Consultative Council) ,but the decisions ratified by the Consultative Council of the nation cannot have any effective without being ratified by theKing .By contrast in Britain The legislative branch is made up of a bicameral parliament consisting of the House ofLords and the House of Commons, the House of Commons is directly elected, but the House of Lords is largely appointed (making it unique in the democratic world).

In the Saudi, the Majlis al-Shura, (Consultative Council) is a legislative body that advises the King onissues that are important to Saudi Arabia .The Consultative Council currently consists of 150 members appointed by the King for a four-year renewable term. Based on their experience, members are assigned to committees. There are 12 committees that deal with human rights, education, culture, information, health and social affairs, services and public utilities, foreign affairs, security, administration, Islamic affairs, economy and industry, and finance. But here obviously the Council has no legislative authority andserves only in an advisory capacity5.On the other hand, in Britain the Prime Minister (executive) is the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons (legislature), and he cannot hold office unless he enjoys the confidence of at least a

5 Ami ,Isseroff. “A Brief History of Arabia and Modern Saudi Arabia. ”MidEastWeb,2003.

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majority of the House. The House of Lords has no real power. It may delay, but not defeat, the enactment of legislation adopted by the House of Commons.( Roger Darlington'-2013)

3-judicial: Saudi Arabia is an Islamic state, its judicial system

is based on Islamic law (Shari’ah) for both criminal and civil cases. At the top of the legal system is the King, who acts as the final court of appeal and as a source of pardon. By contrast, in Britain the Supreme Court is not appointed on a political basis, like all British courts, avoids making decisions which it regards as proper to politicians and parliament. English courts are not independent of parliament, as noEnglish court has power to declare an act of parliamentunconstitutional. Further, if parliament disapproves ofa judicial decision in a particular case, parliament may enact a law nullifying the decision, and make that nullification applicable to that case6.

The Saudi court system consists of three main parts, the largest is the Shari’ah Courts, which hear most cases in the Saudi legal system, the Shari’ah courts are organized into several categories: Courts of the First Instance (Summary and General Courts), Courts of Cassation and the Supreme Judicial Council Supplementing the Shari’ah courts is the Board of Grievances, which hears cases that involve the government, the third part of the Saudi court system consists of various committees within government

6 - “THE CONTRASTS BETWEEN THE AMERICAN AND BRITISH POLITICAL SYSTEMS. ”Roger Darlington's world website, 11 August (2013) .http://www.rogerdarlington.co.uk/USvsUK.html.

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ministries that address specific disputes, such as labor issues. While the UK's judicial branch includes the Supreme Court of the UK, the Senior Courts of England and Wales, Northern Ireland's Court of Judicature and Scotland's Court of Session and High Court of the Justiciary.

II.3 THE RELATIONS BETWWEN THE ARMES OF THE STATES In the UK, The executive - the Ministers who run the

country and propose new laws, the legislature - the elected body that passes new laws ,the judiciary - the judges and the courts who ensure that everyone obeys the laws. After analyzing the three government branchesin Britain, we can see clearly how the system of checksand balances works. The doctrine of separation of powers is not completely separate for fear of one branch having too much power. The three branches check and balance each other to make sure that none of the three branches has the most power. The Legislature writes the laws, The Executive branch executes the lawsand the Judiciary makes sure the laws are implanted.

In the Saudi Arabia ,it is entirely different from UK ,due to in Saudi Arabia the King is the head of the executive and legislature branch ,the King combines executive and legislative functions, and is the ultimate source of judicial power in the land. He is subject to Islamic law, consensus among royal family members, and the tradition of consultation. The judiciary is independent, but must apply the rules of Shari’a (rules based in Islam).

III.1 POLITIACL PARTIES

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Because Saudi Arabia based on absolute Monarchy system ,so there are no political parties. And Most nongovernmental organizations and associations are forbidden ,the King Fahd has said that there is "no place" for them ( political parties). Saudi Arabia would seem to be a perfect example of an authoritarian state.

The idea of political parties first took form in Britain and the Conservative Party claims to be the oldest political party in the world. Political parties began to form during the English civil wars of the 1640s and 1650s. First, there were Royalists and Parliamentarians; then Tories and Whigs. Whereas the Whigs wanted to curtail the power of the monarch, the Tories - today the Conservatives - were seen as the patriotic party. (Roger Darlington' 2013)Actually, in Britain in the last decade there are many political parties , but today there are three major political parties in the British system of politics : The Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties. These three work in both the House of Commons and Houseof Lords.In British politics, all political parties have much tighter rein on the policies promoted by candidates andthe voting by elected representatives. (In the House ofCommons, each week a 'whip' is issued which sets out how the Member of Parliament should vote on each major issue before the legislature that week).All the political parties in the UK hold annual conferences where they debate the policy positions to be adopted by the party, but these conferences do not choose the party leader (which is done through a separate and broader process varying from party to party).

