英美概况(第二版)UKchapter3BritishPolitics课件.ppt

1、An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USAChapter 3British PoliticsAn Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USAWarming-upWarming-up1 1New words and expressionsNew words and expressions2 2British PoliticsBritish Politics3 3Joyful MomentJoyful Moment4 4Exercis

2、esExercises5ContentsAn Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USAWarming-up Do you know where it is?An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USANew words and expressionsRoyal Prerogative:皇家特权prorogue vt.to discontinue the meetings of(a legislative body)使(议会)休会

3、The Parliament was prorogued to the tenth of February.国会休会到2月10日。backbencher:后排议员whip:n.a member of a legislative body,such as the U.S.Congress or the British Parliament,charged by his or her party with enforcing party discipline and ensuring attendance.组织秘书，政党纪律委员（英国和美国的政党中负责确保本党党员出席政府重大辩论并投票的官员）An

4、 Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USANew words and expressions go to the country:解散议会重新选举下议院,举行大选 ecclesiastical:adj.of or relating to a church,especially as an organized institution.基督教的;(与)教会(有关)的 suffrage:n.The right or privilege of voting;franchise （政治性选举的）选举权,投票权 court

5、of first instance:一审法院（庭）criminal appellate court:刑事法庭An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USAIntroduction The politics of the United KingdomConstitutional monarchy MonarchState Head;Prime MinisterGovernment Head Executive power;legistiative power and independent judiciary Tw

6、o Major Partiesthe Conservative Party and the Labour Party;Westminster systemCurrently widely adopted within the countries made up of the British EmpireAn Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The Parliament British British PoliticsPolitics The MonarchyThe Bri

7、tish GovernmentThe Judicial System The General ElectionPolitical Parties An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The Monarchy British monarchyIncluding United Kingdom and its overseas territories The present monarchElizabeth II,reigned since Feb 2,1952An Outl

8、ine of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The Monarchy The executive authority over the government is by the monarchs Royal prerogative The royal prerogative under laws legislated by Parliament or convention and precedentAn Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of t

9、he UK and the USABritish Politics The Monarchy The Origin of the Monarchy The Monarchy originates before the Norman Conquest in 1066 The continuity broken only once during the Civil War(1642-1649)from 1649-1660 when England called a commonwealth Restored in 1660;Charles Is son enthroned Formally est

10、ablished through Glorious Revolution in 1688;limited constitutional monarchyAn Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The MonarchyConstitutional Role The Monarch is the ceremonial Head of State Prerogative powersonly exercised on the Prime Ministers advice;The

11、monarch must accept the decisions of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet The Royal Prerogativeappoint or dismiss ministers,regulate the civil service,issue passports delcare war or make peace,direct the actions of the military and etc.The Queen seems very powerful,but in reality she is only a figure-

12、head.An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The Parliament The British Parliament is the supreme legislature of the country Consisting of three elements:the monarch,the House of Lords and the House of Commons The primary function is the making of law,the con

13、trol of the public revenue and the examination fof government of government policy and public administration The official head of the parliament is the Queen An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The Parliament The House of Lords The House of Lords is the s

14、uccessor to the historical Great Council,which was an advisory body to serve the king Two kinds of lords:the Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal The House of Lords does not control the term of the Prime Minister or of the Government.The House of Lords debates legislation,and has some power to ame

15、nd or reject bills The house of Lords is the highest court in the United Kingdom hearing civil and criminal appeals from the lower courts.The procedures of the Lords are more informal than those of the Commons,and their role in saving the Commons a great amount of time is widely recognized.An Outlin

16、e of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The Parliament The House of Commons Also known as the Lower House is where the real power lies 651 seats totally,distributed among the four countries:524 for England,38 for Wales,72 for Scotland,and 17 for Northern Ireland Each“

17、Member of Parliament”(MP)is chosen by a single constituency according to the First-Past-the-Post electoral system The party which wins sufficient seats at a general election to command a majority of supporters in the House of Commons is asked to form the government by the Queen The party which wins

18、the second largest number of seats becomes known as the Opposition The main function of the House of Commons is law-making An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The British Government British government is the supreme administrative institution which manage

19、s state affairs;The cabinet is the core of leadership of the British government “Government”and“cabinet”mean different things;“government”is the collective name for all the ministers and junior ministers,plus four legal members and about twelve ministerial whips.The“Cabinet”is,on the other hand,made

20、 up of the Prime Minister,the Lord President of the Privy Council,the heads of the most important Departments and a few ministers without portfolios The British government can be divided into two partscentral government and local government An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and th

21、e USABritish Politics The British Government The Cabinet The nucleus of the Government is known as the Cabinet which is composed of the Prime Minister and heads of the most important departments;the Prime Minister will choose heads of the departments and ask the Monarch to appoint them accordingly A

22、 Cabinet member must be either a member of the House of Lords or a member of the House of Commons An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The British Government The Cabinet In all matters the Cabinet acts as a unit.It is the so-called Collective Responsibilit

23、y of Cabinet government Whenever it happens that the Governments important policy fails to pass the House of Commons,the Cabinet has to resign in a body and the Opposition Party will form a new government.The Prime Minister may also ask the monarch to dissolve the existing Parliament and order a new

24、 election.This is the so-called“Go to the Country”:to ask the people to make the decision.An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The British Government The Privy Council Historically,UKs senior decision-making body Duties:meeting to approve decisions that ha

25、ve been taken elsewhere and making appointments to offices of the crown.It can exercise executive,legal and legislative powers in certain circumstancesTotally has 550 members,including all cabinet members past and present,the leaders of all the main parties,the Speaker,Archbishops,senior judges and

