Comparison of the Politics in Britain and United States
Abstract: The system that British established in 19 century has a profound effect not only on its own country’s society developments of politics and history but also on other counties’ modern institution, politics and history. British is the mother of world capitalist constitutionalism. As a powerful capitalistic country, US’system is also based on the British’s system and set a prefect system after some reforms. Even so, the systems of the two countries still have many differences. Both of the two countries have powerful political systems in the world.
Keywords: constitution, party systems, electoral system
1. Introduction: (political institution is superstructure, generally refers to the state power organs and the basic system which adapted with the social nature. "Political system, as same as the various systems of the human society, is the product of history development, branding with time and space.”) After the English bourgeois revolution, democratic politics was gradually established. The constitution was promulgated and constitutionalism was gradually be taken. Capitalism got a considerable development in Britain. Britain built the first set of the capitalist system, which is known as the source and model of Western political system.
British and US political systems have the same theoretical basis: the principle of "separation of powers” and the theory of “human rights”; the concrete content includes the parliamentary system, the electoral system, the judicial system, and the political party system, etc; these are all considered to be the elements of "people's democracy", Regimes implemented the principles of separation of powers and check and balance and the "rule of law". And most fundamentally,as two typical representatives of capitalist countries’ political systems, Britain and USA have the same nature in the maintenance of bourgeois interests and the private capitalist system, the implementation of other aspects of bourgeois dictatorship. But in the specific political system level, they present different characteristics, the paper only compare British and American political system from three aspects of the Constitution, the party system, the electoral system.
2. Comparison of constitutions
Britain is typical of countries with unwritten constitution, there is no unified, complete written form, and its constitutional system is extremely complex which is constituted by a variety of written and unwritten customary law, jurisprudence and constitutional practices constituted. British constitution can not be listed by one or several pieces of documents, nor strict distinct by the time, it lacks rigorous and explicit content, consistent and complete system。
The United States Constitution is the first written constitution in the world. In the course of its development, the United States Constitution formed the four main principles: the separation of powers and checks and balances, federalism, limited the powers of the government and judicial review.
The US Constitution carried thorough the separation of powers which provide the separation of the legislative, judicial and administrative. Congress, the Federal Court and the President perform their respective duties, and the division of labor between federal, state and local governments is also very clear. Federal Court is an important weight in the separation of powers and checks and balances in the United States, in addition to the administrative function and legislative function, the most important function is the supervisory function and judicial function. Judges enjoy constitutional status and was appointed guardian to uphold the Constitution; the
Supreme Court is the law enforcement agencies, judges have the final say in interpreting the Constitution and the law.
The biggest difference between Britain constitution and the United States Constitution is that the Britain Constitution is a flexible constitution it can always be easily changed or modified by the parliament, while, while the United States Constitution is rigid; second, the British constitution is conservative. And the US Constitution is relatively open; third, the British constitution has continuity. This continuity depends on the continuity of the England national life. Last but not the least, the theory and practice in Britain are often not consistent with the British constitution.
3. Comparison of political party systems
Party political system has a special status in Western countries; it is strongly associated with the election, parliamen t, cabinet and other systems, so Western countries’ politics is also known as the political party. As the center of social political life, Political parties join f all aspects of the political system together. As talk about the system, the United States and Britain all belongs to two-party system while they also have their own characteristics on their two-party system.
Britain is the cradle of modern party politics and Britain is also a typical country who implements two-party system. There are two important political parties in Britain and they have dominated British politics for more than 100 years. First are the Tories and Whigs, then the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party, and later are the Conservatives and the Labor Party. Britain implements a parliamentary cabinet system; there are House of Lords and the House of Commons. Therefore, its political system and the House of Lords and House of Commons are connected firmly; the ruling party and the opposition party have clear boundaries in the forms. The senators of the House of Lords are not elected by election, senators of the upper house are appointed by the hereditary nobilities or the king. The senators of House of Commons are elected by election.
