The British Government
Great
Britain is a constitutional monarchy.
It means it is a country governed by the king or queen, whose power is not
absolute but constitutional. It is also a parliamentary
democracy. That is, the country’s government is controlled by a parliament
which has been elected by the people.
Every
autumn at the State Opening of Parliament, Elizabeth II, who became Queen in
1952, enters the Houses of Parliament to make a speech. Crowned and wearing
many of the finest Crown Jewels, she makes her speech from the Throne in the
House of Lords. In her speech she says what “my government” intends to do in
the coming year. It is her
government, her armed forces, her law courts, her people.
In
practice, the reality is very different. The powers of the Queen of Great
Britain are only constitutional. They are limited by Parliament. When she opens
Parliament each year, the speech she makes has been written for her. She reads
out the script word for word. Although she appoints all the Ministers,
including the Prime Minister, everything is done, however, on the advice of the
elected Government, and the monarch takes no part in the decision-making
process. In reality, the Prime Minister is the actual ruler.
The
organs of government in the UK are:
·
the legislative
body, which enacts laws;
·
the executive
body, which enforces the passed laws;
·
the judicial
body, which interprets laws and statues; it is independent of the legislative
and executive bodies.
There is no written constitution in Great
Britain that can be refered to in a dispute, only precedents and traditions,
which have developed over many centuries.
The British Parliament
The British
Parliament works in a large building called the
Palace of Westminster or popularly known as the Houses of Parliament. It contains offices, committee rooms,
restaurants, bars, libraries and even some places of residence. It also
contains two large rooms where the two Houses meet.
The British
Parliament is the legislative body
of the government. It is divided into two chambers or houses: the House of
Commons (the Lower House) and the House of Lords (the Upper House).
The Tudor
dynasty established a system of government departments, staffed by
professionals from the common people. Thus Parliament was split into two ‘Houses’.
The House of Lords consisted of feudal aristocracy and the leaders of the
Church; the House of Commons consisted of the representatives from the towns
and the less important landowners in rural areas. The monarch relied on the
House of Commons for policy-making. Their voice was more decisive.
The
Members of the House of Commons are
known as Members of Parliament (called MPs for short)- with 659 elected
members. They are elected to the House at a general election for five-year
terms, or at a by-election following the death or retirement of an MP. Anyone
over 18 can vote, but it is not compulsory.
The
House of Commons is presided over by the Speaker. It is a very important
position. In fact, the Speaker is officially the second most important ‘commoner’
(non-aristocrat) in the kingdom after the Prime Minister. The Speaker chairs
and controls discussion in the House, decides which MP is going to speak next
and makes sure that the rules of procedures are observed.
Each
session of the House of Commons lasts for 160 to 175 days. MPs are paid for
their parliamentary work and have to attend the sittings.
The executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet.
The party which wins the majority of seats in the House of Commons forms the Government and the other parties form
the Opposition. The leader of the
ruling party usually becomes Prime
Minister, who then chooses about 20 or so MPs, who will run the different
government departments- the ministries.
Thus they make up the Cabinet, which
is the real governing body of the country. Each minister is responsible for a
particular area of government. The Opposition with its own leader form the Shadow Cabinet. Leader of the Opposition is a recognized post in the House of
Commons.
The
Prime Minister presides over the meetings of the Cabinet. The meetings are held
at No.10 Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister. It is a
very short distance from the Houses of Parliament.
The
Prime Minister is appointed by the King or Queen, and all other ministers are
appointed by him/her on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Prime
Minister is also responsible for the appointments to high judicial offices such
as the Lord Chief Justice. He may hold office for 5 years, unless defeated by
the opposition on any important Bill.
The
Cabinet proposes bills. In order to become a law, a new bill must be debated
and approved by both Houses of Parliament. It has to go through three stages
called ‘readings’. The first reading is a formality and is simply the
publication of the proposal. The second reading involves debate on the
principles of the bill and its examination by a parliamentary committee. The third
reading is the so-called report stage, when the work of the committee is
reported on to the House. If the majority of MPs vote for the bill, it is sent
to the House of Lords for discussion. When the Lords agree, the bill is taken
to the Queen to be signed. Thus the bill receives the royal assent and becomes an
Act of Parliament and the Law of the
Land. The Lords cannot veto a bill but they can delay it for a maximum of
one year. Financial bills cannot be delayed by the House of Lords.
