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The UK political system and its key concepts.

 

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy in which the monarch only plays a ceremonial role. Instead, the UK works on the basis of parliamentary supremacy, a system in which parliament is allowed to change any law and its legislation cannot be challenged in the UK courts.

Unlike “separation of powers” based systems, the UK government (the executive) is not separate from the legislature but is formed by the party with the most Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Commons.

The UK is also notable for having an unwritten constitution that has evolved over the centuries. This means that there is no clear set of rights/constitutional values that are specially protected by the judiciary. However, the UK does have a separate judiciary which is not part of the fusion of powers. While it cannot overturn laws, it 99is able to challenge the government when it breaches UK law.

 

The Prime Minister is head of the UK government. He is ultimately responsible for all policy and decisions. He:

• oversees the operation of the Civil Service and government agencies

• appoints members of the government

• is the principal government figure in the House of Commons

The Prime Minister is David Cameron MP and he is based at Number 10 Downing Street in London.

 

The Cabinet is made up of the senior members of government. Every Tuesday during Parliament, members of the Cabinet (Secretaries of State from all departments and some other ministers) meet to discuss what are the most important issues for the government.

 

The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg MP, is the deputy head of government. He is the leader of the Liberal Democrats and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister when the coalition government was formed following the 2010 general election.

His office is part of the Cabinet Office at 70 Whitehall.

 

Ministers are chosen by the Prime Minister from the members of the House of Commons and House of Lords. They are responsible for the actions, successes and failures of their departments.

 

A two–party system is one where two majorpolitical parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government. As a result, all, or nearly all, elected offices are members of one of the two major parties. Under a two-party system, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referred to as the majority party while the other is the minority party.

In countries such as Britain and Spain, two major parties emerge which have strong influence and tend to elect most of the candidates, but a multitude of lesser parties exist with varying degrees of influence, and sometimes these lesser parties are able to elect officials who participate in the legislature. As a result, some commentators have described the political system in Britain, for example, as being a two-party system, in the sense that two parties are strong and influential although other lesser parties exist and have an influence. Great Britain has had two successive two-party alignments: Conservative and Liberal prior to 1914 and Conservative and Labour since 1935. The period from 1920 to 1935 constituted an intermediate phase between the two. Britain’s Conservative Party is actually a Conservative-Liberal Party, resulting from a fusion of the essential elements of the two great 19th-century parties.



Liberals believe in government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all. It is the duty of the government to alleviate social ills and to protect civil liberties and individual and human rights. Believe the role of the government should be to guarantee that no one is in need. Liberal policies generally emphasize the need for the government to solve problems.

Conservatives believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional American values and a strong national defense. Believe the role of government should be to provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals. Conservative policies generally emphasize empowerment of the individual to solve problems.


Date: 2015-01-29; view: 778


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Parliamentary Debating | James Grover Thurber
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