英國政府以及英聯(lián)邦

1、英語國家概況 英語國家概況 The United The United Kingdom of Great Kingdom of Great Britain and Britain and Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandBritain and Northern Ireland Political Parties Constitution Government Election The Commo

2、nwealth I II III IV V CONTENT ConstitutionI v Great Britain (UK) is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch as the head of state v British Constitution is made up of: Statutory Law (成文法成文法) Common Law (判例法判例法) Conventions (習(xí)慣法習(xí)慣法) v1.1 Statutory Law passed by Parliament example the M

3、agna Carta (1215) the Bill of Rights (1689) the Reform Act (1832) the European Communities Act (1972) the European Communities (Amendment) Act (1986) Constitution v1.2 Common law deduced from custom or legal precedents and interpreted in court cases by judges v1.3 Conventions rules and practices whi

4、ch do not exist legally, but are regarded as vital to the working of government 1. Constitution Government II 2.1 The Legislature 2.2 The Executive 2.3 The Judiciary 2.1 The Legislature Basic Structure of UK Central Government Monarch (non-political) Legislature Parliament Executive Judiciary (non-p

5、olitical) House of Commons (political) House of Lords (semi-political) Prime Minister & Cabinet (political) Ministers & Civil service (non-political) House of Lords Court of Appeal 2.1.1 Parliament v Parliament the law-making body of Britain one of the oldest representative assemblies in the world S

6、trictly speaking, the parliament consists of the King or Queen, the House of Lords (上議院), the House of Commons (下議院) v Queen Elizabeth II Born: April 21, 1926 Queen since June 2, 1953 v Queen Elizabeth II is a “constitutional monarch” Although she is officially the head of state, the country is actu

7、ally run by the government and led by the Prime Minister. 2.1.2 Queen Buckingham Palace 2.1.2 Queen Queen Elizabeth II 2.1.2 Queen She reigns but does not rule! Theoretically, she is the source of all government powers: an integral part of the legislature head of the executive, executive and judicia

8、ry branches the commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the Crown “supreme governor” of the Church of England More 2.1.2 Queen In reality, her role is “ceremonial, unpolitical and symbolic”: vState opening of the Parliament vRoyal assent to new law vMeeting with the Prime Minister at Buckingham Pa

9、lace vPay state visits to Commonwealth countries as head of state and non-Commonwealth countries on behalf of the British government 2.1.2 Queen From Buckingham to Westminster The State Opening of Parliament Wednesday November 26, 2003 2.1.2 Queen 2.1.3 The House of Lords v often referred to as “the

10、 Upper House” v The Lords Spiritual (上議院神職議員上議院神職議員) (archbishops and prominent bishops of the Church of England) The House of Lords in the early 19th century vThe Lords Temporal (上議院世俗議員上議院世俗議員) (hereditary peers and life peers and the Law Lords) v The Upper House Reforms Reduce the number of seats

11、 from 705 to 666 (Mar. 1, 2004) Final court of appealSupreme Court The House of Lords meets in a lavishly decorated chamber in the Palace of Westminster 2.1.3 The House of Lords 2.1.4 The House of Commons v Often referred to as “the Lower House” (center of parliamentary power) v Three major function

12、s to pass laws, bills and acts of Parliament to scrutinize, criticize and restrain the actions of the government to influence the future government policy v 646 Members of Parliament, known as “MPs” for short, who represent the 646 geographical areas / constituencies 2.1.4 The House of Commons 2.2.1

13、 The Prime Ministerpowerful leader v head of the government v the leader of the majority party in Parliament v controls the Parliament 2.2.2 The Cabinet v supreme decision-making body in the British government v Cabinet members are chosen by the Prime Minister from members of his own party in Parlia

14、ment. 2.2 The Executive v The Cabinet works on the principle of collective responsibility and individual ministerial responsibility v Ministers responsible for their particular department (most senior members are the Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secr