26、some other important public figuresusually only a handful called for each meetingThe Privy Council can exercise the right to enshrine in law executive policies independently of the parliamentary processAn Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The British Gover

27、nment The Prime Minister The political leader of the United Kingdom and the Head of Her Majestys Government The Prime Minister leads a major political party,commands a majority in the House of Commons(the Legislature),and is the leader of the Cabinet(the Executive)The Prime Minister guides the law-m

28、aking process with the goal of enacting the legislative agenda of the political party he leads The Prime Minister holds power over the deployment and disposition of British forces and the declaration of warAn Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The General E

29、lection Five types of elections:United Kingdom general elections,elections to devolved parliaments and assemblies,elections to European Parliament,local elections and mayoral electionsUnited Kingdom general elections are the elections held when the Members of Parliament(MPs)forming the House of Comm

30、ons are electedCandidates aim to win particular geographic constituencies in the UK.Each constituency elects one MP by the first past the post system of election.The party with the most seats,i.e.the most MPs,usually forms the government,and the second largest party forms Her Majestys Opposition An

31、Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The General Election Eligibility Must be a citizen of the UK,the Republic of Ireland,or of a Commonwealth countrylegally resident in the UK 18 years old or over on the date of the election is eligible to vote Not eligible

32、if currently a member of the House of Lords,imprisoned for a criminal offence,mentally incapable of making a reasoned judgment,an undischarged bankrupt,or have been convicted of corrupt or illegal practices in connection with an election with the previous five years An Outline of the UK and the USAA

33、n Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The General Election Timing A general election is held in Britain every five years,as the maximum term of a parliament is five yearsThe whole of the United Kingdom is divided into 650 electoral districts,called constituencies.Each constituency has appr

34、oximately an equal size of population,usually about 60,000 voters and elects one member to the House of Commons.An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The General Election Post-election Polls close at 10 p.m.and the votes are,in most constituencies,counted i

35、mmediately The earliest results are declared by about 11 p.m.,with most having been declared by 3 or 4 a.m.;some constituencies do not declare their results until the following dayThe majority party forms the government;For the current Prime Minister,if a majority in the new Parliament has been achi

36、eved by their party,there is no need for reconfirmation or reappointment by the Monarch.If a majority not achieved,the Prime Minister submits a resignation to the Monarch.The Monarch then commissions the leader of the new majority party to form a new governmentAn Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outl

37、ine of the UK and the USABritish Politics The General Election Two Major Parties Prior to the mid-19th century politics in the United Kingdom was dominated by the Whigs and the Tories;Not modern parties,only loose alliances of interests and individuals With the evolvement till the middle of the 19th

38、 century,the Whigs was renamed the Liberal Party;the Tories renamed the Conservative Party The Conservative Party and Liberal Party dominated the political scene until the 1920s.The Liberal Party was finally replaced by the newly emerging Labour Party;An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of th

39、e UK and the USABritish Politics The General Election Two Major Parties Since 1922,the Conservative and Labor Parties have dominated British politics,and have alternated in government.The Conservative Party gets support upper-middle classes The Labor Party gets support from about 20%of the upper-mid

40、dle class,half of the middle-class,and 60%of the manual workersAn Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The General Election Minor Parties The Social Democratic Party is a new party which was founded by a group of leaders from the Labor Party on March 26,1981,

41、who defected because they thought the party was becoming too leftwing The Liberal Party The Communist Party built up by some Marxist groups on July 21,1920 An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The General Election The Judicial System The UK has three disti

42、nct systems of law:English law,Northern Ireland law and Scots law The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council,comprising the same members as the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords,is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries,the UK overseas territories,and the

43、 British crown dependencies The law as a whole consists partly of statutes or Acts of Parliament and partly of common law made up of past decisions of judges,and custom,and partly of equity The system of law is almost the same in England and Wales,but somewhat different is Scotland and Northern Irel

44、and An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The General Election The Senior Courts The Senior Courts Comprises the following courts，Court of Appeal，High Court of Justice and Crown Court The Court of Appeal deals only with appeals from other courts or tribunal

45、s.The Court of Appeal has two divisions:the Civil Division and the Criminal Division The High Court of Justice functions both as a civil court of first instance and a criminal appellate court for cases from the subordinate courts.It consists of three divisions:the Queens Bench,the Chancery and the F

46、amily divisions The Crown Court is a criminal court of both original and appellate jurisdiction which in addition handles a limited amount of civil business both at first instance and on appealAn Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The General Election Subor

47、dinate Courts The most common subordinate courts in England and Wales are the Magistrates Courts,Family Proceedings Courts,Youth Courts and Country Courts The Magistrates Courts handles minor criminal cases,as well as certain licensing applicationsYouth courts deals with offenders aged between the a

48、ges of 10 and 17 inclusiveFamily Proceedings Courts hear Family law cases including care casesBoth the Youth Courts and the Family Proceedings Courts are not open to publicAn Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The General Election Country Courts County Cour

49、ts are constitutional courts with a purely civil jurisdiction County courts have divorce jurisdiction and undertake private family cases,care proceedings and adoptions County Courts are local courts in the sense that each one has an area over which certain kinds of jurisdiction-such as actions conce

50、rning land or cases concerning children who reside in the area-are exercised An Outline of the UK and the USAAn Outline of the UK and the USABritish Politics The General Election Jury In England and Wales jury trials are used for criminal cases,the jury consists of twelve juror(between the ages of 1