The two major parties win the seats in the House of Commons by compete in the Campaign, Who received more seats in the cabinet; the party leader will be the prime minister and gets the government power. The party politics of the Cabinet will be the ruling party. The ruling party not only gets the real power of masters the Cabinet but also the real power of master House of Commons. Parties which lose in the election are called out-party or the opposition parties. These parties have the right and responsibility to oversight the government; there can set a "shadow cabinet." which consist with the Ministers come from all parties. (The Official Opposition (the non-government party with the largest number of elected members of Parliament —currently the Labour Party) is headed by the Shadow and is supported by numerous junior opposition frontbenchers.The Liberal Democrats, as the only other party with a large number of seats, used to call their leadership while in opposition the Liberal Democrat Frontbench Team, but during the last Labor government, they started to use the term 'Shadow Cabinet'.)
Parliamentary cabinet system combines with the ruling and opposition parties in the form of clear boundaries between the two mutual restraints. The oppositions have the right and responsibility to oversight the government. Parliament is entitled to come forward Cabinet no-confidence cases, while the prime minister can also petition the King to dissolve parliament. The two major political parties are taking a centralism, whether in central government or local, every party has a sound organization; strict discipline; especially in the party for parliamentary vote, there are strict rules. Important vote in parliament, political parties will require their party
members as a group, to vote in accordance with the intent of leaders. Or the party members will be severely punished.
USA is also a typical country implement two-party system; the United States is a presidential country. Its party system is related with a democratic republic and the main activity of political parties is the presidential election. Winner in the election will be the ruling party and the loser will be the opposition. Although the senators of US Congress are elected by the election, the ruling position of the two major parties has nothing to do with the number of seats in the parliament. In the United States, if a political party wins in the presidential election and even if it fails in the congressional elections, it will not affect its ruling status. USA political parties are loose organized; there is no strict organization and discipline in the parties. America's two-party system comes from opposition between the Federal Party and the burgeoning anti-federal party, and later became the competition between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. In USA history, used to have a third-party movement, but never succeed. The structure of two major political parties take turns in power has been relatively stable.
Although the two countries both have a two-party system, there has been many big differences between the two countries. And here are the main differences:
First, they are different regimes types. Britain imposed to be constitutional monarchy; the king of England is a hereditary head of state. Judging from the Constitution, the King gets the top power. But in fact British king should obey the arrangements which made by the cabinet.的地位。If one party gets a majority seats in the cabinet, the party will came to power to control the government and the ruling party leader as prime minister, this makes the cabinet closely intertwined with the political parties. The United States is a democratic republic, with an implementation of the presidential system. President is the head of state, control the state power. The two major political parties’ active mainly in the presidential election. Even the ruling party loses the parliamentary election; it does not affect its status as the ruling party.
Second, there are differences between organizational structures and different activity patterns. The two major political parties of British take the centralism, the party has a unified political ideas, organization and social infrastructure, and there is strict discipline on the parliamentary vote. The two major US political parties are loosely organized, there is no strict organization and discipline system, not even fixed the grassroots members. The two major political parties do not have a clear political agenda but only election platform. The main activities of the party is mainly engaged in the campaign, aptly called the US political parties' electoral organization, the US campaign is “the decisive bat tle between donkey and elephant” , because the symbol of the Democratic Party is the donkey and the symbol of the Republican Party is the elephant.
Third, there is no conflict between the ruling and opposition parties in the United States, the rights of minority party is not like that different from the rights of the majority party in Parliament; but power of the majority party is far greater than the oppositions’, the opposition is not considered to challenge the ruling party because loosely organized political party will make the parliamentary party cohesion weaker.
4. Comparison of electoral system
British and American electoral systems are both based on universal suffrage to achieve delegate powers, universal suffrage is a common feature of the two political systems, but because there are differences on political and economic conditions and historical traditions of different countries, the implementation of universal suffrage of the two countries also differ. Universal
suffrage in Britain actually is a system of the citizen vote for the House of Commons; king and the House of Lords of the representative bodies are not elected by the election. According to constitutional convention, the cabinet is composed by the majority party in parliament. By taking this election approaches, voters vote for the House of Commons, majority party of House of Commons form a government, so that a representative government of the British turns into a cabinet accountability government. It arising from the parliament and the parliament has direct political responsibility for voter negative; if the ruling party fails the election, the opposition will came to power; if it wins the election, the party is to stay in power. With the principle of take turn in power between the two parties, they can directly affect the citizens of universal suffrage, which guarantees the stability of the British representative government.
