Chapter 3 Goverment of the UK

1、chapter 3 goverment of the uk the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland chapter 3 the government of the united kingdom contenti i ii constitution ii government i constitutiongreat britain (uk) is a parliamentary (assembly, senate) democracy with a constitutional monarch (queen) as the

2、 head of state british constitution is made up of: statutory law common law conventions i constitution 1.1 statutory law passed by parliament example the magna carta (1215) the bill of rights (1689) the reform act (1832) the european communities act (1972) the european communities (amendment) act (1

3、986) i constitution 1.2 common law deduced from custom or legal precedents and interpreted in court cases by judges 1.3 conventions rules and practices which do not exist legally, but are regarded as vital (very important) to the working of government ii government 2.1 the legislature 2.2 the execut

4、ive 2.3 the judiciary 2.1 the legislaturebasic structure of uk central governmentmonarch (non-political) legislature parliament executive judiciary (non-political) house of commons (political) house of lords (semi-political) prime minister cabinet (political) house of lords ministers civil service (

5、non-political) court of appeal 2.1.1 parliament parliament the law-making body of britain one of the oldest representative assemblies in the world strictly speaking, the parliament consists of the king or queen, the house of lords the house of commons 2.1.2 queen elizabeth ii queen born: april 21, 1

6、926 queen since june 2, 1953 queen elizabeth ii is a “constitutional monarch” although she is officially the head of state, the country is actually run by the government and led by the prime minister. 2.1.2 queen buckingham palace 2.1.2 queen queen elizabeth ii 2.1.2 queen q. what powers does the qu

7、een have? she reigns but does not rule! theoretically, she is the source of all government powers: an integral (important) part of the legislature head of the executive, executive and judiciary branches the commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the crown “supreme governor” of the church of engla

8、nd 2.1.2 queen in reality, her role is “ceremonial (used of formal events of religious or public nature), unpolitical and symbolic”: state opening of the parliament royal assent to new law meeting with the prime minister at buckingham palace pay state visits to commonwealth countries as head of stat

9、e and non-commonwealth countries on behalf of the british government 2.1.2 queen from buckingham to westminster the state opening of parliament wednesday november 26, 2021 2.1.3 the house of lordsoften referred to as “the upper house” below the queen is the house of lords. it consists of: 1. the lor

10、ds spiritual (archbishops and prominent bishops of the church of england) 2. the lords temporal (hereditary peers and life peers and the law lords) the house of lords i n the early 19th century 2.1.3 the house of lordsthe upper house reforms reduce the number of seats from 705 to 666 (mar. 1, 2021)

11、final court of appealsupreme court the house of lords meets in a lavishly decorated chamber in the palace of westminster 2.1.4 the house of commonsoften referred to as “the lower house” (center of parliamentary power) three major functions to pass laws, bills and acts of parliament to scrutinize (ex

12、amine or inspect closely), criticize (indicate the faults) and restrain (prevent) the actions of the government to influence the future government policy 2.1.4 the house of commons646 members of parliament, known as “mps” for short, who represent the 646 geographical areas / constituencies 2.2 the e

13、xecutive2.2.1 the prime ministerpowerful leader head of the government the leader of the majority party in parliament controls the parliament2.2.2 the cabinet supreme decision-making body in the british government cabinet members are chosen by the prime minister from members of his own party in parliament. 2.2 the executive the cabinet works on the principle of collective responsibility and individual ministerial responsibility ministers responsible for their particular department (most senior members are the deputy prime minister, foreign secretary, chancellor of the exchequer and home secre