British Political System 英国的政治制度

Chapter4BritishPoliticalSystem MonarchyParliamentGovernmentCabinetPoliticalPartiesGeneralElection ConstitutionalMonarchy TheKingorQueenisthepersonificationoftheState TheConstitution Britaindoesn thaveaconstitutionwrittendowninasingledocument Theconstitutionflowsfrom 出自 来自 6sources 1 TheRoyalPrerogatives皇家特权2 StatuteLaws成文法3 CommonLaws普通法 判例法4 Conventions习惯法5 AuthoritativeOpinions权威意见6 EuropeanUnionLaws欧盟法 IsraelandBritainaretheonlytwocountrieswithoutwrittenconstitutions 英国宪法不是一个具体的法律文本 但实际上其大部分内容还是以成文法的形式出现的 包括由议会通过的法例 法院的判例和国际公约等等 除此之外 英国宪法的法律渊源还包括英国议会惯例和国王特权 Parliamentconsistsof3constituentparts theymustallagreetopassanygivenlegislation Legislature 立法机关 Parliament ParliamentisthehighestlegislativeauthorityintheUK theinstitutionresponsibleformakingandrepealing 废止 alltheUKlaws It salsoknownastheLegislature Function MakealltheUKlaws Scrutinize 审查 governmentpolicy administrationDebatethemajorissuesoftheday What sthemeaningof parliament Aplaceforargumentanddebate Thewordparliamentcomesfromtheverb toparley thatis todiscussortalk Thebirthofthisterm thekingoccasionallysummonedbaronsandrepresentativesfromcountiesandtownsifhewantedtoraisemoney ThebirthofParliament TheHouseofLords Thosewhoweresummoned byname Atfirstit sonlyagatheringofbaronsandbythe13thcentury kingsfoundtheycouldn tmakeendsmeetbyaskingmoneyfromthisquitesmallgroup Andlatertheywidenedittoincluderepresentativesofcounties citiesandtowns TheHouseofCommons RepresentativesofcommunitiesTheCommonsquicklygainedinpoliticalstrengthandinreturntheywantedanincreasingsay 发言权 inwhatthekingwasdoing PalaceofWestminster HousesofParliament HouseofLords HouseofCommons RedChamber红厅 GreenChamber绿厅 TheMonarch OfficialHeadofParliament Thelifeofparliamentisdividedintoperiodscalled sessions 会期 Asessionlastsfor1year Thebeginningofanewsession calledthe StateOpeningofParliament 议会开幕典礼 takesplaceintheHouseofLords It satraditionforthemonarchtoopenParliamentinperson Ontheday theQueentravelsfromBuckinghamPalacetoParliamentintheStateCoach 典礼马车 agoldencarriage OncetheQueenarrivesatParliament theUnionFlagisloweredandreplacedbytheRoyalStandard GoldenStateCoach TheUnionFlaga k a 亦称 TheUnionJack TheRoyalStandard FromBuckinghamtoWestminster ThequeenthentakesherplaceonthethroneintheHouseofLords fromwhereshesendshermessengerBlackRod 黑杖礼仪官 tosummontheMPs WhentheBlackRodarrivesattheLowerHouse thedoorisslammedinhisface symbolizingtheindependenceanddominanceoftheHouseofCommons Hemustthenknock3timestogainentryanddeliverhissummons ThentheleadingMPsfollowtheBlackRodtotheUpperHouse standingcrowdedattheendofthechamberoppositetothethrone TheThroneintheUpperHouse BlackRod 黑杖礼仪官 Knock3times CometotheUpperHouse Throne TheQueenwillthenreadouttheQueen sSpeech adocumentabout1 000wordsinlengthpreparedbythegovernment Whatisthespeechabout Inthedocumentthegovernmentoutlinesitsplannedprogrammesandthepoliciesitintendstofollow Whentheone weekdebatesontheQueen sspeecharefinished Parliamentisreadytobegintheactualworkofthenewsession TheQueen sSpeech TheHouseofLords Itexercisesthesupremejudicialpower 最高司法机关 Ithasover1000non electedmembers LordsSpiritual 神职议员 2archbishops 大主教 and24diocesanbishops 辖区主教 Theireligibility 资格 tositendsonretirement 2 LawLords 司法议员 12ChiefJudges3 HereditaryPeers 世袭贵族 Duke Marquis Earl Viscount Baron royaldescendants 4 LifePeers 当世贵族 一代贵族 ThelifepeerisatitlegivenbytheCrownduringhis herlifetime inhonorofhisorherprofessionalachievements ThetitleisNOThereditary Attention 2 3and4arecalledtheLordsTemporal 俗职议员 