Describe the structure and composition of the British Parliament. The reform of the House of Lords and its role. The House of Commons, composition and role. Devolution

There are 3 elements of the Br. Parliament - the Queen and the 2 Houses of Parliament, (the House of Lords and the elected House of Commons). These elements ace separate, constituted on different principles and meet only on occasions of symbolic significance. The supreme legislative authority in GB, parliament, resides in Westminster Palace, and all its power is concentrated in the British Constitution.

Members of parliament are elected at general election which is usually held every 5 years. The arrangement of seating in both Houses reflects the party system. Both debating chambers are rectangular in shape and have at one end the seat of the Speaker, and the other end a technical barrier. Leaders of the Government and the Opposition sit on the front benches of their respective to the seat of the Speaker.

The House of Lords consists of Lords Spiritual (senior bishops) and Lords Temporal (lay peers). Members are not elected; the House of Lords underwent a major reform in 1999. The hereditary lords or peers lost the right to sit in the House of Lords. The number of Conservative peers reduced. The procedure of the House of Lords is rather informal and is comparable to that of the House of Commons.

The Lord Chancellor presides over the House as its Speaker. There is no Minister of Justice but the Lord Chancellor performs some of its functions. The House of Lords consists of 675 members. The House of Lords also includes ministers, government Whips, the Leader of the main opposition party and 2 Chairmen of the Committees.

The House of Commons is elected by the adult population. Consists of 646 MPs. The chief officer of the House of Commons is the speaker. He is elected by the House at the beginning of each Parliament. His chief function is to preside over the House in its debate. When elected. The Speaker must not belong to any party.

The House of Commons has 6 Administrative and executive departments: 1) of the Clerk of the House 2) of the Sergeant at Arms 3) of the Library 4} of the official Report 5) Administration Dep. 6) Refreshment Dep. The 6 administrative Departments are under the supervision of The House of Commons Commission composed by the MPs, and chaired by the Speaker.

Devolution. The power in Britain was decentralized after the labor government came to power at the 1957. Their program included plans for a parliament in Scotland, assemblies in Hales and House of Ireland and regional development agencies in England.

10. Discuss the electoral system. Give an evaluation of the «majority electoral system» existing in Great Britain? Comment on the latest general elections. Change of government in 2007. Reasons.

The House of Commons is the only chamber in the British Parliament which is elected at General Elections. British subjects and citizens can vote provided they are 18 and over, resident in the UK, registered in the annual register of electors and not subject to any disqualifications.

The UK is divided into 659 electoral districts, called constituencies of approximately equal population and each const, elects the member of the House of Commons. No person can be elected except under the name of the party, and there is little chance except as the candidate backed by either the Labor or the Conservative party. In every constituency each of the 2 parties has a local organization, which chooses the candidate, and then helps him to conduct his local campaign, in a British election the candidate who wins the most votes in elected, even if he doesn't get as many as the combined votes of the other candidates. The winner takes it all. This is known as notorious majority electoral system that is often criticized for being unfair to smaller parties that have very little chance to send their candidate to the Commons. It is often argued that the British system of elections is so unfair that it ought to be changed, by the introduction of a form of proportional representation. It aims to give each party a proportion of seats in Parliament corresponding to the proportion of votes it receives at the election. As soon as the results of general elections are known, it is clear which party will form the government. The leader of the majority party becomes Prime Minister and the new House of Commons meets. The chief officer of the House of Commons is the Speaker. He is elected by the House at the beginning of each parliament. His chief function is to preside over the House in the debate. The Speaker must not belong to any party. (G Brown)

11. Outline the composition of the British Government. What is a parliamentary government? Analyze the role of the British Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Explain the term «Shadow Cabinet» and its significance.

Her Majesty’s Government is the body of ministers responsible for the conduct of national affairs. The Prime Minister is appointed by the Queen, and all the other ministers are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Most Ministers are members of the House of Commons, although the Government is also fully represented by ministers of the Lords.

