uk政体,国旗,国际组织.doc

The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent countries, nearly all of which were once British territories (or colonies). It was founded in 1931.There are 53 members including the United Kingdom, which co-operate in the common interests of their people.The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) is an alliance of 26 countries from Europe and North America, formed in 1949. Natos aim is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries, by political and military means. It now plays an important role in peacekeeping, crisis management and fighting terrorism.The European Union (EU) is a partnership of 27 democratic countries, working together for the benefit of all their citizens. It aims to promote social and economic progress among its members, common foreign and security positions, police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters, and European citizenship.The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht in 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community. With almost 500million citizens, the EU combined generates an estimated 30% share of the worlds nominal gross domestic product (US$16.8 trillion in 2007).The 1957 Rome Treaty created the European Economic Community.The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty came into force on 1 November 1993.The EU has developed a single market through a standardised system of laws which apply in all member states, guaranteeing the freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital.4 It maintains a common trade policy,5 agricultural and fisheries policies,6 and a regional development policy.7 Fifteen member states have adopted a common currency, the euro. It has developed a role in foreign policy, representing its members in the World Trade Organisation, at G8 summits and at the United Nations. Twenty-one EU countries are members of NATO. It has developed a role in justice and home affairs, including the abolition of passport control between many member states under the Schengen Agreement.8The EU operates through a hybrid system of intergovernmentalism and supranationalism. In certain areas it depends upon agreement between the member states. However, it also has supranational bodies, able to make decisions without the agreement of all national governments. Important institutions and bodies of the EU include the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank. EU citizens elect the Parliament every five years.The EU traces its origins to the European Coal and Steel Community formed among six countries in 1951 and the Treaty of Rome in 1957. Since then the EU has grown in size through the accession of new member states and has increased its powers by the addition of new policy areas to its remit.The United Nations (UN) is an international organisation created in 1945, after the end of World War II. The UK and 50 other countries signed the UN Charter - a commitment to preserve peace through international co-operation. Nearly every nation in the world now belongs to the UN, with 192 member countries.The General AssemblyAll countries in the UN are represented in the General Assembly - a parliament of nations which meets to consider the worlds most pressing problems.Each member state has one vote. The type of issues that may be discussed include globalisation, AIDS, conflict in Africa and how to help new democracies.Decisions on key areas such as peace and security, admitting new members and the UN budget need a two-thirds majority, while other matters only need a simple majority (the largest share of the votes).The Security CouncilThe most powerful part of the United Nations is the Security Council, with responsibility for maintaining peace and international security. The Council can meet at any time, whenever peace is threatened.There are 15 Council members. Five of these - the UK, China, France, Russia and the United States - are permanent members. The other 10 members are elected by the General Assembly for a two-year term.British GovernmentThe United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch. A king or queen is the head of state, and a prime minister is the head of government.ConstitutionThe United Kingdom doesnt have a single, written constitution (a set of rules of government). But this doesnt mean that the UK has an unwritten constitution.In fact, it is mostly written but instead of being one formal document, the British constitution isformed from various sourcesincluding statute law, case law made by judges, and international treaties.There are also some unwritten sources, including parliamentary conventions and royal prerogatives.Parliamentary democracyThe UK is a parliamentary democracy. This means that:members of the government are also members of one of the two Houses of Parliament (the House of Commons and the House of Lords) although there are rare exceptions to this rule government is directly accountable to Parliament not only on a day-to-day basis (through parliamentary questions and debates on policy) but also because it owes its existence to Parliament: the governing party is only in power because it holds a majority in the House of Commons, and at any time the government can be dismissed by the Commons through a vote of no confidenceParliamentary sovereigntyThe UK Parliament is a sovereign parliament this means that the legislative body has absolute sovereignty, in other wordsit is supreme to all other government institutions, including any executive or judicial bodies.This stems from there being no single written constitution, and contrasts with notions of judicial review, where, if the legislature passes a law that infringes on any of the basic rights that people enjoy under their (written) constitution, it is possible for the courts to overturn it.In the UK, it is still Parliament (and not the judges) that decides what the law is. Judges interpret the law, but they do not make the law.Unitary government and devolution n. 委托，移交The UK has a unitary system of government, meaninga system where power is held in the centre, although some powers have been devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 单一制政府 unitary governmentThe United Kingdom is a unitary, not a federal, state. Parliament consists of the Sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons.英国是中央集权国家，而不是联邦制国家。议会由君主，上议院和下议院组成。