第4章 英国政府

I. Explain each of the following in English.

1. Constitutional Monarchy

Key: (1) The Constitutional Monarchy is one in which the Monarch respects the Constitution. (2) In law, the monarch is head of the executive, an integral part of the legislature: head of the judiciary; commander-in-chief of all the armed forces and head of the Church of England. In practice, the real power of monarchy has gradually been reduced and today the Queen acts solely on the advice of her ministers. (3) In the glorious Revolution, William and Mary became the joint rulers of Britain, and the Constitutional Monarchy began. (4) The Bill of Rights which was passed in 1689 restricted the power of the monarchy.

2. The House of Lords

Key: (1) It is an important part of Parliament. (2) Its members are peers, most of whom are hereditary. (3) Its powers have been severely reduced by the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949. (4) It must pass all financial legislation sent to it from the House of Commons, and can delay other Bills for only one year. (5) It has a special judicial function.

3. The House of Commons

Key: (1) It consists of 635 elected Members of Parliament. (2) MPs have a number of privileges, e.g. the freedom of speech in Parliament. (3) It is by far the most powerful and important element in Parliament, therefore plays the key role in the activities of Parliament as a whole.

4. Conventions of the Constitution

Key: (1) They form an important part of the Constitution just as written laws do. (2) They are rules which are not written down but which everyone agrees must be followed in practice. (3) They include the following: the powers of the Crown are exercised mainly by Ministers; the Queen must act on the advice of Ministers; Ministers are responsible to parliament for their actions; the sovereignty of Parliament.

5. Common Law

Key: (1)It is one of the main components of the British Constitution. (2) It refers to the Bills which have been passed by courts.

6. Party system in Parliament

Key: (1) The leader of the party with the largest number of members returned to the House of Commons becomes Prime Minister and is invited by the Queen to form a Government. (2) The party with the next largest number of supporters in the Commons becomes the official opposition to the Government. (3) The Prime Minister and other Ministers sit on the Government Front Bench in the House with members of the party in opposition sitting directly across from the floor.

7. The Bill of Rights of 1689

Key: (1)It was the Bill passed by the Parliament in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution. (2)It laid down a number of things that future monarchs could not do. (3)It marked a sharp decline in powers of the Monarch. (4) It marked the beginning of the British Constitutional Monarchy.

II. Fill in the blanks.

1. The official title of the present monarch is _____.

Key: Elizabeth the Second

2. All English official documents bear the initials OHMS which stands for_____.

Key: On Her Majesty's Service

3. The highest of all honours conferred by the British Queen is _____.

Key: the Most Noble Order of the Garter

4. The Queen must be a member of the Church of England because she is _____.

Key: head of the Church of England

5. The British Constitution Consists mentioned in the text: 1) _____; 2) _____; 3)_____; 4) _____; 5) _____.

Key: 1) Acts of Parliament; 2) The Prerogative of the Crown; 3) Conventions of the Constitution; 4) Common Law; 5) Parliamentary Privilege.

6. A General Election takes place at least every _____. In each General Election, _____ members of Parliament are elected.

Key: five; 635

7. Parliament in Britain, strictly speaking, consists of three elements: 1) _____; 2) _____ and 3) _____.

Key: the Crown, the House of Lords, the House of Commons

8. The supreme law-making authority in Britain is _____.

Key: The Queen-in-Parliament

9. The House of Lords has a special judicial function. It serves as _____.

Key: the final court of appeal in civil cases and criminal cases.

10. Parliament has three main functions: 1) _____; 2) _____; 3) _____.

Key: 1) to make laws; 2) to control and criticize the executive government; 3) to control the raising and the spending of money

11. _____ serves as the role of the Speaker in the House of Lords.

Key: The Lord Chancellor

12. Conferring honours, such as peerages and knighthoods, is also part of the Queen's job. This is usually done on the advice of _____.

Key: Prime Minister.

13. The supreme law-making authority in Britain is _____; the executive government is _____ the real center of power in Parliament is _____; the executive government is responsible to _____.

Key: The Queen-in-Parliament; Cabinet—the Prime Minister and his most important colleagues; the House of Commons; Parliament for their actions.

