Unit Three: The Rise and Fall the British EmpireUnit Three: Political System of UKI.The Constitution and the MonarchyA.The Constitution1.The Constitution of United Kingdom is usually described as unwritten. What is meant by “unwritten” is that it is not written down in one single document as “the British Constitution”.The Constitution of United Kingdom is made up of three main parts: Statutory Law (成文法), Common Law (判例法), and Conventions (习惯法).Statutory law is the most important and takes precedence over the others if there is a clash. Statutes are those that have actually been passed by Parliament Common law has never been precisely defined. It is deduced from custom or legal precedents and interpreted in court cases by judges.Conventions are rules and practices which do not exist legally, but are regarded as vital to the working of government.The Constitution can be altered or amended by normal parliamentary process.2.The Constitution of United Kingdom demonstrates the following characteristics:✧Constitutional monarchy. The United Kingdom, as the name implies, remainsa monarchy, but one with limited power.✧Parliamentary sovereignty. In formal terms, parliamentary authority in theUK is unlimited. In other words, Parliament can make or unmake law on any subject✧Representative democracy. People are entitled to voting rights and thePrime Minister and head of government should be a member of thedemocratically elected House of Commons, and normally the elected leaderof the majority party✧The rule of law. As a fundamental principle, people are subject to law, butnot to the arbitrary will of governorsB.The Monarchy1.The British Monarchy is the longest reigning monarchy in the world,claiming ahistory of 1,000 years. The British Monarchy or the monarchy of the United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories.The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February, 1952.The current Queen’s title in the United Kingd om is “Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her Other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.”Her Majesty (HM) is not only the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, but also the Head of State of 15 other realms and Head of the Commonwealth.The appearance.From the evidence of written law only, the Queen has almost absolute power, and it all seems very undemocratic. Every autumn, at the state opening ofparliament, Elizabeth II, makes a speech.It is the Queen, and not any other figure of authority that embodies the law in the courts.In Britain people are legally described as “subjects” —subject of Her Majesty the QueenThe realityIn fact, the Queen cannot choose anyone she likes to be Prime Minister.In reality the Queen has almost no power at all.2.The role of the monarchyFirst, the Monarch is the personal embodiment of the government of the countrySecond, it is argued that the monarch could act as a final check on a government that was becoming dictatorialThird, the monarch has a very practical role to play. By being a figurehead (傀儡; 有名无实的领袖) and representing the country, Queen Elizabeth II can perform the ceremonial duties which heads of state often have to spend their time on3.The value of the monarchyThe monarchy is very popular with the majority of the British people.Occasions, such as the state opening of Parliament, the Queen’s official birthday, royal weddings, and ceremonial events such as the changing of the guard, make up for the lack of color and ceremony in most people’s daily livesThe glamorous lives of “the royals” provide a source of entertainment that often takes on the characteristics of a television soap opera4.The future of the monarchyFew people in Britain could be described as either “monarchists” (君主主义者) or “anti-monarchists”, in the sense in which these terms are often used in other countries. Most people are either vaguely in favor or they just do not care one way or the other. There is, however, a great deal of debate about what kind of monarchy Britain should have. It is, in fact, on the subject of money that “anti-royalist” opinions are most often expressed.II.ParliamentThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. At its head is the Sovereign (君主), Queen Elizabeth II now.The parliament is bicameral (两院制的), with an upper house, the non-elected House of Lords, and a lower house, the elected House of Commons, of which the latter is the source of real political power in the United KingdomThe Queen is the third component of ParliamentIn theory, the main function of Parliament is to legislate, that is, to create, abolish or amend new laws for the entire nationBut, in practice, it normally passes bills that are often proposed by the government. In addition, Parliament also votes the taxation and expenditures of the government; examines government policies and administration; and debates major political issues of the day. Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster.1.House of CommonsHouse of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United KingdomThe House of Commons is a democratically elected chamber with elections to it, held at least every 5 years. