Home Random Page


CATEGORIES:

BiologyChemistryConstructionCultureEcologyEconomyElectronicsFinanceGeographyHistoryInformaticsLawMathematicsMechanicsMedicineOtherPedagogyPhilosophyPhysicsPolicyPsychologySociologySportTourism






STATE AND POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE UK

 

Notes:

 

1. constitutional monarchy ['m nәkı] - êîíñòèòóöèîííàÿ ìîíàðõèÿ

2. sovereign ['s vrın] – ìîíàðõ, ïðàâèòåëü

3. sovereignty ['s vrәntı] – âåðõîâíàÿ âëàñòü, ñóâåðåíèòåò

4. to reign ['reın] – öàðñòâîâàòü

5. to rule ['ru:l] – ïðàâèòü, óïðàâëÿòü, ðóêîâîäèòü

6. the Government ['gΛvnmәnt] – ïðàâèòåëüñòâî

7. Parliament ['pa:lәmәnt] – ïàðëàìåíò (âûñøèé îðãàí çàêîíîäàòåëüíîé âëàñòè)

8. the House of Lords – ïàëàòà ëîðäîâ

9. the House of Commons – ïàëàòà óáùèí

10. upper chamber ['t∫eımbә] – âåðõíÿÿ ïàëàòà

11. lower chamber ['t∫eımbә] – íèæíÿÿ ïàëàòà

12. seat [si:t] – ïîñò

13. Speaker ['spi:kә] – cïèêåð (ñòàðøåå äîëæíîñòíîå ëèöî â ïàëàòå óáùèí)

14. Lord Chancellor ['t∫a:nsәlә] – ëîðä-êàíöëåð (ãëàâà ñóäåáíîãî âåäîìñòâà è âåðõîâíûé ñóäüÿ Àíãëèè, ïðåäñåäàòåëü ïàëàòû ëîðäîâ è îäíîãî èç îòäåëåíèé Âåðõîâíîãî ñóäà)

15. Lords Spiritual [ l :dz'spırıt∫uәl] – "äóõîâíûå ëîðäû" (26 àðõèåïèñêîïîâ è åïèñêîïîâ àíãëèêàíñêîé öåðêâè)

16. Lords Temporal – ñâåòñêèå ÷ëåíû ïàëàòû ëîðäîâ

17. parliamentary government – ïàðëàìåíòñêàÿ ôîðìà ïðàâëåíèÿ

18. the Shadow Cabinet – Òåíåâîé Êàáèíåò

 

Brief Outline of the Political System

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. Since the age of absolute monarchy there has been a gradual decline in the Sovereign’s power and nowadays monarchs reign but they do not rule. The country is ruled by the Government with the Prime Minister at the head.

Parliament is the supreme legislative authority in Britain and consists of three separate elements: the Sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

The House of Commons is the lower chamber of Parliament, which consists of 650 members of Parliament (MPs) who hold their seat during the life of Parliament (normally 5 years). The majority of MPs are politicians, company presidents and lawyers. The head of the House of Commons is the Speaker.

The House of Lords is the upper chamber of Parliament which is presided by the Lord Chancellor. The members of this chamber are not elected. The House of Lords consists of the Lords Spiritual (the representatives of the Church of England) and the Lords Temporal (hereditary and life peers).

Parliamentary government based on the party system has been established in the country over the past 100 years. It represents the executive branch of power in Britain. The party which wins most seats at a general election, or which has the majority in the House of Commons, usually forms the Government and the leader of the majority party is appointed Prime Minister. The Cabinet is composed by the Prime Minister. There are about 20 ministers in it and its major functions are: the final determination of policies, the supreme control of government. The main opposition party forms the Shadow Cabinet and the leader of the second largest party is known as the leader of the Opposition. The major political parties in Great Britain are: the Labour, the Conservative (or Tory) and the Liberal parties.



STATE AND POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE UK

United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy*. This means that it has a hereditary monarch (a king/queen) as its Head of State, but essentially the powers of the monarch are ceremonial and he/she can only reign with the support of Parliament**. Among the official functions of the King/Queen are the following:

· to appoint the Prime Minister at the end of the election (normally the leader of the party that has the majority in the House of Commons);

· to summon, prorogue and dissolve the Parliament;

· to enact legislation; to give his/her Royal Assent to bills when they’ve been passed by both Houses;

· to declare war/make peace;

· to recognize foreign states and governments;

· to conclude treaties;

· to annex/cede territories;

· to be the head of judiciary (all the courts of the land are the King’s/Queen’s courts; all the trials are carried out in the King’s/Queen’s name);

· to be the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces;

· to be the “supreme governor” of the established Church of England;

· to make formal appointments to the most important offices of the state in the Armed Forces and churches;

· to confer peerages, knighthoods and other honours;

· to make formal approvals to decisions of the Government at the meetings of the Privy Council;

· to be the King/Queen of 16 former colonies, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, represented by the governor; to be the Head of the Commonwealth.

Important symbolic roles of the King/Queen are to preserve the unity of the nation, historical traditions and continuity; to be the Defender of the Faith (only Anglicans can succeed to the throne***); to be the Spiritual head of state.

UK Constitutionis uncodified (unwritten) consisting of historic documents such as the Magna Carta****, the Petition of Right, and the Bill of Rights (1689); statutes, judicial precedents (common law), and custom. The constitution is flexible and may be changed by an act of Parliament.

There are three branches of power in UK:

1) the executive power (exercised by the government);

2) the legislative power (vested in both the government and the parliament);

3) the judicial power (exercised by the system of courts).

There is no strict separation of powers of these three arms of government (in contrast to the United States). So, for example:

1) all Ministers in the government are members of the legislature;

2) some very senior judges sit in the upper house of the parliament.


Date: 2014-12-29; view: 1442


<== previous page | next page ==>
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | The UK Parliament
doclecture.net - lectures - 2014-2024 year. Copyright infringement or personal data (0.007 sec.)