15、etary) v Collective responsibility or resignation 2.2 The Executive 2.2.2 Privy Council v a body of advisors (450 members) v current and former Cabinet members and important public figures v Its main duty is to give advice 2.2 The Executive 2.3 The Judiciary v Proceedings All criminal trials are hel

16、d in open court because the criminal law presumes the innocence of the accused until he has been approved guilty beyond reasonable doubt In criminal trials by jury, the judge passes sentence but the jury decides the issue of guilt and innocence. v Two branches of law Civil lawdefines and enforces th

17、e duties or obligations of persons to one another Criminal lawby contrast, defines and enforces the obligations of persons to society as a whole English Judges 2.3 The Judiciary County Court Magistrates Court (JPs, stipendiary magistrates) Crown Court High Court (QBD, CCD, FD) Court of AppealCourt o

18、f Appeal House of Lords The Court System Civil branch Crimina lbranch 2.3 The Judiciary Political Parties III 3.1 The Conservative Party 3.2 The Labor Party 3.3 The Liberal Democrats 3.0 Overall Introduction 3.0 Overall Introduction v The Parliament operates on a two-party system. v Political partie

19、s originated in the late 17th century. the Whig PartyLiberal Party the Tory PartyConservative Party The Conservative Party From Tories (a political group which appeared under King Charles II) Development The Labor Party By Unionists, liberals, socialists and the Fabian Society Comparative Descriptio

20、n on the two major parties: 3.0 Overall Introduction The Conservative Party the middle of the 19th century (old) Time The Labor Party in 1900 (young) Comparative Description on the two major parties (cont.): 3.0 Overall Introduction The Conservative Party Right wing party They stand for private ente

21、rprise and freedom from state control. Characteristics The Labor Party Left wing party They stand for national and communal growth. Comparative Description on the two major parties (cont.): 3.0 Overall Introduction The Conservative Party middle& upper- middle class People of higher position Supporte

22、rs The Labor Party Working class and common people relatively poor or underprivileged Comparative Description on the two major parties (cont.): 3.0 Overall Introduction 3.1 The Conservative Party v the “Right” landowners and businessmen, the middle and upper-middle class free enterprise and privatiz

23、ation of state- owned firms Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990) The Iron Lady v privatized state-owned industries and promoted a more competitive spirit in Britains economy v reduced old age pensions, shortened the period of unemployment benefits, and cut child benefits v curbed the power of the trade uni

24、ons 3.1 The Conservative Party 3.2 The Labor Party v the “Left” created by the growing trade union movement at the end of the 19th century After 1945to establish a welfare state nationalized industries exercised control over private industries to revive the primary industries v Recent Prime Minister

25、s from the left Tony Blair (1997-2006) “Third Way” made the Bank of England independent (separate politics and economic policy) put an emphasis on the minimum wage and supplementing low incomes Gordon Brown (June 27, 2007) 3.2 The Labor Party 3.3 The Liberal Democrats v An amalgamation of the old Li

26、beral Party and the Social Democratic Party (the latter being a breakaway group from the Labor Party, formed in 1981) v advocates policies based on freedom of the individual and supports the adoption of Propositional Representation at elections v remains a minority party v a party of protest rather

27、than a real alternative for government IV Election v held every five years in the 646 constituencies v candidate who wins in each constituency becomes a Member of Parliament v The party which holds the majority of “seats” in Parliament forms the government, with its party leader becoming the Prime M

28、inister. The Commonwealth V 5.1 The Origin of the Commonwealth 5.2 Characteristics and Functions 5.3 Members of the Commonwealth 5.4 Organizations of the Commonwealth 5.5 Commonwealth Day 5.1 Origin of the Commonwealth v The Commonwealth of Nations is the successor of the British Empire. v In 1949, “British” was dropped from the title of “Commonwealth”. v In 1949, the London Declaration accepted and recognized Indias continued membership as a republic. v From