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British political parties regularly change their symbols and very few electors have any idea what they are.

III.3 ELECTIONS AND CAMPAIGNSIn The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:

Elections, national, have never been held, because of there is no Parliament in Saudi Arabia ,they just havethe Council of Ministers, which is appointed by the King.

Local elections in 178 municipalities were first held in 2005, and only male citizens over 21 were allowed tovote, female were prohibited to take apart in the election in that time .In September 2011, shortly before the municipal elections, King Abdullah announcedthat in subsequent municipal elections, women would be allowed to run and to vote. The next municipal elections are scheduled for 2015.

In The United Kingdom:

Parliament of the United Kingdom is one of the oldest parliaments in the world, which was founded in the twelfth century ,it comprises three major components :House of Commons ,House of Lords and  the King is the third component of Parliament ( The Queen Elizabeth II)7.

House of Commons House of Commons consists of 650-seat .Elections are held every five years in all parts of Britain: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, all British citizens over 18 are entitled to participate in elections .

7 Nicola ,McEwen. “Power within the Executive. ”BBC NEWS,1 September, 2003,.

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Legislative elections in Britain is predetermined as is the case in the majority of systems. Prime Ministeris the one who decides in the end date of the election, also the prime minister is the one who asks the Queen (or King) to dissolve parliament and allow elections within a month at the latest. Electoral system are dealt with in the UK is a systembeing in one session and vote on a single candidate, the candidate who wins must to get the largest number of votes even if it did not exceed the percentage of votes fifty percent, that means the every party can win the election, even if it get less than 50 percent of votes in all regions of the country.The party that wins the largest number of MPs in Parliament forms the new government ,but if there is no any party enjoy the majority, there are two ways toresolve the dilemma, either the two parties allied in a unified bloc and form the coalition government ,or the new government that is allied, which does not enjoy a majority, with other parties when making any voting process.( Nicola, BBC NEWS,2003)

House of Lords At present, no member of the upper house is actually elected; most are appointed on the nomination of party leaders with a small number remaining from the originally much larger group of hereditary peers (with 574 life peers, 92 hereditary peers, and 26 bishops). The authorities of the House ofLords are limited , and do not go beyond the discussionand review some of the laws of the House of Commons. ( Nicola, BBC NEWS,2003)

The king or the Queen The Queen Elizabeth II is the ruling, since 1952 , but here The Queen's role is purely Protocols, she is powerless, and just symbolic figures.

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The Campaigns of the Election in the UK:

The British general election lasts around four weeks, parties and candidates in British elections cannot buybroadcasting time. British political leaders only agreed to televised debates for the first time in the general election of 2010. Even allowing for the difference in population, the televised debates between the British party leaders do not attract the same level of interest. There are statutory limitations on expenditure for all elections in the UK. No party conference speech in Britain would attract more than a few million. In the UK, blue identifies the Conservative Party, the more right-wing, and red identifies the Labour Party, the more left-wing. While British politicians are certainly notbeyond exaggeration or obfuscation, they are rarely guilty of the blatant truth-twisting that one sadly sees in other states such as US8. In the UK, turnout in General Elections used to be around 75% but more recently has fallen to around 60%.

8 DAPHNE HALIKIOPOULOU AND SOFIA VASILOPOULOU.“Towards a ‘Civic’ Narrative: British National Identity and the Transformation of the British National Party. ” The Political Quarterly, October–December (2010),Vol. 81, No. 4,.

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STYLE OF POLITICSIn Saudi Arabia:

Saudi Arabia is a monarchy governed under strict Islamic laws of the Wahhabi sect, which regulate public behavior, especially for women and foreigners. Women cannot drive cars and have numerous other restrictions imposed on them, and the presence of on-Muslim foreigners is tolerated but often raises resentment.The press is entirely controlled, and the largest press groups are actually owned by members of the royal family, the is no any press or journalist can criticizes the King or the government , that means freedom of press it might be zero of percentage. Alsoas I mentioned above , most nongovernmental organizations and associations are forbidden .The perspectives and aspirations of people in Saudi Arabia , the majority of them do not have any consideration or care about politics , they just looking for happiness , they want to have a modern car, nice house good education for them or for their children , a accordance to many scholars they argued that there arefew people in Saudi whom want to have freedom in theirthoughts or opinions , but still they have no courage and braveness to say that to the government .

Is there any change in the style of politics in Saudi

Arabia in last decade ?There is no Significant changing in the style of politicsin Saudi Arabia , but we have seen a little bit improvement like the first election local had held in 2011 , also in February 2009, King Abdullah appointed

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Norah Al-Fayez to be the first female cabinet-level official, a deputy minister for women's education. She had formerly had worked as an official in the Saudi Institute for Public Administration. In September 2011, King Abdullah announced that women would have the right to be appointed to the Consultative Council. And, in January 2013, the King appointed 30 women to serve four-year terms on the Council, following passing of a law stating that women should constitute at least 20% of the Council's membership ,and the decision of the Saudi king was warmly politically at the local and international but

still not enough9. So we can say that Saudi Arabia would seem to be a perfect example of an authoritarian state. And this was asserted by the first hypothesis of in thisarticle the study which provides: There has been no significant change in the style of politics system in

Saudi , in the last decade.

