Why is Britain not a republic?
363526
Because we have a monarch as our head of state
742001
Very, very few people in Britain seem to have a basic understanding of the EU, hence this widespread knee-jerk reactionism against the EU, and the tendency to blame the EU for anything and everything. Like most things, much of the responsibility for this lies squarely with the right-wing tabloids.
1031884
Its just to attract votes from nationalistic people - a british bill of rights.  obviously its rubbish - we have to be signed up to the human rights bill to be a member of europe so any conflict would be immediately overridden.  a bad idea anyway - it would just lead to arguments over interpretation and be inflexible.
1161656
It is Britain\n\nThere is no written constitution or comprehensive Bill of Rights; Britain's constitution is to be found partly in conventions and customs and partly in statute. The Act known as the Bill of Rights 1689 deals with the exercise of the royal prerogative and succession to the Crown.\nThe British legal system provides some remedies to deal with human rights abuses. For instance, the remedy of 'habeas corpus' secures the individual's right to freedom from any unlawful or arbitrary detention.\nParliament, however, has power to enact any law and change any previous law.\nThere is no fundamental distinction between 'public law' and 'private law'. Any person can take proceedings against the Government or a local government authority to protect his or her legal rights and to obtain a remedy for any injury suffered.\nBritain has not generally codified its law and courts adopt a relatively strict and literal approach to the interpretation of statutes. The ratification of a treaty or international convention does not make it automatically part of the domestic law. Where necessary, the Government amends domestic law to bring it in line with the convention. Because of Britain's membership of the European Community, Community law is part of British law and takes precedence in the event of conflict between the two.
514420
At the moment it is a democracy/constitutional monarchy, where the queen is the head of state but does not wield any power.\n\nPreviously Britain has been ruled by an absolute monarchy within a feudal system as well as having Oliver Cromwell, who, I guess, would be described as a president at a time when representational democracy did not really happen (1641?)
358508
vote. What a pointless waste of time, get rid of this Head Of State rubbish, you need one democratically elected leader and that's that.  The Yanks do it, and it seems to work for them.  I guess you can tell I'm a Brit who wants a republic, but I wouldn't replace the queen with a president, just keep the role of PM
23989
England is a country and is part of the "United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland".
717169
Maybe in some respects , but i personally dis-agree !\nThe British are out-casts in the European Union, No Euro , still British passports .....\n\nHigh time they came out of Uncle Sam's shadows AND grew up on their own !\nElse ... god save the queen . . . .
894586
The United Kingdom does not have a President.  It is a parliamentary democracy.  The head of government is Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II.
995536
USA is not a democracy. It is a republic.
761816
As an American I have to add that I believe it is better for the American people that the British government  to be more leery in their support of American government.  When your government doesn't openly question my government, American and British citizens both lose.\n\nLet's face it, we have fought together in many battles, we have pledge our lives to protect each other...why can't we disagree on some issues?  Wouldn't disagreement on some issues be more healthy?
723149
The UK does not have a written consitution like the USA does.\n\nOur constitution is based on three things; conventions, statutes and historical writings.\n\nSearching for 'The British/UK constitution' or any low level British politics website should give you lots more information.
1063693
The United Kingdom is a country that consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In fact, the official name of the country is "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."\n\nGreat Britain is the name of the island northwest of France and east of Ireland that consists of three somewhat autonomous regions: England, Wales and Scotland.\n\nTherefore, England is part of Great Britain, which is part of the United Kingdom. The U.K. includes England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are not countries but the United Kingdom is. The remaining portion of the island of Ireland (that which is not the U.K.'s Northern Ireland) is an independent country called the Republic of Ireland (Eire).
296697
A democracy elects its government by popular vote.  A republic does not have a monarchy.\n\nUSA and India are both democracies and republics.  UK and Thailand are both democracies but not republics (as they both have monarchies).\n\nBurma (which calls itself Myanmar now) is a republic but not a democracy (the democratically elected government is under house arrest).  Nepal is neither a democracy nor a republic as it has an absolute monarch.  North Korea is a republic but not really a democracy (although it calls itself a democracy because people have to vote.  As North Koreans have only one candidate to choose from at election time, most people would not really regard this as a democracy.)
935112
The United Kingdom is composed of Great Britain and Northern Island. \n\nGreat Britain is the island land mass that includes England, Scotland and Wales, all of which were once separate nations. England comprises the southern and middle part of the Island of Great Britain, with the exception of Wales in the southwest. The northern part of the island is comprised of Scotland.\n\nNorthern Island, is, well, the northern part of the island of Ireland and is part of the United Kingdom. The southern part is the Republic of Ireland.\n\nIt's called the United Kingdom because it is the union of the formerly separate kingdoms of England, Scotland, the principality of Wales and part of Ireland.  The crowns of England and Scotland were united following the death of Elizabeth I when her nephew King James of Scotland also became king of England. The crowns have been united ever since. Wales was conquered by England long before that and the English had exercised over lordship of Ireland off and on for centuries until the southern portion managed to break away and form its own country.\n\nContrary to some of the answers above, Britain's overseas territories (such as the Falklands and Bermuda) are not technically part of the land of Britain, though their people are British subjects. Those places are considered part of Britain's "territories and possessions"
455792
The colonies should have had members of Parliament, even Ireland had members of Parliament. :-)  The King, GeorgeIII, was a verifiable nutcase imported from Orange, a German state. There was a wave of political awareness in the period that made the idea of having no representation even more important.\nYes, they should have rebelled against the policies. Still, the war was the result of a failure on two sides...a failure of pro-British colonists to promote their opinions (revolutionists were a minority), and a failure of British politicians to react correctly to the protests against taxation.\nMost wars are the result of stupidity, our revolution was no exception.
194312
To prevent a tyranical abuse of power, maintain the US as a republic instead of a dictatorship, and to provide weights and balances in passing special interest laws.\n\nThis is one reason