The British Government: A Brief Overview

 

The System of Government

 Britain is a parliamentary democracy with aconstitutional monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, as head of the State. The Britishconstitution, unlike those of most countries, is not set out in a single document. Instead it is made up of a combination of laws and practices which are not legally enforceable, but which are regarded as vital to the working ofgovernment.

 

The Monarchy

 The stability of the British government owes much to the monarchy. Its continuity has been interrupted only once (the republic of 1649-60) in over a thousand years.

 

Today the Queen is not only the head ofState, but also an important symbol of national unity. Her complete officialroyal title is 'Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdomof Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith', but she is usuallyreferred to as Her Royal Highness or Queen Elizabeth.

 

According to the law the Queen is head ofthe executive branch of the government, an integral part of the legislature,head of the judiciary, the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of theCrown and the 'supreme governor' of the established Church of England. Whilethat sounds like a lot of responsibility, the real power of the monarchy hasbeen steadily reduced over the years to the point where the Queen is uninvolvedin the day-to-day operation of the government. She is impartial and acts onlyon the advice of her ministers.

 

The Queen, Prince Charles and the othermembers of the royal family take part in traditional ceremonies, visitdifferent parts of Britain and many other countries and are closely involved inthe work of many charities.

 

Parliament

 Parliament, Britain's legislature, is made upof the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Queen in her constitutionalrole.

 

The House of Commons is the lower house ofthe Parliament. It is where the MPs meet to debate Bills and issues affectingthe country.

The Commons now has 650 elected Members ofParliament (MPs), who represent local constituencies. What is a constituency? Itmeans 选区 in Chinese.The United Kingdom is currently divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies,each of which is represented by one Member of Parliament (MP) in the House ofCommons.

 

The House of Lords is the upper house ofthe Parliament, and here members called ‘Lords’ meet to debate, change Billsand scrutinize the work of the Government. Members of the House of Lords aren’telected; they either inherit their title or are appointed by the Government orshadow cabinet.

 

The membership of the House of Lords ismade up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are 26bishops in the established Church of England. Of the Lords Temporal, themajority are life peers who are appointed by the monarch on the advice of thePrime Minister, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission.However, they also include some hereditary peers.

 

Both the House of Lords and the House ofCommons are situated in the Houses of Parliament in London’s Westminster.

 

The center of parliamentary power is theHouse of Commons. Limitations on the power of the Lords is based on theprinciple that the Lords, as a revising chamber, should complement the Commonsand not rival it. The House of Lords rarely uses its power to delay passage ofmost laws for a year. Once passed through both Houses, legislation requires theRoyal Assent to become law.

 

The proceedings of both Houses ofParliament are broadcast on television and radio, sometimes live or moreusually in recorded and edited form.

 

General elections to choose MPs must beheld at least every five years. Voting, which is not compulsory, is by secretballot and is from the age of 18. The simple majority system of voting is used.It is called 'First-past-the-post', which is the name usually given to theelectoral system used for election to the House of Commons. In this system eacharea, or constituency, elects one MP from a choice of candidates. Voters canonly vote for one candidate and the candidate that gets the most votes becomesthe MP. Candidates are elected if they have more votes than any of the othercandidates, although not necessarily an absolute majority over all candidates.

 

Political Party System

 Thepolitical party system is essential to the working of the constitution. Althoughthe parties are not registered or formally recognized in law, most candidatesfor election belong to one of the main parties. Since 1945 eight generalelections have been won by the Conservative Party and six by the Labour Party.A number of smaller parties have national and local organizations outsideParliament, and are also represented in local government.

 

The Government is formed by the party withmajority support in the Commons. The prime minister is usually the leader ofthe party that holds most seats in the House of Commons. The Queen appoints its leader as Prime Minister. As head of the Government the Prime Minister appointsabout 100 ministers. About 20 ministers make up the Cabinet, the senior groupmaking the major policy decisions. Ministers are collectively responsible forgovernment decisions and individually responsible for their own departments.The second largest party forms the official Opposition, with its own leader and'shadow cabinet'. The Opposition has a duty to challenge government policiesand to present an alternative program.

 

The Prime Minister's official residence is10 Downing Street.

 

Cabinet

The Cabinet consists of a maximum of twenty-two paid government ministers chosen by the Prime Minister. They can beMembers of either House of Parliament. The Cabinet develop government policies and some members head government departments.