Презентация по английскому языку на тему Political system of Great Britain

Officially Great Britain is a state of constitutional monarchy. That means that at the head of the state is monarch (Queen or King). Everything today is done in the Queen’s name (Her Majesty the Queen Elisabeth II). But the power of the Queen is not absolute, it is greatly limited by Parliament. God save our gracious Queen, God save our noble Queen, God save the Queen! Send her victorious, Happy and glorious Long to reign over us, God save the Queen! British polity comprises three main ruling bodies monarchy parliament government The oldest of the three institutions is monarchy. In many countries their constitution enforces a strict separation between the three branches of power – the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. The monarchy is the most ancient secular institution in the United Kingdom, going back at least to the 9th century. The Queen’s title in the United Kingdom is “Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith”. Functions The monarch in law is the head of the executive, an integral part of the legislature, the head of the judiciary, the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Crown and the temporal governor of the established Church of England. But the Crown is only sovereign by the will of Parliament, and the Queen acts on the advice of her ministers which she cannot constitutionally ignore. And in most matters of state the refusal of the Queen to exercise her power according to the direction of her Prime Minister would risk a serious constitutional crisis. That’s why it is often said that the monarch reigns but she does not rule. In international affairs as Head of the State the Queen has the power to conclude treaties, to declare war and to make peace, to recognize foreign states and governments, and to annexe and cede territories. A parliament is the group of people who make the laws of their country. British parliament consists of two Houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons The House of Commons plays the main role in law making. It consists of 650 members of Parliament who are elected for a period of five years. Members of the House of Commons belong to different political parties, and the party which gets the majority of seats in the House is called the ruling party, and the others – the oppositions. The House of Lords has more than 1,000 members, although only about 250 take an active part in the work of the House. The members of the House of Lords are not elected, they inherit their seats in Parliament. The chairman of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor and he sits on a special seat called the Woolsack. It shows that wool made England rich. The main British political groups are the Conservative and Labour Parties and the Party of Liberal Democrats. The Conservative Party is the ruling party, the Labour Party – the opposition to the Conservatives. The Conservative Party is often called the Tory Party. It is the party of big business, industry, commerce and landowners. The Conservative Party and the Liberal are more than three hundred years old. The Liberals were called “Whigs”. It was the party of the trading and manufacturing classes. The Labour Party was formed in 1900.It was founded by the Trade Unions, but had not done much to change the conditions of working class. Among the other political parties of Great Britain there are Social Democratic Party, the Scottish National. Parliament The Crown: Queen Elizabeth II The House of Lords - Lord-speaker: Baronessa Hayman The House of Commons - Speaker: John Bercow Council Government: - Prime-minister: Gordon Brown - Lord Privy Seal: Harriet Harman - Lord President of the Council: Peter Mandelson - Chancellor of the Treasury: Alister Darling - Foreign minister: David Mealiband - Lord Chancellor and minister of Justice: Jack Strow The central institution, the core of the British Government is the Cabinet. The Cabinet is composed of about 20 ministers personally selected by the Prime Minister, who is the directing head and force of the Cabinet as well as of the whole government. The Cabinet is the most powerful and strongly rooted organ of government in Britain. The powers of the Cabinet are immensely large in every sphere of government. The Cabinet of Ministers introduce legislation, control finance, arrange the time-table of the House of Parliament, conduct foreign affairs, control the colonies, exercise supervision over every department of administration. The Cabinet meets in private and its proceedings are strictly secret (confidential). The seat of the Government is Whitehall, its hub being Downing Street 10, a short walk from Parliament.