两名来自theChurchofCanterbury和theChurchofYork的大主教24名来自英格兰教 theChurchofEngland英国国教 的大主教 TheoreticallythetwoHousesareequallyimportant ButtheUpperHousedoesNOTexercisethedominantconstitutionalinfluence 上院不具有主导法律影响力 不掌控立法权 IthasNOpowertopreventthepassingoflegislationorbillsapprovedbytheHouseofCommons Thelordscanonlydelayabillforupto1year TheworkofLordsislargelycomplementarytothatoftheCommons holddebates putquestionstoministers examineandrevisebills Thepeersgetnoparliamentarysalary buttheyenjoyasmallallowanceforeachdayofattendance Beingalordbringsnopersonalauthorityoverothers ManyLordsaren tenthusiasticaboutpoliticsandtheaveragedailyattendanceisquitelow Theiraverageageis63 TheGovernmentcanpartlycontroltheLordsbycreatingnewpeers 大法官 LordChancellor 英国大法官职位自公元605年设立 至公元2003年被Blair取消 总共存续了1400余年 也叫御前大臣 在撤消大法官部后 布莱尔宣布设立一个宪法事务部 DepartmentofConstitutionalAffairs 总揽原大法官所负责的大部分事务 TheHouseofCommons ThemostpowerfulandimportantelementinUK therealcenterofBritishpoliticallife Threemainfunctions 1 Makelaws 2 Controlandcriticizetheexecutivegovernment 3 Controltheraisingandspendingofmoney ThePrimeMinister LeaderofhispartyintheHouseofCommonsHeadofthegovernmentChiefspokesmanforthegovernmentHehastherighttoselecthiscabinet handoutdepartmentalpositions decidetheagendaforcabinetmeetingswhichhealsochairs Hedirectsandcontrolspolicyforthegovernment HekeepstheQueeninformedofgovernmentdecisions weeklymeetingwiththeQueen Heexerciseswidepowersofpatronage 任命权 appointmentsinthecivilservice church judiciary Hecanamalgamate 合并 orsplitgovernmentdepartments Hecandismissministersifthisisrequired Hedecidesthedateforageneralelectionwithinthefive yearterm HedecidesthetimetableofgovernmentlegislationintheHouseofCommons ThebirthofthePrimeMinisterandCabinet ToensuregoodrelationsbetweenCrownandParliament thekingorqueenmetregularlywithagroupofimportantParliamentarians agroupwhichbecameknownastheCabinet In1714 therulingQueen AnneofGreatBritain diedwithoutproducinganheirtothethroneandsoBritainhadto import amemberoftheroyalfamilyfromGermanytoruleBritain ThenewKingGeorge spokeEnglishverybadlyandwasnotveryinterestedinpoliticsanyway soheleftthejobofchairingcabinetmeetingstooneofhisministers Intimehecametobecalledtheprimeminister ThepowersofthePMwithintheBritishpoliticalstructurehavedevelopedinrecentyearstosuchanextentthatsomepoliticalanalystsnowrefertoBritainashavingaPrimeMinisterialgovernmentratherthanaCabinetgovernment ThePMselectshisownCabinetandhewillselectthosepeoplewho HaveabilityHavedemonstratedgoodpartyloyaltyHaveclearlydemonstratedloyaltytothePMhimself 在地板中央有两排相距2 5米的红线 传说是为了正好超过两柄剑的长度 历史上 此举是为了避免下院的辩论演变为冲突 今天在下院辩发言时两方议员不得超越该线 若有议员在发言时越过该线 将会遭到对方的斥责 这可能也是英文用语 totoetheline 循规蹈矩 的出处 有趣的是 下院议事厅只有427个坐位 但议员总数却合共646人 并不能安置所有议员 因此 如果有议员迟到 而议事厅又满座的话 那他就只好站在议事厅的入口处 继续参与会议 WhatGoesonintheHouseofCommons MakingNewLawsThisiswhathappensinthechamber butinfactthere smuchhappeningelsewhereintheCommonswhichhashundredsofrooms There recommitteerooms officesandalibrary abarber sshop postofficeandrestaurants MPsmeetincommittees ordotheirofficeworkormeetvisitors 1 DebatesManyhoursarespentdebatingissuesofnationalandinternationalimportance MostoftenamotionisproposedbyoneortwooftheGovernment sfrontbenchers 内阁大臣 资深议员 thenthesamenumberofpersonsfromtheOppositionfrontbenchesopposeit theShadowCabinet TheSpeaker 议长 decideswhoisallowedtospeak he shemustensurethateachsideisgivenequalopportunityandtimetospeak 2 VoteAfterthedebatetheMPsvotefororagainstthemotion MPsvotebygoinginto lobbies 投票厅 corridorsoutsidethechamber onefor aye 满意厅 andonefor no 反对厅 voteswheretheyarecounted