There
are 1,223 members in the House of Lords. The Members of the House of Lords aren’t elected[1].
About 70 percent of them are hereditary
peers and peeresses because their
fathers were peers before them. The other 30 percent are life peers, whose titles aren’t passed on to their children. They are
officially appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Government for various
services to the nation. The House of Lords also includes 26 spiritual peers -2
archbishops and 24 bishops of the Church of England.
The
House of Lords is also the final Court of Appeal for Great Britain and Northern
Ireland.
The
Lord Chancellor presides over the
Lords. He presides sitting on the Woolsack.
By tradition the Woolsack is stuffed with wool from England, Scotland, Wales,
Northern Ireland and from Commonwealth countries[2].
The
peers’ benches in the House of Lords are covered with red leather. The benches
in the House of Commons are covered with green leather.
MPs
sit on two sides of the hall, one side for the governing party and the other
for the Opposition. The first two rows are occupied by the leading members of
both parties called front-benchers.
The
floor is also covered with green carpet bearing on either side a red stripe,
over which no member may cross when addressing the House.
Names:
Ceylon
[sı'lɔn]
Burma
['bǝ:mǝ]
The
Sudan [su'da:n]
Key Vocabulary:
Key Vocabulary:
monarchy ['mɔnǝkı]
n. - միապետություն
The
House of Commons n. – համայնքների պալատ (ստորին պալատ)
The
House of Lords n. – լորդերի պալատ (վերին պալատ)
legislative
['ledƺislǝtiv] adj. - օրենսդիր
executive
[ıg'zekjǝtıv] adj. - գործադիր
judicial
[dƺu:'dıʃǝl] adj. – դատական
statute ['stætju:t] n. –օրենսդրական
ակտ
precedent ['presidǝnt] n.- նախադեպ
by-election n. – լրացուցիչ ընտրություններ
rural ['rurǝl] adj. - գյուղական
decisive [dı'saısiv] adj. – վճռական
vote v. –քվերակել, ձայն, քվե
տալ
compulsory [kǝm'pʌlsǝrı]
adj. - պարտադիր
preside [prı'zaıd] v.- նախագահել
appoint v.- նշանակել
propose [prǝ'pǝuz] v.- առաջարկել
approve [ǝ'pru:v] v. - վավերացնել,
հավանություն տալ
royal assent [ǝ'sent]– թագավորական
սանկցիա (միապետի կողմից օրինագծին հավանություն տալը)
veto [vı:tǝu] v. –վետո, արգելք
դնել
delay v. - հետաձգել
hereditary [hı'redıtǝrı]
adj. - ժառանգական
peer [pıǝ] n. - պեր, լորդ, լորդերի
պալատի անդամ
title n.- տիտղոս
Count of Appeal n. –վճռաբեկ դատարան
The Lord Chancellor [lɔ:d '
tʃa:nsǝlǝ] n.- լորդ-կանցլեր
Woolsack n. – բրդով լի կարմիր
բարձ, որի վրա նստած նախագահում է լորդ-կանցլերը
stuff v. - լցնել
Commonwealth – Ազգությունների համագործակցություն
(Անգլիայի գլխավորությամբ)
row [rǝu] n.
– շարք
Talking
points:
1. What
political system does the UK have?
2. How
are the Queen’s powers limited?
3. Who
is the actual ruler of the country?
4. Name
the three branches of the British government.
5. Where
is the seat of the British Parliament?
6. Who opens
Parliament every year?
7. How
many Houses does Parliament consist of?
8. How many
members does each House have?
9. What
distinguishes the hereditary and life peers?
10. What
is the composition of the House of Lords?
11. Who
is the House of Lords/Commons presided by?
12. What
colour are the benches of the Lords Chamber/ Commons Chamber?
13. What
is a Woolsack?
[1] The
House of Lords is the only non-elected second chamber in the parliaments of the
world, and some people would like to abolish it.
[2] Many
countries all over the world were once ruled by Britain. All of them were included
into the British Empire and were its colonies. India, Pakistan, Ceylon, for
example, were among them. These countries are independent states now. In 1949
Britain and the former colonies founded the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth
includes many countries such as Ireland, Burma, the Sudan, Canada, Australia,
New Zealand and others. The Queen of Great Britain is the Head of the
Commonwealth and the Queen of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.