The scope of The United States universal suffrage is quite different from the Britain’s, not only members of Houses of Congress but also the President and Vice President are all directly elected by citizens. US president and the executive branch he lead have no relationship with the Congress. Only during the election, they should accountable to their voters respectively. At ordinary time, they should only responsible for the federal constitution. Therefore, the only relationship between them is just "checks and balances" which signed in the Constitution.
When talk about the election, we should talk something about the expenses, in Britain, the expenses do not cast much, but in United States, money plays a important role in the election. Someone says that: in United States, “election is the game for the rich”, money is mother’s milk for election, no money, no election. So, we can see that if you have no money you can never be the president of united states, and the cost of election is about 5.3billion dollars in2008.(Generally, they get money through five ways. The first is special funds from federal government. The second is the party’s financial aid. The third is their family and their own money. The forth is populace’s individual contribution. And the fifth is contribution from consortium, enterprise and other interest groups.)
In the vote, the United Kingdom has no legal obstacle as in United States, you do not have to pass the culture tests or the pay tax election, and there is no limited for living. In addition, there are no social and racial pressures that object the election; the division of constituency in Britain is more equitable than in the United States. In the general election, television plays an important role in United States while television is play a less important role in Britain. And the government has strict rules on the using of television. The US election is complicated. As in the candidate, the United States has a series of complex rules on that. In addition, television plays an important role in American elections, as well as the formation of the United States unique "TV politics" phenomenon. Also, the parties pay a lot on TV to promote their candidate to get more votes. There always have intense competition between two parties.
Although British and USA electoral system is different, but the election is all in the hands of the bourgeois parties. Thus, the electoral system and party system closely connected. The two are the foundation and an important part of the party system and the parliamentary system.
5. Conclusion
The British and American political systems have something in common and something different. The two systems both based on the western democratic politics and develop it separately. Because of the difference nationalities, histories, cultures, they show the differences in their own politics. In short both contain the common basic features of modern Western political system and
the characteristics of the modern era produced, also have differences due to different polity and social and economic infrastructure of countries, as well as national characteristics, different historical traditions formed. British and American political system is a product of Western bourgeois revolution, with the feudal political system compared with the historical progress. Not only for the development of political civilization of mankind provide fresh blood, but also for the development of social production has opened up broad prospects.
United States’ rights and struggles are all come from the Democratic, to a large extent is from the competition, non-class; role and contradictions of each class directly affect the normal operation of the National. Their judiciary and comprehensive are independent. Therefore, it is less vulnerable to the impact of space. This is the main reason for the rapid development of it. As for Britain, Parliament itself is noble interference, it is difficult not to involve class interests, and British constitutional law also includes a constitutional monarchy, forming a pyramid as a fundamental political subject, free space for people development is limited.
