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British Parliament.
Great Britain is a constitutional
monarchy. This means that it has a monarch as its Head of the State. The
monarch reigns with the support of Parliament. The powers of the monarch are
not defined precisely. Everything today is done in the Queen’s name. It is her
government, her armed forces, her law courts and so on. She appoints all the
Ministers, including the Prime Minister. Everything is done however on the
advice of the elected Government, and the monarch takes no part in the
decision-making process.
Once the British Empire included a large
number of countries all over the world ruled by Britain. The process of decolonisation began in 1947 with the independence of
India, Pakistan and Ceylon. Now there is no Empire and only few small islands
belong to Britain. In 1997 the last colony, Hong Kong, was given to China. But
the British ruling classes tried not to lose influence over the former colonies
of the British Empire. An association of former members of the British Empire
and Britain was founded in 1949. It is called the Commonwealth. It includes many countries such as Ireland, Burma,
the Sudan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and others. The Queen of Great
Britain is also a Head of the Commonwealth,
and also the Queen of Canada, Australia, New Zealand...
The
British Constitution. The British Constitution is to a large extent
a product of many historical events
and has thus evolved aver many centuries. Unlike the constitutions of most
other countries, it is not set out in any single document. Instead it is made
up of statute law, common law and conventions. The constitution can be change
by Act of Parliament, or by general agreement to alter a convention.
The
Monarchy in Britain. When the Queen was born on 21 April 1926, her
grandfather, King George V, was on the throne and her uncle was his heir. The
death of her grandfather and the abdication of her uncle (King Edward VIII)
brought her father to the throne in 1936 as King George VI. Elizabeth II came to the throne an 6 February 1952 and was
crowned on 2 June 1953. Since then she made many trips to different countries
and to the UK also. The Queen is very rich, as are others members of the royal
family. In addition, the government pays for her expenses as Head of the State,
for a royal yacht, train and aircraft as well as for the upkeep of several
palaces. The Queen’s image appears on stamps, notes and coins.
The
Powers of Parliament.
The three elements, which make up Parliament –the Queen, the House of Lords and
the elected House of Commons –, are constituted on different principles. They
meet together only on occasions of symbolic significance such as the State
Opening of Parliament, when the Commons are invited by the Queen to the House
of Lords.
Parliament consists of two chambers known
as the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Parliament and
the monarch have different roles in the government of the country, and they
only meet together on symbolic occasions such as coronation of a new monarch or
the opening of Parliament. In reality, the House of Commons is the only
one of the three which is true power. It is here that new bills are introduced
and debated. If the majority of the members aren’t in favour of a bill it goes
to the House of Lords to be debated and finally to the monarch to be
signed. Only than it becomes law. Although a bill must be supported by all
three bodies, the House of Lords only has limited powers, and the
monarch hasn’t refused to sign one.
The
Functions of Parliament.
The main functions of Parliament are: to pass laws; to provide, by voting
taxation, the means of carrying on the work of government; to scrutinise
government policy and administration; to debate the major issues of the day. In
carrying out these functions Parliament helps to bring the relevant facts and
issues before the electorate. By custom, Parliament is also informed before all-important
international treaties and agreements are ratified.
A Parliament has
a maximum duration of five years, but in practice general elections are usually
held before the end of this term. Parliament is dissolved and rights for a
general election are ordered by the Queen on the advice of the
Prime Minister. The life of a Parliament is divided into sessions. Each usually
lasts for one year – normally beginning and ending in October or November. The adverse
number of "sitting" days in a session is about 168 in the House of
Commons and about 150 in the House of Lords. At the start of each session the
Queen's speech to Parliament outlines the Government’s policies and proposed
legislative programme.
The
House of Commons. The House of Commons is elected and consists
of 651 Members of Parliament (MPs). At present there are 60 women, three Asian
and three black Mps. Of the 651 seats, 524 are for
England, 38 for Wales, 72 for Scotland, and 17 for Northern Ireland. Members
are paid an annual salary of ‡30,854.
The chief officer of the House of Commons is the Speaker, elected by the
MPs to preside over the House. The House of Commons plays the major role in law
making.
