4 ms·

The king does have some power, but it's mainly lobbying. Big party donors in America have far more power.

bee_rider 4y ago
Do they lobby much? I vaguely remember a bunch of silliness about trying to figure out the Queen’s preferences around Brexit based on the brooch she was wearing or something like that… I’ve always just thought of royalty as sort of like the prototype for American celebrities like the Kardashians. Just a bunch of people who are famous for being famous.
- iso1631 4y ago
  Oh no, they definitively lobby, as listed in the sibling comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35687508 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35687508 I'm just not sure that "rich person lobbies government" is the jackpot that republicans think it is. The day that Biden, Trump. Obama, Bush II, Clinton, Bush I and before don't get lobbying on a regular basis from major donors then I'll consider it one. Indeed I'd rather Charlie spend an hour a week lobbying Sunak as it takes an hour of lobbying away from anyone else.
  - bee_rider 4y ago
    Huh, interesting, well there goes one of their few redeeming virtues in my mind, I guess.
    - iso1631 4y ago
      I guess the question is would an elected head of state mean more lobbying from more corrupt people. Sure Charlie might lobby against something happening in his back yard, and that's a pain, but I'd rather that than have big pharma lobby to loosen safety features on drug approvals, or big food lobby to bypass animal welfare
      - bee_rider 4y ago
        Hard to say, I guess. The US is a bit weird (pretty big, lots of huge companies call us home) so it probably gets more lobbying than most other countries I guess. I’d expect the UK to have a trajectory more like similar sized European countries (Germany maybe? Maybe compare to France, but of course French people have a unique relationship with their government…)
- MagnumOpus 4y ago
  Ooh they lobby indefatigably. The king has a weekly meeting with the prime minister to harangue him, a privilege for which that other lobbyists pay millions a year in party donations. And then there is King's consent, where the Windsors get to secretly modify or shoot down laws that don't give them enough special privileges... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Consent https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Consent

Do they lobby much? I vaguely remember a bunch of silliness about trying to figure out the Queen’s preferences around Brexit based on the brooch she was wearing or something like that… I’ve always just thought of royalty as sort of like the prototype for American celebrities like the Kardashians. Just a bunch of people who are famous for being famous.

iso1631 4y ago
Oh no, they definitively lobby, as listed in the sibling comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35687508 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35687508 I'm just not sure that "rich person lobbies government" is the jackpot that republicans think it is. The day that Biden, Trump. Obama, Bush II, Clinton, Bush I and before don't get lobbying on a regular basis from major donors then I'll consider it one. Indeed I'd rather Charlie spend an hour a week lobbying Sunak as it takes an hour of lobbying away from anyone else.
- bee_rider 4y ago
  Huh, interesting, well there goes one of their few redeeming virtues in my mind, I guess.
  - iso1631 4y ago
    I guess the question is would an elected head of state mean more lobbying from more corrupt people. Sure Charlie might lobby against something happening in his back yard, and that's a pain, but I'd rather that than have big pharma lobby to loosen safety features on drug approvals, or big food lobby to bypass animal welfare
    - bee_rider 4y ago
      Hard to say, I guess. The US is a bit weird (pretty big, lots of huge companies call us home) so it probably gets more lobbying than most other countries I guess. I’d expect the UK to have a trajectory more like similar sized European countries (Germany maybe? Maybe compare to France, but of course French people have a unique relationship with their government…)
MagnumOpus 4y ago
Ooh they lobby indefatigably. The king has a weekly meeting with the prime minister to harangue him, a privilege for which that other lobbyists pay millions a year in party donations. And then there is King's consent, where the Windsors get to secretly modify or shoot down laws that don't give them enough special privileges... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Consent https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Consent