Helen Keller Zhang Chu (09yingjiao1-35) Abstract：This passage shows about a blind deaf author and educator—Helen Keller. When she was half a year old, an unexpected disaster happened to her which made her forfeit the instinct for living. After that, this little girl became isolated to the vivid and dramatic world. However, in the darkness and a lonely world, she didn't give up and never surrendered to fate. With the help and encouragement from her teacher Anne Sullivan, she overcame all the sufferings caused by the physical defects tenaciously. She learned to speak and study, and began to communicate with others. When she was 24, she graduated from Radcliffe College, Harvard University and became a knowledgeable famous writer and educator, who got hold of five languages. Helen’s life is extraordinary and she gave us great encouragement. She taught us to cherish our health and this wonderful time. Key words: Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan, love, encourage, breakthrough, success 1. Introduction The background of Helen Keller’s family and education did a beneficial foundation for Helen Keller’s success. 1.1Family Background Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Her family lived on a homestead, Ivy Green, which Helen's grandfather had built decades earlier. Helen's father, Arthur H. Keller, spent many years as an editor for the Tuscumbia North Alabamian and had served as a captain for the Confederate Army. Helen's mother, Kate Adams,was the daughter of Charles Adams. Helen's paternal grandmother was the second cousin of Robert E. Lee. In a word, hose in Helen’s family members had extraordinary position, which gave a superior foundation for Helen’s success in defeating the suff erings. Helen's father's lineage can be traced to Casper Keller, a native of Switzerland. Coincidentally, one of Helen's Swiss ancestors was the first teacher for the deaf in Zurich. It might be another helpful factor for her to overcome the troubles.(1998:1-2) 1.2Education background
Comparison of the Politics in Britain and United States Abstract: The system that British established in 19 century has a profound effect not only on its own country’s society developments of politics and history but also on other counties’ modern institution, politics and history. British is the mother of world capitalist constitutionalism. As a powerful capitalistic country, US’system is also based on the British’s system and set a prefect system after some reforms. Even so, the systems of the two countries still have many differences. Both of the two countries have powerful political systems in the world. Keywords: constitution, party systems, electoral system 1. Introduction: (political institution is superstructure, generally refers to the state power organs and the basic system which adapted with the social nature. "Political system, as same as the various systems of the human society, is the product of history development, branding with time and space.”) After the English bourgeois revolution, democratic politics was gradually established. The constitution was promulgated and constitutionalism was gradually be taken. Capitalism got a considerable development in Britain. Britain built the first set of the capitalist system, which is known as the source and model of Western political system. British and US political systems have the same theoretical basis: the principle of "separation of powers” and the theory of “human rights”; the concrete content includes the parliamentary system, the electoral system, the judicial system, and the political party system, etc; these are all considered to be the elements of "people's democracy", Regimes implemented the principles of separation of powers and check and balance and the "rule of law". And most fundamentally,as two typical representatives of capitalist countries’ political systems, Britain and USA have the same nature in the maintenance of bourgeois interests and the private capitalist system, the implementation of other aspects of bourgeois dictatorship. But in the specific political system level, they present different characteristics, the paper only compare British and American political system from three aspects of the Constitution, the party system, the electoral system. 2. Comparison of constitutions Britain is typical of countries with unwritten constitution, there is no unified, complete written form, and its constitutional system is extremely complex which is constituted by a variety of written and unwritten customary law, jurisprudence and constitutional practices constituted. British constitution can not be listed by one or several pieces of documents, nor strict distinct by the time, it lacks rigorous and explicit content, consistent and complete system。 