The Prime Minister is also, by tradition, First Lord of the Treasure and minister for the Civil Service. ThePrime Minister’s unique position of authority derives from majority support in the House of Commons and from the power to appoint and dismiss ministers. By modern convention, the Prime Minister always sits in the House of Commons.

The Prime Minister presides over the Cabinet, is responsible for the allocation of function among ministers and informs the Queen at regular meetings of the general business of the Government. The Prime Minister’s other responsibilities include recommending a number of appointments to the Queen. These include:- Church of England archbishops, bishops and other church appointments, - Senior judges, such as Lord Chief Justice, - Privy Counsellors, - Lord- Lieutenants.

The present day Prime Minister is Gordon Brown. James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party. Brown became Prime Minister in June 2007, after the resignation of Tony Blair and three days after becoming leader of the governing Labour Party. Immediately before this he had served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour government from 1997 to 2007 under Tony Blair.

A parliamentary government- government by a body of cabinet ministers who are chosen from and responsible to the legislature and act as advisers to a nominal chief of state.

Also called cabinet government.

The Shadow Cabinet (also called the Shadow Front Bench) is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government. Members of a shadow cabinet are often but not always appointed to a Cabinet post if and when their party gets into government. It is the Shadow Cabinet's responsibility to pass criticism on the current government and its respective legislation, as well as offering alternative policies. In most countries, a member of the shadow cabinet is referred to as a Shadow Minister.

12. Expand on the formation, development and role of Commonwealth of Nations in the contemporary world, and of Britain’s contribution to this organization.

The 20th century witnessed an intensive process of decolonisation of the British Empire (the last British colony Hong Kong was reverted to China in 1997). A tendency to decolonise grew into a desire to form a great family, a special union, for economic, cultural & social reasons. The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as the Commonwealth, is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states, most of which are former British colonies, or dependencies of these colonies (the exceptions being the United Kingdom itself and Mozambique). The Commonwealth is an international organization through which countries with diverse social, political, and-economic backgrounds co­operate within a framework of common values and goals, outlined in the Singapore Declaration. These include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, individual liberty, and egalitarianism, free trade, multilateralism, and world peace.

Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the Commonwealth, recognized by each state, and as such is the symbol of the free association of the organization’s members. This position, however, does not imply political power over Commonwealth member states. In practice, the Queen heads the Commonwealth in a symbolic capacity, and it is the Commonwealth Secretary-General who is the chief executive of the organization. The Commonwealth is not a political union, and does not allow the United Kingdom to exercise any power over the affairs of the organization’s other members. Elizabeth II is also the Head of State, separately, of sixteen members of the Commonwealth, called Commonwealth realms.

Every four years the Commonwealth's members celebrate the Commonwealth Games, the world’s second-largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games. Commonwealth Dayton is held on the 2nd Monday in March. The Commonwealth secretariat provides the central organization for consultation and co-operation among member states. Established in London in 1965, headed by the heads of Government and financed by member Governments, the Secretariat is responsible to Commonwealth Governments collectively. The Secretariat promotes consultation, disseminates info on matters of common concern, and organizes meetings and conferences. Membership criteria: be fully sovereign states; recognize the monarch of the Commonwealth realms as the Head of the commonwealth; accept the English language as the means of Commonwealth communication; respect the wishes of the general population vis-a-vis Commonwealth membership The Commonwealth's objectives were first outlined in the 1971 Singapore Declaration, which committed the Commonwealth to the institution of world peace: promotion of the pursuit of equality and opposition to racism; the fight against poverty, ignorance, and disease; and free trade. To these were added opposition to discrimination on the basis of gender, and environmental attainability. These objectives were reinforced by the Harare Declaration in 1991.

The Commonwealth is also useful as an international organization that represents significant cultural and historical links between wealthy first-world countries and poorer nations with diverse social and religious backgrounds.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16