In Britain:The political system in the UK is limited monarchy anddemocratic parliament ,which provides the right of press ,trade, the freedom of word, the people can

criticize the government. In Britain ,the monarch is a powerless symbolic figurehead and the country is governed by it legislature:a parliament made up by the House of Commons and the House of Lords ,Although Britain has a parliamentary system and the Prime Minister, indeed the head of government, is supposed to simply be the executive of a ruling political party.

9 Jean, Francois. “Stirrings in Saudi Arabia. ”Journal of Democracy,13.4 (2002) 33-40 pg

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Britain in the late 20th century, from the creation of the Welfare State to multiculturalism. In Britain many people they just want to have a good job , nice house , modern car, like in Saudi Arabia , they do not care aboutpolitics if we compare with the people in other European

centuries, such as France. But, obviously UK has a lot of changes in last the last decade , in term of political system , which have the consideration of the citizens in Britain ,and providing to them fully equality , rights and freedom. And this is asserting the second hypothesis of the study which provides the British environment , political culture helped the style of political system to be a pragmatic

and flexible political system.

CONCLUSIONIn a conclusion of this article , there are clearly contrasts between the absolute monarchy and the constitutional monarchy generally. And in particular,

British and Saudi political systems.Both countries have no written constitution by their own countries ,and this is made them not clear in term of democratic processes .In British the monarch is powerless symbolic figure head, and the country is governed by its executive and legislature government ,and that is a huge contrast if we compare with Saudi ,because in the later the monarch(King) he is the powerful ,he is the head of

the its executive and legislature arms of the government .

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In Britain constructive relationships between the three arms of government, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary are essential to the effective maintenanceof the constitution and the rule of law. In recent years,the character of these relationships has changed significantly, both because of changes in governance and because of wider societal change, in contrast by Saudi Arabia the constructive relationships between the three arms of government are effective by the authorities of the monarch ,whom is the head of the executive, and legislature braches ,we can see a little bit independenceof the judicial arm, but also here the king can enter by his authority to stop the provisions of the legitimacy ofthe court that issued .Also Saudi in the recent years hasbeen changing but not that should to be, or it is nothing

when comparing with other countries.Hence ,in Britain as I said above environment, political culture helped the style of political system to change , to be a pragmatic and flexible political system, due to the changes in governance and because of wider societal change. But still the democracy in Britain limited, thereare some limitations in the political system. The Saudi political system is perfect example of an authoritarian state, which doesn't believe the right of other opinions,the right of the women , the right of mass media and the right of others religious group…ect. The King in Saudi regime sacred person, no one can criticizes him , or his behavior or acts during his ruling , whatever he do or did heis right , what he wants to do he can use the three arms of the of government, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary ,to implement his policies and decisions . Some people say we can say in improvement and changes in the style of politics in Saudi Arabia , it might be

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true ,but all these will be the as only point in a sea

owned by most states.

BIBLIOGRAPHY1- Arab Political Systems: Baseline Information and Reforms – Saudi Arabia, http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/saudi_arabia_aps.doc (last access October 7, 2006).

2- Amanda ,Briney. “Geography of the United Kingdom. ” About.com.eduction ,April 26, 2011.

3- The official website of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington.“THE BASIC LAW OF GOVERNANCE: Government, Legal system AndJudicial Structure. ”, http://www.saudiembassy.net/about/countryinformation/laws/The_Basic_Law_Of_Governance.aspx.

4- “A SHORT GUIDE TO THE BRITISH POLITICAL SYSTEM. ” Roger Darlington's world website, 24 December (2013), http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/Britishpoliticalsystem.html.

5- Ami ,Isseroff. “A Brief History of Arabia and Modern Saudi Arabia.”MidEastWeb,2003.

6-“THE CONTRASTS BETWEEN THE AMERICAN AND BRITISH POLITICAL SYSTEMS. ”Roger Darlington's world website, 11 August (2013) .http://www.rogerdarlington.co.uk/USvsUK.html

7- Nicola ,McEwen. “Power within the Executive. ”BBC NEWS,1 September, 2003,.

8-DAPHNE HALIKIOPOULOU AND SOFIA VASILOPOULOU.“Towards a ‘Civic’ Narrative: British National Identity and the Transformation of the British National Party. ” The Political Quarterly, October–December (2010),Vol. 81, No. 4,.

9- Jean, Francois Seznec. “Stirrings in Saudi Arabia. ”Journal of Democracy,13.4 (2002) 33-40 pg.

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