The United States Constitution is the first written constitution in the world. In the course of its development, the United States Constitution formed the four main principles: the separation of powers and checks and balances, federalism, limited the powers of the government and judicial review. The US Constitution carried thorough the separation of powers which provide the separation of the legislative, judicial and administrative. Congress, the Federal Court and the President perform their respective duties, and the division of labor between federal, state and local governments is also very clear. Federal Court is an important weight in the separation of powers and checks and balances in the United States, in addition to the administrative function and legislative function, the most important function is the supervisory function and judicial function. Judges enjoy constitutional status and was appointed guardian to uphold the Constitution; the
The Sports Culture of the United Kingdom ---An Introduction to the UK 姓名：谢宏桥 学号：2012213047 班级：七班 分数： 2013 年 12 月20 日 When it comes to the United Kingdom, People will always think of the British gentlemen with traditional hat and cane. In fact, sports are as traditional as gentlemen in Britain. The United Kingdom, a traditional and strong country not only in the area of industry and comprehensive national strength, but also in the area of sports, has a long history for playing sports. A lot of major sports originated in the UK, including association football, golf, tennis, boxing, rugby league, rugby union, cricket, field hockey, snooker, billiards, squash, curling and badminton, all of which are popular in Britain. Even the table tennis and baseball, the Chinese and American national sports, originated from Britain. Now British sports not only affect the social context at home, but also have a great impact outside home. We even can regard the sports as a reflection of British culture. Let’s know about Britain from its sports culture. 1. Various important sports originating in the UK 1.1 Association football. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a very important sport originated in his traditional home—England in the 19th century. The laws of the game were originally codified in England by the Football
《英美概况》教学大纲 课程编号：12307058 课程名称：英美概况 学时分配：36学时，2-19 学分：2分 考核方式：考查，闭卷 课程类别：专业限选课 面向对象：外事二年级学生 一、课程的任务和目的： 《英美概况》是介绍英语国家社会与文化入门的一门课程。开设本课的目的在于使学生通过学习，了解英美国家的历史、地理、社会、经济、政治、教育等方面的情况及其文化传统，内容庞杂、信息量大。 培养学生正确分析有关英美等国问题的能力，并能以正确的眼光看待世界上所发生的问题，提高学生对文化差异的敏感性、宽容性和处理文化差异的灵活性，培养学生跨文化交际能力。把学生培养成为高素质的人才，同时又能爱祖国、热爱社会主义，致力为祖国的繁荣、发达而努力的人才，培养学生树立正确世界观。 同时，通过课文的学习和各种练习的实践，达到提高英语水平的目的。通过比较学习不同文化中具有特殊文化涵义的词语与表达式，可以促使学生掌握一些特殊词语的深层次意义，是对词汇的学习以及翻译水平的提高的有益补充；通过开展中外文化的比较，让学生切身感受到成功的交际仅有语言是远远不够的，文化方面的因素有时所起的作用远远大于语言本身，必将为英语学习者成功地参与国际商务活动，更有效地进行国际合作与交流打下坚实的文化基础。
二、课程的基本要求： 要求熟悉英语国家的地理、历史、发展现状、文化传统、风俗习惯，具有较强的跨文化交际意识。 三、课程的主要内容： 主要包括英美两国的地理、历史、政体制度、教育、新闻媒体、风俗习惯等内容，目的在于开阔学生的视野，扩大他们的知识面，并注意借鉴最新研究成果，合理吸收最新知识，进一步增强其实用性。 四、课程教学内容与要求 第一章：美国简况（国家的组成、国土等）（2学时） 教学要求：通过教学使学生掌握美国地理简况：国家的基本组成，国土等。以及美国国家形成的基本历史发展过程。 教学重点：美国国家形成过程中产生的几个重要的历史事件。 教学难点：分析并了解American Revolution产生的原因。
英语国家概况 名词解释 1. The civil rights movement (1955–1968) refers to the reform movements in the United States aimed at abolishing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring suffrage in Southern states. 2. A federal system A federal system is one in which power is shared between a central authority and its constituent parts with some rights reserved to each. 3. King Arthur It is said that he was the King of England in the 5th century and united the British and drove the Saxons back with his magical sword, Excalibur. His real existence is in doubt. He is the central figure of many legends. 4. The Anglo-Saxons They were two groups of Germanic peoples who settled down in England from the 5th century. They were regarded as the ancestors of the English and the founders of England. 5. Riverdance Riverdance is a very popular form of dancing based on I reland’s intricate folk dances which are rearranged and modernized and adapted onto current stage performance. Dancing is traditionally part of Irish culture. It is usually accompanied by the Irish pipe and fiddle. The music usually sounds fast and furious. Most of the action is from the waist down, with the arms held rigidly at the sides. 