The Queen has very real power. She can dissolve parliament and she can refuse to give her assent to bills passed (as Queen Anne did). She obviously doesn't use this power as it would be deemed 'unconstitutional', and thus we don't have the checks and balances that proper democracies have. Even...
There are other models, not just the American one. People always say "Would you have wanted President Thatcher or President Blair?" No of course not, but that misses the point. They would have stayed as PMs serving under, oh I dunno, President Bobby Charlton. Someone with limited but genuine...