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 646 members, who are known as “Members of Parliament” or MPs. Members are elected, through the first-past-the-post system, by electoral districts known as constituencies, and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved (a maximum of five years between elections).The leader of the party with the majority of seats becomes the Prime Minister, i.e. head of the government. He or she then chooses an inner cabinet of key ministers and appoints junior ministers in various ministries.Similarly, the Leader of the Opposition, who is the head of the largest defeated party, appoints a Shadow Cabinet (影子内阁) of shadow ministers.The House sessions, which often involve questions and heated debates, are presided over by the Speaker, an MP of either party usually elected at the start of each parliamentThe House sessions, which often involve questions and heated debates, are presided over by the Speaker, an MP of either party usually elected at the start of each parliamentThe House of Commons was originally far less powerful than the House of Lords, but today its legislative powers exceed those of the LordsMoreover, the Government is primarily responsible to the House of Commons2.House of LordsThe House of Lords includes two different types of members: the Lords Spiritual (the senior bishops of the Church of England) and the Lords Temporal (members of the Peerage)Its members are not elected by the population at large (普遍) but are appointed by past or current governmentsAs of July 2008, the House of Lords have 746 members, a somewhat higher membership than the 646 seat House of CommonsThe full, formal title of the House of Lords is “The Right Honorable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assem bled.”Because its members are not democratically elected, the power of the House of Lords has been much reduced todayIts main functions include debating the issues of the day and improving certain non-tax bills inadequately considered by the Commons before they are passed into lawIn addition, the House of Lords serves as the highest court of appeal in the United Kingdom, hearing appeals with the exception of criminal cases in Scotland ernmentHer Majesty’s Government (“His” when appropriate) is a t erm used to refer to the Government of the United KingdomIn UK constitutional law, executive authority is vested in the monarch and exercised through the ministersTraditionally, the British government is instituted at three levels, i.e. central government, county government and district government; with the latter two generalized as local government①Central Government●The UK government, officially known as Her (or His) Majesty’s Government, is centered on Whitehall in London, where its ministers and the Prime Minister’s official residence (10 Downing Street) are located●As mentioned earlier, the Prime Minister (PM) is the leader of the party that holds the most seats in the House of Commons, and for that reason, serves as the chief executive of the Government that performs the executive functions of the United Kingdom●By tradition, he or she is also First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service●Technically, the Prime Minister is only “first among equals”, but in reality, he wields tremendous power●The Cabinet, the major decision-making body in the government, is often associated with the office of the Prime Minister●Headed by the Prime Minister, the Cabinet mainly comprises about 20 senior ministers of important government departments, such as the Chancellor of the Exchequer (财政大臣), the Foreign Secretary (外交部长), the Home Secretary (内政大臣) and the Minister of Defense (国防部长)●In addition, the Cabinet includes non-departmental ministers who hold traditional offices (such as the lord president of the council, the paymaster general (海军生计总监), and the lord privy seal (掌玺大臣), and “ministers without portfolio (部长职务)”, who do not have specific departmental responsibilities but serve primarily as advisors at large or are assigned to specific tasks as needed●The Cabinet acts unanimously (全体一致地；无异议地) under the principle of collective responsibility, which means that if an important decision is unacceptable to a particular Cabinet member, it is expected that he or she will resign to signify dissent●Departments of UK government are staffed by the Civil Service, consisting of career administrators called civil servants●The classic method of controlling the civil service is based upon the doctrine of Ministerial responsibility②Local Government and Devolution●In most areas of England and Wales, local governments are divided between two authorities: county councils, and district councils●They include 53 counties which are subdivided into 369 districts. All districts and 47 of the non-metropolitan counties have locally-elected councils, but they are controlled by laws and policies established by the central government, particularly concerning budgets and spending IV.Political Parties and Elections1.Political parties●During the 200 or so years before the mid 19th century, British politics was dominated by the Whigs and the Tories●After 1815, the Whigs evolved into the Liberal Party while the Tories became the Conservative Party. From then on, the Liberals and Conservatives alternated in office until 1922 ●Since 1945, the British party politics has been a two-party system of government in the UK parliament with power being held by either the Conservative Party or the Labor Party①The Conservative Party●By and large (大体上；基本上), 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●Economically, the