6. The House of Commons The House of Commons is the real centre of British political life because it is the place where about 650 elected representatives (Members of Parliament) make and debate policy. These MPs are elected in the General Elections and should represent the interests of people who vote for them. 7. The Commonwealth It is a voluntary association of states which is made up of Britain and mostly of former British colonies. There are 54 members of the Commonwealth including one currently suspended member: many of these are developing countries like India and Cyprus; others are developed nations like Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The Commonwealth was set up as a forum for continued cooperation and as a sort of support network. 8. Maoritanga Maoritanga means ―Maori culture‖. It refers to all the elements of the rich cultural heritage of the indigenous people in New Zealand, including their language, customs and traditions. 9. The “Washminster” form polity The ―Washminster‖form of polity is adopted by the Australian government. It is a mixture of the US Washington system of government and the British Westminster system. This means that the political
Contents Abstract (2) Key words (2) Introduction (2) Body (2)ⅠEnglish renaissance and humanism (2) A.English renaissance (2) B.English renaissance humanism (3) ⅡThree aspects influnenced by English renaissance (3) A.Drama (3) B.Architecture (4) C.Portraiture (4) Conclusion (5) Notes (6) Referances (7)
Influences of Renaissance in English History LI Siqi Abstract: The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. In this period, the most significant influence in English history is the spreading of humanism, which is reflected in the three main aspects: drama, architecture and portraiture through pouring humanism into works in those fields.. The greatly aroused creativity of human beings will create miracles. Key words: Renaissance Humanism Drama Architecture Portraiture "What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving, how express and admirable in action, how like an angel in apprehension, how like a god!" This sentence is abstracted from the book Hamlet written by Shakespeare, who is a representative figure in the period of English Renaissance. In this period, the most significant influence in English history is the spreading of humanism, which is a milestone in the development of English history, especially in art, and which is reflected in the three main aspects: drama, architecture and portraiture. This article is concentrated on how English renaissance puts influnence on these three aspects. ⅠEnglish Renaissance and humanism A. English Renaissance But first, what is English renaissance? “The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the early 16th century to the early 17th
A comparative study on the structure of British and American Governments The structure of American Governments The main government of the united states is the Federal government.It has three branches:The Legislature,The Executive and The Judiciary. Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government and it consists of two houses:the Senate and the House of Representative.the senate has 100voting member.2 from each of the 50 states.a senator must be over 30 years old.the House of Representative has 435 voting members,a Representatives must be at least 25years old.Congress helps to pass laws of the Union There are 15 departments and many independent agencies in executive branch.the President is the chief of the executive branch,who has the power to manage national affairs and the working of the federal government.Cabinet is under the President in the administration branch,which serves the president as a presidential council. The judicial branch consists of 3 main courts:the supreme courts,the courts of appeals and the district courts.the supreme courts is the highest court of the United states.the courts of appeals is set up to share the burden of the Supreme Court.The district courts serves for local government ,and every state has its own judicial system. The structure of the British Governments The main 3 parts of the British Governments is the Legislature,the Executive and The Judiciary. Parliament is the law-making body of Britain,which is made of the Crown,the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The government is made up of the Prime Minister,the Cabinet ministers and assistants to the ministers.the prime minister is the leader of the majority party in Parliament.The Cabinet is the supreme decision-making body in the British government.the Cabinet follow the principle of collective responsibility and individual ministerial responsibility.In fact,the Prime Minister is the most powerful leader in Britain.
