Royal Prerogative and American Democracy

By Dennis Mitchell

This week we celebrate the 4th of July and its meaning as the day in 1776 on which the 13 colonies in North America declared their independence from Great Britain. It is the 248th anniversary of this bold action. It can also be celebrated as the day on which government of laws replaced government by the whims of a monarch was introduced to the western world.

It is ironic that it occurs just several days after the Supreme Court of the United States declared the American president, whoever it may be, is immune from prosecution for criminal acts within the scope of the president’s official duties. The Court did not specify what official duties it was referring to, leaving that decision to a lower court over which it may rule in the future.

In doing so, it can be argued that the Supreme Court reintroduced the concept of royal prerogative into the American system of government. Royal prerogative is defined as a body of authority, privilege and immunity belonging to the sovereign. It was the unchecked actions of the British sovereign, King George III, toward the American colonies which led the colonies to declare independence in the first place. Maybe the six justices of the Supreme Court who supported this decision forgot, or never knew, this fact.

When the Constitution was written, the framers provided for removal from office of the president for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” In the course of history since, it has been decided that a president must first be removed from office before they can be charged and stand trial for these high crimes and misdemeanors. Isn’t it just as logical that the framers believed a president who would order the assassination of a political rival or order a military coup to remain in office after losing an election (both crimes which could be argued lie within the scope of the president’s official powers) would be arrested and tried for these crimes with impeachment following along?

The framers were accomplished, knowledgeable men who were putting together the first government based on the rather recent (at the time) concepts of liberal democracy and government by the people through elections, rather than by a monarch, which was the standard of the times. It seems absurd to think that they anticipated the reintroduction of royal prerogative would result from this experiment. But, here it is today.

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