III. Tick the correct answer from each of the following

1. Queen Elizabeth I is “Defender of the Faith”, because _____.

A. She is the spiritual leader of the Church of England

B. She is the head of the Church of England

C. She is the personification of the State

D. She is the symbol of the English values

【答案】B

2. Which of the following is not correct?

A. The Queen holds meetings of the Privy Council.

B. The Queen receives reports of Cabinet meetings in her weekly sessions with the Prime Minister.

C. The Queen must take sides when a dispute arises in the Cabinet.

D. The Queen is informed and consulted on every aspect of national life.

【答案】C

3. Which of the following is not true?

A. The Queen is a symbol of the parliamentary democracy.

B. She is a symbol of British culture.

C. She is a symbol of English tradition.

D. She is a symbol of English way of Life

【答案】A

4. The real power of the House of Lords lies in _____.

A. helping to pass Money Bills

B. delaying bills

C. discussing bills

D. being Supreme Court

【答案】D

5. The executive power is in the hands of _____.

A. Parliament

B. the House of Commons

C. the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister

D. the Queen

【答案】C

6. The real power of the British government lies in _____.

A. the House of Commons

B. the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister

C. the Prime Minister

D. the Queen

【答案】A

VI. Questions for Discussion.

1. Discuss the role of the Monarch in the British government.

Key: (1)General role: The Queen is the symbol of the whole nation. In law, she is head of the executive, and integral part of the legislature, head of the judiciary, the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Crown and the“supreme governor” of the established Church of England.

(2) Other roles:

A. She performs certain important acts of government. These include summoning, proroguing and dissolving Parliament, and giving Royal Assent to Bills passed by Parliament.

B. The Queen also formally appoints many important office holders, including government ministers, judges, officers in armed forces, governors, diplomats, etc.

C. An important function is appointing the Prime Minister.

D. In international affairs the Queen, as head of State, has the power to declare war and make peace, to recognize foreign states and governments, to conclude treaties and to annex or ced territory.

2. What are some of the characteristics of the British Constitution? Use some examples from the text to illustrate your point. Use some examples from the text to illustrate your point.

Key: It is unwritten. Its components include Acts of Parliament, the Prerogative of the Crown, Conventions of the constitution, Common Law and Parliamentary Privilege. It is more flexible than the written ones in other countries.

3. What are some of the major developments in the workings of the British Constitution?

Key: The principal changes in the workings of the British Constitution may be summarized in table form:

(1)Decline in powers of the Monarch, and establishment of the sovereignty of Parliament: Today the Monarch is‘non-political', and performs ceremonial functions. Parliament is the supreme lawmaking institution, and Governments must have the support of a majority in the House of Commons.

(2)Advent of democracy: The right to vote in parliamentary elections has been extended by Acts of Parliament from 1832 to1969, until now all persons over 18 (with minor exceptions, such as members of the House of Lords) (15) can vote.

(3)The decline in the powers of the House of Lords; The powers of the House of Lords have been reduced by the Parliament Acts of1911 and 1949. (16) Today, the House of lords must pass all financial legislation sent to it from the House of Commons, and can delay other Bills for only one year. Life peers were introduced under the Life Peerages Act 1958, (17) and the Peerage Act 1963 allows peers to disclaim their titles.

(4)Growth of the party system: From the late nineteenth century the political parties have established strong national organizations, which today hold national conferences to debate policy. Linked to the national organizations are the constituency organizations, which choose the candidates for Parliament. Lastly, there are party organizations in Parliament itself, such as the Whips offices and policy committees of MPs. Party discipline is essential to the working of Parliament today.

4. How is it that in British General Election is almost impossible for small parties or non-party people to compete with the two .big parties and to obtain a majority of votes?

Key: In order to have an overall majority in the House of Commons, a party must have 318 MPs out of the total of 635. In the General Election on October 1974, the Labor Party won 319 seats, but it received only 39 per cent of the vote in the country as a whole.

5. Discuss the system of government in Britain today.

Key: (1)Great Britain is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional Monarch as head of State.

(2)The British political system of government is based on the theory of triumvirate, according to which the state power is divided into three: the legislation, the administration, and the jurisdiction.

6. What is the major difference between Conventions of the Constitution and Common law?

Key: Conventions of the Constitution: (1)The powers of the Crown are exercised mainly by Ministers.

(2)The Queen must act on the advice of Ministers

(3)Ministers are responsible to Parliament for their actions

(4)The sovereignty of Parliament (the Queen must assent to Bills passed by Parliament)

Common Law: Rights upheld by courts, but not derived from Acts of Parliament

7. How is a British government chosen?

Key: At a general election, which must take place at least every five years, elections are held in every constituency in Britain to decide which individuals shall represent them in the House of Commons. For electoral purposes the country is divided into 635 constituencies, each of which returns one Member of Parliament. Each constituency contains, on the average, about 63000 electors. Any citizen over the age of 18 can vote in the constituency where he usually resides;only criminals, lunatics, and members of the House of Lords are disqualified from voting. Similarly, any citizen (with a few exceptions) can become a candidate for election to Parliament, though there are two conditions., he or she must get ten electors in the constituency to nominate him as a candidate, and he must put down a deposit of150 which he forfeits if he gets less than one-eighth of all the votes cast in the constituency. (The deposit discourages frivolous candidates.)