英国政体

7. 2015,the 750th anniversary of the de Montfort Parliament the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta
THREE ARMS OF THE STATE
In classical political theory, there are three arms of the state:
The House of Lords
1. This is the upper chamber but the one with less authority. 2. The House of Lords is an utterly bizarre institution that has no parallel anywhere in the democratic world. The explanation for the unusual nature of the Lords is: the British political system has evolved very slowly and peacefully and it is not totally logical or democratic. 3. There is no fixed number of members in the House of Lords, but currently there are 774 members . 4. Historically most members of the House of Lords have been what we called hereditary peers. 5. Almost all the other members of today's House of Lords are what we call life peers. 6. A small number of other members - 26 - are Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England. 7. There is no retirement age. 8. There is nowhere near sufficient seating capacity in the chamber of the House of Lords for all the peers. 9. House of Lords reform is unfinished business.
Some distinguishing features of the Britiswenku.baidu.com Parliamentary system
The House of Commons
This is the lower chamber but the one with the most authority.
1. The House of Commons sits each week day for about half of the weeks of the year.
4. 1689,The Bill of Rights , still in effect
5. The great Reform Act of 1832 extended the vote from 400,000 citizens to 600,000 .Further Reform Acts followed in 1867 and 1884. It was 1918 , 1970 the last extension of the franchise 6. Since 1973, become a member of what is now called the European Union (EU).
From the all-powerful king to a national parliament :
1. 1215 ,King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta . This is regarded as the first statement of citizen rights in the world
1. almost uniquely in the world, Britain has no written constitution
2. the political system is not neat or logical or always fully democratic or particularly efficient 3. change has been very gradual and pragmatic and built on consensus
2. The Commons is chaired by the Speaker. 3. The House of Commons currently comprises 650 MPs . This is a large legislature by international standards. 4. Rather oddly ,there is insufficient seating capacity in the chamber of the House of Commons for all the MPs.
THE U.K. PARLIAMENT
The British Parliament is often called Westminster because it is housed in a distinguished building in central London called the Palace of Westminster. The British Parliament - like most in the world - is bicameral, that is there are two houses or chambers. The only exceptions to this practice around the world are some small countries such as Finland, Israel and New Zealand. The House of Commons The House of Lords
Some distinguishing features of the British Parliamentary system
1. Much of the work of Parliament is done in Committees rather than on the floor of the chamber. The House of Commons has two types of committee. 2. Discussion and debate involve quite a confrontational approach. 3. In the Commons, there is a Prime Minister's Question Time for 30 minutes every Wednesday.
2. 1295,King Edward I,The so-called Model Parliament ,regarded as the first representative assembly. 3. 1341 ,The bicameral nature of the British Parliament - Commons and Lords emerged
5. Equally odd is that Members vote (votes are called 'divisions') by physically walking through one of the two lobbies which run along the side of the Commons chamber.
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Background History
The fundamental continuity of that system. the English Civil War \Glorious Revolution So the British have never had anything equivalent to the American Revolution or the French Revolution, they have not been colonised in a millennium but rather been the greatest colonisers in history, and in neither of the two world wars were they invaded or occupied. This explains why:
6. Each member in the House of Commons represents a geographical constituency. 7. Every citizen aged 18 or over can vote once in the constituency in which they live. Voting is not compulsory (as it is in Australia). 8. Until now, in the UK (unlike many countries), there has not been fixed term parliaments.
The Uniqueness of British Political System
Contents
Background History The Three Arms Of The State
The UK Parliament
The Legislative Process Political Parties The UK Government Conclusion
1.The executive - the Ministers who run the country and propose new laws 2.The legislature - the elected body that passes new laws
3.The judiciary - the judges and the courts who ensure that everyone obeys the laws 对比：In the political system of the United States, the constitution provides that there must be a strict division of powers of these three arms of the state, so that no individual can be a member of more than one. So, for example, the President is not and cannot be a member of the Congress. This concept is called 'separation of powers'. This is not the case in the UK where all Ministers in the government are members of the legislature.