<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Fourth Estate (or fourth power) is a segment of society that wields an indirect but significant influence on society even though it is not a formally recognized part of the political system . The most commonly recognized part of the fourth estate is the news media, or press . </P> <P> The term fourth estate derives from traditional European concept of the three estates of the realm: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners . The equivalent term fourth power is somewhat uncommon in English but is used in many European languages (see: fr: Quatrième pouvoir) referring to the separation of powers in government into a legislature, an executive, and a judiciary . </P> <P> Thomas Carlyle attributed the origin of the term to Edmund Burke, who used it in a parliamentary debate in 1787 on the opening up of press reporting of the House of Commons of Great Britain . Earlier writers have applied the term to lawyers, to the British queens consort (acting as a free agent, independent of the king), and to the proletariat . </P>

Where does the phrase morning constitutional come from