英美文化概况

1、.英语国家概况英语国家概况The United The United Kingdom of Great Kingdom of Great Britain and Britain and Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandBritain and Northern Ireland Political Parties ConstitutionGovernment Election The Commonw

2、ealthIIIIIIIVVCONTENT ConstitutionIv Great Britain (UK) is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch as the head of state v British Constitution is made up of: Statutory Law (成文法成文法) Common Law (判例法判例法) Conventions (习惯法习惯法) v1.1 Statutory Law passed by Parliamentexample the Magna Carta

3、 (1215)which protects the rights of the community against the Crown the Bill of Rights (1689) which extends the powers of Parliament the Reform Act (1832) which reforms the parliamentary electoral system the European Communities Act (1972) the European Communities (Amendment) Act (1986) which define

4、s the relationship between Britain and the European Community(欧共体）. Constitution v1.2 Common law （判例法）deduced from custom or legal precedents and interpreted in court cases by judgesv1.3 Conventions （习惯法）（习惯法）rules and practices which do not exist legally, but are regarded as vital to the working of

5、 government .(for example: The monarch reigns but does not rule. ) 1. Constitution GovernmentII 2.1 The Legislature 2.2 The Executive 2.3 The Judiciary 2.1 The LegislatureBasic Structure of UK Central GovernmentMonarch(non-political)LegislatureParliamentExecutive Judiciary (non-political)House of Co

6、mmons (political)House of Lords(semi-political)Prime Minister & Cabinet (political)Ministers & Civil service(non-political) House of LordsCourt of Appeal 2.1.1 Parliament v Parliamentthe law-making body of Britain one of the oldest representative assemblies in the world (in the mid-13th cent

7、ury)Strictly speaking, the parliament consists of the King or Queen, the House of Lords (上议院), the House of Commons (下议院) v Queen Elizabeth IIBorn: April 21, 1926Queen since June 2, 1953 v Queen Elizabeth II is a “constitutional monarch” Although she is officially the head of state, the country is a

8、ctually run by the government and led by the Prime Minister.2.1.2 Queen Buckingham Palace 2.1.2 Queen Queen Elizabeth II2.1.2 Queen She reigns but does not rule!Theoretically, she is the source of all government powers:an integral part of the legislaturehead of the executive, executive and judiciary

9、 branchesthe commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the Crown “supreme governor” of the Church of England More 2.1.2 Queen In reality, her role is “ceremonial, unpolitical and symbolic”:vState opening of the Parliament(国会开议大典 )vRoyal assent to new lawvMeeting with the Prime Minister at Buckingham

10、 PalacevPay state visits to Commonwealth countries as head of state and non-Commonwealth countries on behalf of the British government2.1.2 Queen From Buckingham to Westminster The State Opening of Parliament Wednesday November 26, 20032.1.2 Queen 2.1.3 The House of Lords v often referred to as “the

11、 Upper House”v The Lords Spiritual (上议院神职议员上议院神职议员) (archbishops and prominent bishops of the Church of England) The House of Lords in the early 19th centuryvThe Lords Temporal (上议院世俗议员上议院世俗议员) (hereditary peers and life peers and the Law Lords）上议院高级法官）上议院高级法官) v The Upper House ReformsReduce the nu

12、mber of seats from 705 to 666 (Mar. 1, 2004)Final court of appealSupreme CourtThe House of Lords meets in a lavishly decorated chamber in the Palace of Westminster (also called Red Chamber)2.1.3 The House of Lords 2.1.4 The House of Commons v Often referred to as “the Lower House” (center of parliam

13、entary power)v Three major functionsto pass laws, bills and acts of Parliamentto scrutinize, criticize and restrain the actions of the government to influence the future government policy v 646 Members of Parliament, known as “MPs” for short, who represent the 646 geographical areas / constituencies