《英美概况》教学大纲 课程名称：英美概况课程代码：04213020 课程类别：公共基础课课程性质：必修 总学时：64 理论学时：64 先修课程：《综合英语》 适用专业：应用英语、商务英语开课单位：经管学院 一、课程性质、目的 课程性质：《英语国家概况》是英语专业的一门知识性基础课。本课程以英语为媒介，比较系统地向学生阐述世界主要英语国家的社会与文化背景，如地理、历史、政治、经济、社会生活和文化传统等方面的基本知识。它是英语专业学生学习英语专业其它语言基础课和在高年级阶段学习英语文学和翻译等课程的基础。 课程目的：本课程的教学目的是提高学生在跨文化语言运用过程中对文化差异的敏感性、宽容性和处理文化差异的灵活性，从而改善学生的跨文化语言运用能力。 二、课程内容和学时分配 第一章大不列颠与北爱尔兰简介 【教学基本要求】 对英国的社会及文化背景作全面概括，使学生了解英国社会和文化的过去和现在的情况。 【教学时数】 6 【教学重点和难点】 重点： 英国社会背景文化知识介绍。 难点： 英国的民族与宗教及政治体制。 【教学内容】 英格兰、苏格兰、威尔士的地理、语言发展和民族特点，以及北爱尔兰地理、宗教信仰及民族独立问题。 第二章英国政府与当代政治、经济 【教学基本要求】 使学生认识英国的政府统治体制和议会程序及选举制度，同时了解英国当代的政治经济情况。【教学时数】 6 【教学重点和难点】 重点： 英国政府体制的特色；民族等级制度对人民生活的影响；英国经济发展的原因。
难点： 英国政府议会选举程序。 【教学内容】 1、英国君主立宪制度议会制度及内阁 2、英国选举制度、政党制及政治发展趋势 3、英国经济概况、农业及飞机工业的发展 第三章英国的对外关系 【教学基本要求】 通过课文讲解使学生认识英国的发展历史、外交政策及英美两国的关系。【教学时数】6 【教学重点和难点】 重点： 英帝国的扩张历史； 难点： 对外政策的基础和对外关系发展。 【教学内容】 1、大英帝国的扩张历史及现状、英国对外政策的基础和立足点 2、英国与北约、欧盟等一些国际组织的关系 3、英美两个资本主义大国之间的关系 第四章英国社会文化与生活 【教学基本要求】 通过教学，让学生了解英国的教育体制和社会各阶层的生活情况。 【教学时数】 6 【教学重点和难点】 重点： 英国教育特点；传统节日。 难点： 英国各阶层和种族情况。 【教学内容】 1、英国社会各阶层、各种族概述 2、英国教育体系及特点和传统节日 3、英国新闻传媒机构简介 第五章英国文学 【教学基本要求】 使学生了解英国各时期文学的创作特色，能够欣赏相关文学作品。
湖南涉外经济学院外国语学院2013-2014《英语国家概况》期末小论文班级_英本1202班___ 姓名__黄爱灵__评分____________ American Higher Education American education system in the United States is the world's cause of education of the most developed countries in the world. American education system as early as the founding of beginning to take shape when, after 200 years of development and gradually perfect, Formation of the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions High education in the United States began with the founding of Harvard College in 1636. In the past more than 300 years, it has developed into a large enterprise with a very complex system. The higher education comprises four categories of institutions: a) the university; b) the four-year undergraduate institution----the college; c) the technical training institution; and d) the two-year community college. In America, the education system has the differentGraduate Degrees years, Bachelor’s Degree have 4 years; Master’s Degree have 1-2 years; Doctor’s Degree, ph.D (doctor of philosophy), have at least 3 years. So what are the differences between the “college” and the “university” in America? The term “college”refers to an undergraduate institution that confers the degree of Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science after four years of study or an associate degree after two years study. While a university is generally a group of colleges, each serving a special purpose: college of business, college of arts and humanities, college of education, etc. The system of higher education in the United States has three functions: teaching, research and public service. Each college or university has its own emphasis with regard to its functions. The majority of the higher educationinstitutions are located in states that have a large population. The American higher education institutions offer a wide variety of subjects, from the finearts to practical and career-oriented fields such as engineering and marketing. The United States has a variety of higher education institutions, from large comprehensive universities to small traditional liberal arts colleges. Distinctions among these institutionsare in size, level, educational quality, residential atmosphere and the time it takes to complete a degree.At the undergraduate level, students’personal preferences as to size, academic quality and location play a key role in their choice of college or university. At the graduate level, more attention is paid to the reputation of the faculty and department. However,all this effort in America’s higher education is very expensive. Some of the costs come from fees and benefactions, particularly towards research, but most have to be paid from public funds. Parents favor big expenditures on higher education; a wider public opinionfavors them for idealistic and cultural reasons, and because of the supposed value of education as an investment by society.The first universities were developed by private charitable organizations. The private universities are still very important, and most of the best-known institutions, like Harvard, Yale and Princeton, are private. Most of the principal state universities have between 10, 000 and 30, 000 students,