TheMP svoteisrecordedsothatanybodycanknowwhichwayanMPvotedonanyparticularissue Afterthevotesarecountedtheresultsareannouncedinthechamber PrimeMinister sQuestionTime 质询时间 ThePManswersquestionsfromMPsintheCommonsforhalfanhoureveryWednesdayfrom12atnoon QuestionTimeisanopportunityforMPstoaskthePMquestionsknownas oralquestions ArethoseoralquestionsmerelyfromthePM soppositionpartiesorout parties Anyonecanaskhimsomequestions Intheory thePMwon tknowwhatquestionswillbeasked However he llbeextensivelybriefedbygovernmentdepartmentsinanticipationoflikelysubjectshecouldbeaskedabout Executive TheGovernment WhatdoestheBritishGovernmentreferto Technically theCentralGovernmentreferstotheCabinetheadedbythePrimeMinister TheCabinetisthenucleusofthegovernment AllitsmembersarechosenamongtheMPs ThismakestheBritishgovernmentknownastheParliamentarygovernment 议会制政府 orCabinetgovernment BritishGovernment PrimeMinisterMinisters Headsofallimportantdepartments Treasury财政部MinistryofDefenseMinistryofAgricultureForeignandCommonwealthOfficeDepartmentofEducationandScienceDepartmentofHealthandSocialSecurity WhatistheCabinetcomposedof It scomposedofthechiefsofthemostimportantministriesanddepartments WhoarealwaysincludedintheCabinet TheMinisterofDefense theForeignSecretaryandtheChancelloroftheExchequer CabinetmeetsweeklyatNo 10DowningStreet TheCabinet TheCabinetisappointedbytheQueenwiththeadviceofthePM TheseniorpositionswithintheCabinetareusuallyappointedwithinhoursofanelectionvictory AllCabinetmembersareservingMPsorpeers TheyarecalledtheCabinetMinisters ThemostseniormembersoftheCabinetaretheDeputyPrimeMinister ForeignSecretary ChancelloroftheExchequerandHomeSecretary TherehasneverbeenasetnumberforpostswithintheCabinet ThemostcommonfigureforaCabinetis22 TheOppositionshavea ShadowCabinet criticizetheGovernment spolicy exposeitsweakpoints suggestamendments drawattentiontoothermatterstheGovernmentmightotherwiseignore 10DowningStreet TheCivilService公务员 Thecivilservantsarepoliticallyneutral Theyarepaidwithpublicmoney Theyarecareerofficialsservingtheelectedpoliticalgovernmentoftheday Theythemselvesaren telected They reofficialswhoremaininofficedespitechangesingovernment Theyarewell educatedelite dominatedbyOxbridge 75 Toenteratthehigherlevelsofthecivilserviceyouhavetopassarigorouscivilserviceexam LocalGovernment 3layers countycouncils 郡议会 districtcouncils 区议会 communityorparishcouncils 社区或教区议会 Countycouncilorsmakeimportantdecisionsonlocalissuesthataffectpeople severydaylives suchaseducation socialcare transport theenvironmentandfuturedevelopments Districtcouncilorsworktoimprovethequalityoflifeforpeopleintheirwards 区 andmakedecisionsaboutlocalissues Parish 教区 townorcommunityCouncilshavelimitedpowers Theycanprovidecertainfacilitiessuchasrecreationalfacilities publicconveniencesandcemeteries TheDevolution 地方分权 权力下放 Devolutioniswherepoweristransferredfromasuperiorgovernmentalbody suchascentralpower toaninferiorone suchasatregionallevel SinceTonyBlair sconstitutionalreformsattheendofthe20thcentury morepowerhasbeendevolvedfromWestminstertoScotland WalesandNorthernIreland TheScottishParliament 1998TheWelshAssembly 1998TheNorthernIrelandAssembly 1998 Devolutionessentiallyinvolvesthesettingupofanelectedregionalassemblywhosepowersarecarefullyandclearlydefinedbynationalgovernment Thesepowersdon tusuallyincludemajorfinancialpowerssuchastaxcollection theraisingoftaxesetc thecontrolofthearmedforcesoraninputintoforeignpolicydecisions Thedevolutionismainlyfinancial e g givingareasabudgetwhichwasformerlyadministeredbycentralgo