The monarchyIn a monarchy, the king or queen is head of state. The UK is a constitutional monarchy, meaning that a king or queen reigns, with limits to their power, alongside a governing body, Parliament.The monarch and governmentThe monarchy is the oldest institution of government in the United Kingdom. The UKs monarchyis considered the oldest of all modern constitutional monarchies(others exist in countries including Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain and Monaco).Most of the powers once exercised by the monarch have now been devolved (transferred) to ministers. In certain circumstances, however, the monarch retains the power to exercise personal discretion over issues such as appointing the prime minister and dissolving Parliament, even though these powersmay never be used in practice, or may only beexercised symbolically.Queen Elizabeth II and the royal familyBorn in 1926 (the great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria), Elizabeth became Queen at the age of 25, on the death of her father, King George VI. She is the 40th monarch since William the Conqueror.Elizabeth II was crowned on 2 June 1953 in Westminster Abbey, despite having acceded to the throne on 6 February 1952whenher father died.The Prime MinisterThe British Prime Minister has traditionally been referred to as primus inter pares, which means first among equals and demonstrates that he or she is a member of the collective decision-making body of the Cabinet, rather than an individual who has powers in their own right. The Prime Ministeris first among equals simply in recognition of the responsibility held for appointing and dismissing all the other Cabinet members.Cabinet ministers are the highest-ranking ministers in the government, and most government departments have one Cabinet minister (or more).Political partiesIn Parliament, the two parties with the most Members of Parliament (MPs) form the government and the opposition.After a general election, the party with the most MPs usually forms the new government. The second largest party becomes the official opposition, with its own leader and shadow cabinet.Most candidates in elections, and almost all winning candidates, belong to one of the main parties. If an MP doesnt have a political party, they are known as an Independent. (An candidate without party affiliation is known as an independent candidate.)History of the party systemThe system of political parties has existed since at least the 18th century. It evolved from the historical division of Whigs and Tories in the Stuart period. For the past 150 years, Britain has had a mainly two-party system, in which two parties dominate although there may be other parties.Since 1945, either the Conservative Party or the Labour Party has held power. The Liberal Democrats, the third biggest party in the UK, were formed when the Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party in 1988.John Bull is a national personification of the United Kingdom in general and England in particular, originating in the creation of Dr. John Arbuthnot in 1712. He is sometimes used to refer to the whole of the United Kingdom, but has not been widely accepted in Scotland or Wales as he is viewed there as English rather than British. Britannia, or a lion, is therefore used as an alternative in some editorial cartoons. Although embraced by Unionists, Bull is rejected by most nationalists in Northern Ireland as well. As a literary figure, John Bull is well-intentioned, frustrated, full of common sense, and entirely of native country stock. Unlike Uncle Sam later, he is not a figure of authority but rather a yeoman who prefers his small beer and domestic peace, possessed of neither patriarchal power nor heroic defiance. Bull is usually portrayed as a stout, portly man in a tailcoat with light coloured breeches and a top hat which by its shallow crown indicates its middle class identity. During the Georgian period his waistcoat is red and / or his tailcoat is royal blue which, together with his buff or white britches, can thus refer to a greater or lesser extent to the blue and buff scheme used by supporters of Whig politics which is part of what John Arbuthnot wished to deride when he invented the character. By the twentieth century however his waistcoat nearly always depicts a Union Flag waistcoat and his coat is generally dark blue but otherwise still echoing the fashions of the Regency period). He also wears a low topper (sometimes called a John Bull topper) on his head and is often accompanied by a bulldog. John Bull has been used in a variety of different ad campaigns over the years, and is a common sight in British editorial cartoons of the 19th and early 20th centuries.Washington Irving described him in his chapter entitled John Bull from The Sketch Book: .A plain, downright, matter-of-fact fellow, with much less of poetry about him than rich prose. There is little of romance in his nature, but a vast deal of a strong natural feeling. He excels in humour more than in wit; is jolly rather than gay; melancholy rather than morose; can easily be moved to a sudden tear or surprised into a broad laugh; but he loathes sentiment and has no turn for light pleasantry. He is a boon companion, if you allow him to have his humour and to talk about himself; and he will stand by a friend in a quarrel with life and purse, however soundly he may be cudgelled. The cartoon image of stolid stocky conservative and well-meaning John Bull, dressed like an English country squire.Uncle Sam is a national personification of the United States (US), with the first usage of the term dating from the War of 1812 and the first illustration dating from 1852. He is often depicted as a serious elderly white man with white hair and a goatee, with an obvious resemblance to Presidents Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincolncitation needed, and dressed in clothing that recalls the design elements of the flag of the United Statesfor example, typically a top hat with red and white stripes and white stars on a blue band, and red and white striped trousers.Union Jack 1. a common name for Union flag 2. a national flag flown at the jackstaff of a vessel 英国国旗，俗称“米字旗”，正式称呼是“the Union Flag，也常常称为“the Union Jack。Jack是海军用语，指悬挂在舰首的旗帜，英国军舰舰首都悬挂国旗，因而得名。Union Flag是意为“联合旗帜”。它是深蓝底色的红白米字旗。这面旗帜由英格兰的白底红色正十字旗，苏格兰的蓝底白色斜十字旗和爱尔兰的白底红色斜十字旗合一而成。后来爱尔兰岛的一部分脱离了英国，国旗也未再改变。国旗上没有代表威尔士地区的形象，因为设计时，威尔士早已与英格兰合并了。英国国旗上的十字分别代表英格兰守护神圣乔治、苏格兰守护神圣安德鲁以及爱尔兰守护神圣帕特里克。 英格兰圣乔治的白地红十字旗产生于1200年， 随后被英格兰采纳