英国政治ppt

II. Government
The British government is characterized by a division of powers among the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. The Legislature Parliament is the law-making body of Britain. Strictly speaking, it consists of the Crown, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The house of Lords, sometimes referred to as the Upper House, consists of life peers who are graor Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister, a limited number of 26 Church of England archbishops and bishops, and elected hereditary peers. The main legislative function of the House of Lords is to examine and revise bills from the House of Commons. It also acts in a legal capacity as the highest court of appeal.
The Judiciary The judiciary branch of the British government is rather complicated in that England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have their own legal systems, with minor differences in law, organization and practice.
Chapter 3
Government and the Commonwealth
I. Constitution
Britain is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy. Although the King or Queen is the head of state, their power is largely symbolic. The government is elected by people and governs according to British constitutional principles. The British Constitution is made up of three main parts: statutory law, common law and conventions. Statutory law is the most important and takes precedence over the others if there is a clash. Common law has never been precisely defined. It is deduced from customs or legal precedents and is interpreted in court cases by judges. Conventions are rules and practices which are not legally enforceable, but are regarded as vital to the working of the government.
The Executive The government is made up of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet ministers and assistants to the ministers. The government decides which policies should be taken to Parliament to become law. After a law has been passed by Parliament, the executive branch is responsible for making sure that it is carried out. Civil servants work in departments led by ministers to accomplish these tasks.
The House of Commons, though often referred to as the Lower House, is the center of parliamentary power. It is usually composed of 650 Members of Parliament, known as “MPs” who represent the 650 constituencies. The House of Commons performs three major functions. The most important is drafting new laws. Although both houses are involved in the law-making process, the House of Commons has primacy over the House of Lords, especially in the ratification of “money bills” which dictate taxation and public expenditure.
The Labor Party The Labor Party was created in 1900.It was one of the two major political parties of the U.K. during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It believes in an egalitarian economy, wherein the function of the government is to act as a “redistributive” agent, transferring wealth from the rich to the poor by means of taxing the most affluent members of society and providing support for the poor. The Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats was formed in 1988, by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party. To some extent, the Liberal Democrats may be seen as a “middle” party, occupying the ideological ground between the two major parties.
III. Political Parties
The U.K. has many political parties, the three main being the Conservative Party, the Labor Party and the Liberal Democrats.
The Conservative Party The Conservative Party is supported by those who have something to “conserve”, such as landowners and businessmen, often from the middle and upper-middle class. For this reason, it is sometimes called the “Right”. Many wealthy members of the working class also favor this party. One might infer that the higher one climbs in socioeconomic terms, the more likely they are to be a Conservative.