14、2.1.4 The House of Commons 2.2.1 The Prime Ministerpowerful leaderv head of the governmentv the leader of the majority party in Parliamentv controls the Parliament2.2.2 The Cabinetv supreme decision-making body in the British government v Cabinet members are chosen by the Prime Minister from members

15、 of his own party in Parliament.2.2 The Executive v The Cabinet works on the principle of collective responsibility and individual ministerial responsibility v Ministers responsible for their particular department(most senior members are the Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor of th

16、e Exchequer and Home Secretary)v Collective responsibility or resignation2.2 The Executive Civil Servantsv Members of the Civil Service are called Civil Servants. They staff government departments. Civil Servants are recruited mainly by competitive examination. Civil servants do not belong to any po

17、litical party. Changes of Government do not involve changes in departmental staff, There are about 541,800 civil servants in Britain now.v A 140v B 125v C 100v D 85v E 60 2.2.2 Privy Councilv a body of advisors (450 members)v current and former Cabinet members and important public figures v Its main

18、 duty is to give advice2.2 The Executive 2.3 The Judiciaryv ProceedingsAll criminal trials are held in open court because the criminal law presumes the innocence of the accused until he has been approved guilty beyond reasonable doubtIn criminal trials by jury, the judge passes sentence but the jury

19、 decides the issue of guilt and innocence. v Two branches of lawCivil lawdefines and enforces the duties or obligations of persons to one anotherCriminal lawby contrast, defines and enforces the obligations of persons to society as a wholeEnglish Judges2.3 The Judiciary County CourtMagistrates Court

20、(JPs, stipendiary magistrates)Crown CourtHigh Court(QBD, CCD, FD)Court of AppealCourt of AppealHouse of LordsThe Court SystemCivil branchCriminalbranch2.3 The Judiciary Political PartiesIII 3.1 The Conservative Party 3.2 The Labor Party 3.3 The Liberal Democrats 3.0 Overall Introduction 3.0 Overall

21、Introductionv The Parliament operates on a two-party system. v Political parties originated in the late 17th century.the Whig PartyLiberal Party the Tory PartyConservative Party 3.1 The Conservative Party v the “Right”landowners and businessmen, the middle and upper-middle class free enterprise and

22、privatization of state-owned firms Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990)The Iron Lady v privatized state-owned industries and promoted a more competitive spirit in Britains economy v reduced old age pensions, shortened the period of unemployment benefits, and cut child benefitsv curbed the power of the trad

23、e unions3.1 The Conservative Party 3.2 The Labor Partyv the “Left” created by the growing trade union movement at the end of the 19th centuryAfter 1945to establish a welfare statenationalized industriesexercised control over private industries to revive the primary industries v Recent Prime Minister

24、s from the leftTony Blair (1997-2006) “Third Way” made the Bank of England independent (separate politics and economic policy) put an emphasis on the minimum wage and supplementing low incomes Gordon Brown (June 27, 2007)3.2 The Labor Party 3.3 The Liberal Democratsv An amalgamation of the old Liber

25、al Party and the Social Democratic Party (the latter being a breakaway group from the Labor Party, formed in 1981)v advocates policies based on freedom of the individualv remains a minority party v a party of protest rather than a real alternative for government IV Electionv held every five years in

26、 the 646 constituencies (unless a Motion of No Confidence is passed by the House of Commons)v candidate who wins in each constituency becomes a Member of Parliament v The party which holds the majority of “seats” in Parliament forms the government, with its party leader becoming the Prime Minister.

27、The CommonwealthV 5.1 The Origin of the Commonwealth 5.2 Characteristics and Functions 5.3 Members of the Commonwealth 5.4 Organizations of the Commonwealth 5.5 Commonwealth Day 5.1 Origin of the Commonwealthv The Commonwealth of Nations is the successor of the British Empire. v In 1949, “British” was dropped from the title of “Commonwealth”. v In 1949, the London Declaration (often considered a milestone in the history of the modern Commonwealth) accepted and recognized Indias continued membership as a republic.v From 1960 onwards, new members joined the Commonwealt