CIVILISATION BRITANNIQUE

British civilisation

Table des matières

I] The UK: one country, four nations        3

A. The United Kingdom and Great Britain        3

B. The case of Ireland        3

C. The British Isles, crown dependencies and overseas territories        3

D. The British Parliament and devolution        4

Introduction to the chapter: London        4

II] London and the UK population        5

A. A city global city        5

B. The City        5

C. The authority in London        5

D. The disparities within the population        5

III] The monarchy: The diamond Jubilee        6

A. A constitutional monarchy        6

B. The Queen’s duty        6

C. Relationship with the executive branch        6

D. The House of Parliament        6

IV] The UK Executive        7

A. The executive and government structure        7

B. The Cabinet        7

C. Collective responsibility        7

D. Composition of the Cabinet (Make-up)        8

E. The Shadow Cabinet        8

V] Parliament        8

A. Main information on the Parliament        8

B. A parliamentary sovereignty        8

C. The House of Commons        9

Thursday, the 13th of September

Sablayrolles 🡪 francois.sablayrolles@univ-angers.fr

A few basic rules:

    • Focused on the lecture.

    • Be on time

    • Keep your phone off

    • Take notes

Between the lectures:

    • Be very disciplined.

    • Study your notes and make sure you have understood the lecture of the week.

The topics which will be discussed this term:

    • Present the structure of the UK.

    • Fundamentals institutions.

    • Introduction (Differences between the UK, Great Britain, England…).

    • London.

    • The British Monarchy.

    • The British Executive Power: The Prime Minister and the Cabinet (→ the Heart of the Executive).

    • The British Parliament.

    • The main political parties.

    • Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (Devolution!!).

    • Britain, the EU and Brexit.

Exam:

    • At the end of the term, will cover everything we would have seen until then → 1hour.

I] The UK: one country, four nations

        A state is a political and recognised entity. Nations are very different, they are not legal entities and politically recognised. They are groups of people, some sort of population which share a culture, common traditions, a same identity (ex: Brittany or other nations…).

        A. The United Kingdom and Great Britain

        The United Kingdom represents one country but four Nations (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Welsh). But Great Britain only represents England, Wales and Scotland. In 1536 Wales was annexed by England; there needed several acts to manage it, but in the end Wales was the first country to belong/be annexed to England. And in 1707 the Act of Union with Scotland was voted: it was made in two acts, one in Westminster (England) and one in Scotland. Therefore, was created Great Britain. Scotland kept its money, religion and legal system, but the Scottish parliament was dissolved so the Scottish matters were administered by Westminster. Great Britain should not be confused with the UK! Nonetheless, the UK is a unitary state which has a monarchy and a parliamentary.

        There are few nationalist sentiments, especially in Scotland as we might have seen during the Brexit referendum. Indeed, the United Kingdom may be one country, yet these four nations have differences. For instance, each nation has a different symbol (the rose for England, the leek or daffodil [= jonquille] for Wales, the thistle for Scotland and the shamrock for Ireland), or different capitals even though London is the capital of the United Kingdom (London for England, Cardiff for Wales, Edinburgh for Scotland and Belfast for Northern Ireland). Their anthems are also personal for each of them (God save the Queen for England, The Land of my father for Wales, Auld Lang Syne for Scotland and Londonderry Air for Northern Ireland), as well as their flags. The only flag that remains to represents the United Kingdom is The Union Jack.

        B. The case of Ireland

        Ireland is currently divided between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Norman the Conqueror’s presence in this former one-country began in the 12th century: these settlers became more and more civilised within the years, and they soon became more Irish than the Irish people itself. The conquest of Ireland was completed in 1601. The British therefore established their presence by encouraging during the whole 17th century English settlers to colonise Ireland. In 1800 there was an Act of Union with Ireland: it created the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland”. This act dissolved the Dublin Parliament so that Ireland became directly administrated by Westminster, just the same as Scotland.

...