MPs sit on two sides of the hall, one side
for the governing party and the other for the opposition. Parliament has
intervals during its work. MPs are paid for their parliamentary work and have
to attend the sittings. MPs have to catch the Speaker's eye when they want to
speak, then they rise from where they have been sitting to address the House
and must do so without either reading a prepared speech or consulting notes.
The
House of Lords.
The House of Lords consists of the Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal. The
Lords Spiritual are the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the 24 next
most senior bishops of the Church of England. The Lords Temporal consist of:
all hereditary peers of England, Scotland, Great Britain and the
United Kingdom; all other life peers. Peerages, both hereditary and life, are
created by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister. They are usually
granted in recognition of service in politics or other walks of life. In 1992
there were 1,211 members of the House of Lords, including the two archbishops and 24 bishops. The Lords
Temporal consisted of 758 hereditary peers and 408 life peers. The House is
presided over by the Lord Chancellor, who takes his place on the woolsack as
the Speaker of the House.
The division of Parliament into two Houses
goes back over some 700 years when feudal assembly ruled the country. In modern
times, real political power rests in the elected House although members of the
House of Lords still occupy important cabinet posts.
The
Political Party System. The present political system depends upon the
existence of organised political parties, each of which presents its policies
to the electorate for approval. The parties are not registered or formally
recognised in law, but in practice most candidates in elections, and almost all
winning candidates, belong to one of' the main parties.
For the last 150 years there were only 2 parties: the
Conservative Party and the Labour Party.
A new party – the Liberal Democrats –
was formed in 1988. Social Democratic Party is also the new one founded in
1981. Other parties include two nationalist parties, Plaid Cymru (founded in Wales in 1925) and the Scottish National
Party (founded in 1934).
The effectiveness
of the party system in Parliament rests largely on the relationship between the
Government and the Opposition parties. Depending on the relative strengths of
the parties in the House of Commons, the Opposition may seek to overthrow the
Government by defeating it in a vote on a "matter of confidence". In
general, however, its aims are to contribute to the formation of policy and legislation
by constructive criticism;
to oppose government proposal - it considers
objectionable; to seek amendments to government bills; and to put forward its
own policies in order to improve its chances of winning the next general
election.
Because of the electoral method in use, only two major parties obtain seats in the House of Commons. People belonging to smaller political parties join one of the larger parties and work from within to make their influence felt. The exception to this are members of the Scottish National and Welsh Nationalist Parties, who, because their influence votes are concentrated in specific geographical areas, can manage to win seats although their total support is relatively small.
Her
Majesty's Government: Prime Minister, the Cabinet.
Her Majesty's Government is the body of
ministers responsible for the
administration of national
affairs. The Prime Minister is appointed by the Queen, and all other ministers
are appointed by
the Queen on
the recommendation of
the Prime Minister. Most
ministers are members of the Commons, although the Government is also fully
represented by ministers in the Lords. The composition of governments can vary
both in the number
of ministers and in the
titles of some offices. New ministerial offices may be
created, others may be abolished and functions may be transferred from one
minister to another.
The Prime
Minister is also, by tradition, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the
Civil Service. The Prime Minister’s
unique position of authority derives from majority support in the House of
Commons and from the power to appoint
and dismiss ministers.
By modern convention, the Prime Minister always sits in the House of
Commons. The Prime Minister presides over the Cabinet, is responsible for the
allocation of functions among ministers and informs the Queen at
regular meetings of the
general business of the
Government. The Prime Minister's Office is situated at 11 Downing Street.
The Cabinet is composed of
about 20 ministers chosen by the Prime Minister. The functions of the Cabinet
are initiating and deciding on policy, the supreme control of government and
the co-ordination of government departments. The exercise of
these functions is vitally
affected by the fact
that the Cabinet is a group of
party representatives, depending upon majority support in the House of Commons.
The Cabinet meets in private and its proceedings are confidential. Its members
are bound by their oath as Privy Counsellors not to disclose information about its
proceedings, although after 30 years
Cabinet papers may be made available for inspection.
So Great Britain is the constitutional
monarchy. Monarch is the Head of the State. But Queen or King rules with the
support of the parliament. And practically monarch have no real political
power. The main political decisions are made by the Parliament and Cabinet. And
the House of Commons are more powerful.