Методический материал по теме UK POlitical System

UK POLITICAL SYSTEM

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy. This means that Great Britain is governed by Parliament and the Queen is Head of State.

The legislative power in the country is exercised by the Houses of Parliament. The British Parliament consists of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords is composed of hereditary and life peers and peeresses. The members of the House of Commons are elected by the people. They are elected from the constituencies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The House of Commons is the real governing body of the United Kingdom. The executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet. The government is usually formed by the political party which is supported by the majority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister is the majority party leader and is appointed by the Queen. The Prime Minister chooses a team of ministers; twenty of the ministers are in the Cabinet.

The second largest party becomes the Official opposition with its own leader and the Shadow Cabinet. The two leading parties in Great Britain are the Conservative Party (the Tories) and the Labour Party.

The judiciary branch of the government determines common law and is independent both of the legislative and the executive branches.

There is no written constitution in Great Britain, only precedents and traditions. <

Ex. 3. Сверяясь с текстом, скажите, в каком значении употребляются приведенные ниже слова.

to exercise - упражняться, тренировать, осуществлять a house - дом, торговая фирма, театр, палата a team - команда, упряжка, артель a branch - ветка, отрасль, филиал, ветвь a body - тело, группа людей, организация, орган power - сила, энергия, способность, держава, власть

Ex. 4. Найдите в тексте следующие глаголы.

поддерживать, выбирать, зависеть, состоять, определять, назначать, образовывать(ся), управлять

Ex. 5. Образуйте другие части речи отданных ниже существительных, power, government, election, opposition, independence, meaning, house

Vocabulary Notes

a constitutional monarchy - конституционная монархия

the Queen - королева

Head of State - глава государства

the legislative power - законодательная власть

to be exercised by - осуществляться (чём-л.)

the Houses of Parliament - парламент the House of Lords - палата лордов the House of Commons - палата общин to be composed of smth - состоять из чего-л. hereditary and life peers - наследственные и пожизненные

лорды и пэры

a peeress - пэресса a member - член (чего-л.) to be elected by the people - избираться народом to be elected from a constituency - избираться от избирательного

округа

the real governing body - реальный правящий орган the executive power - исполнительная власть Prime Minister - премьер-министр the Cabinet - кабинет

to be supported by the majority - поддерживаться большинством

to be appointed by - назначаться (кем-л.)

to choose a team of ministers - создавать команду министров

the Shadow Cabinet - теневой кабинет

the judiciary branch of the government - судебная власть

to determine common law - определять общее право

to be independent of smth - не зависеть от чего-л.

Ex. 6. Прочитайте текст и выявите информацию, которой НЕ было в Тексте 1.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy. This means that the government of the United Kingdom consists of a hereditary sovereign, an elected House of Commons and a partly hereditary House of Lords.

The sovereign has the title of King (or Queen). The Sovereign has very few functions that really matter, such as the functions of the arbiter of last resort (<арбитр последней инстанции) in some matters. These matters can be the dissolution of Parliament {роспуск Парламента) and invitations to form a government when there is no clear majority. The Queen is Elizabeth II.

The supreme legislative power is vested in Parliament, which sits for 5 years unless dissolved sooner. Parliament has two chambers: the House of Lords with about 830 hereditary peers, 26 spiritual peers, about 270 life peers and peeresses, and the House of Commons. The House of Commons has 650 popularly ellected members. The House of Commons is the real governing body of the United Kingdom. In order to become a law, a new bill proposed by the Cabinet must be approved by both houses of Parliament.

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.

The executive power of the Crown is exercised by the Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister, normally the head of the party commanding a majority in the House of Commons, is appointed by the Sovereign. The Prime Minister appoints the rest of the Cabinet. All ministers must be members of one or the other houses of the Parliament. They are individually and collectively responsible to the Crown and the Parliament. The Cabinet proposes bills and arranges the business of the Parliament.

Government in Britain since 1945 has alternated between only two political paries, the Conservatives (the Tories) and the Labour Party. No other party has been in office at all since 1945 and there have been no coalitions. The third long-established party, the Liberals, enjoyed moments of success, but no member of the Liberal Party has held government office since 1945.

Ex. 7. Ответьте на вопросы по-английски.

1. What does the term "constitutional monarchy" mean?

2. What body exercises the legislative power in the country?

3. How are the chambers of Parliament composed?

4. What body exercises the executive power?

5. How is the executive branch of the government formed?

6. What is the official opposition?

7. What does the judiciary branch of the government do?

8. Is there a written Constitution in Great Britain?