Conservative Party supports free enterprise and privatization of state-owned enterprises. It is against too much government intervention, especially nationalization●Its policies are characterized by pragmatism and a belief in individualism②The Labor Party●The Labor Party was created by the growing trade union movement at the end of the 19th century. It quickly replaced the Liberal Party as one of the two largest political parties●It believes in an egalitarian (平等主义的) economy, wherein the function of the governmentis 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 in society③The Liberal Democrats●The Liberal Democrats, currently the third largest party in Parliament, was formed in 1988●It was the result of a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party2.ElectionsParliamentary elections in the United Kingdom should be seen as a referendum (公民复决投票) on the performance of sitting MPs, not merely as a snapshot of nationwide opinion poll determining party voting weights for the next Parliament1)The System●In theory, the House of Commons is simply a gathering of people who each represent a particular place in the Kingdom●The country is divided into a number of areas of roughly equal population (about 90,000), known as constituencies●Anybody who wants to be an MP must declare himself or herself as a candidate in one of these constituencies●On polling day (the day of the election), voters go to polling stations and are each given a single piece of paper (the ballot paper) with the names of the candidates for that constituency (only) on it. Each voter then puts a cross next to the name of one candidate●After the polls have closed, the ballot papers are counted. The candidate with the largest number of crosses next to his or her name is the winner and becomes the MP for the constituency2)Formal Arrangements●In practice, it is the government which decides when to hold an election●The law says that an election has to take place at least every five years●When a party has a very small majority in the House of Commons or no majority at all, the interval can be much shorter●After the date of all election has been fixed, people who want to be candidates in a constituency have to deposit 500 pounds with the Returning Officer●To be eligible to vote, a person must be at least 18 years old and be on the electoral register3)The Campaign●British elections are comparatively quiet affairs. There is no tradition of large rallies or parades as there is in the USA●Formally, a different campaign takes place in each constituency●Nearly everybody votes for a candidate on the basis of the party which he or she represents, not because of his or her individual qualities or political opinions●It is at a national level that the real campaign takes place4)Polling Day●General elections always take place on a Thursday. They are not public holidays●People have to work in the normal way, so polling stations are open from seven in the morning till ten at night to give everybody the opportunity to vote●Each voter has to vote at a particular polling station●After the polls close, the marked ballot papers are taken to a central place in the constituency and counted. The Returning Officer then makes a public announcement of the votes cast for each candidate and declares the winner to be the MP for the constituency5)Election Night●The period after voting has become a television extravaganza (盛典, 盛事). Both BBC and ITV start their programs as soon as voting finishes●The first excitement of the night is the race to declare. It is a matter of local pride for some constituencies to be the first to announce their result●If the count has gone smoothly, this usually occurs at just after 11:00 p.m.●By two in the morning at least half of the constituencies will have declared their results●Some constituencies, however, are not able to declare their results until well into Friday afternoon6)Recent Results and the Future●Since the middle of the 20th century, the contest to form the government has effectively been a straight fight between the Labor and Conservative parties●As a general rule, the north of England and most of the inner areas of English cities return Labor MPs to Westminster, while the south of England and most areas outside the inner cities have a Conservative MP. Which of these two parties forms the government depends on which one does better in the suburbs and large towns of England●Scotland used to be good territory for the Conservatives. This changed, however, during the 1980s and the vast majority of MPs from there now represent Labor●Wales has always returned mostly Labor MPs●Traditionally, the Liberal party was also relatively strong in Scotland and Wales (and was sometimes called the party of the “Celtic fringe” (外围组织)●Northern Ireland always has about the same proportion of Protestant Unionist MPs and Catholic Nationalist MPs●In the 13 elections from 1945 to 1987, the Conservatives were generally more successful than Labor●Then, in the 1992 election, the Conservatives won for the fourth time in a row — the first time this had been achieved for more than 160 years●However, in 1997 the picture changed dramatically. Labor won the largest majority in the House of Commons achieved by any party for 73 years and the Conservative share of the total vote was their lowest in 165 years。
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