Systeme Politique De La Grande Bretagne

POLITICAL SYSTEM in the United Kingdom

Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy. This means that the official head of the State is the monarch ( a king or a queen) but his or her powers are limited by the constitution. For years it has been Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The Queen

(Her full title is Her Most Excellent Majesty 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)

Her surname (if she had any) would be Windsor.

The Queen is only a formal and symbolic head of State.

Her duties are, e.g,.- she holds receptions and State banquets, she visits various parts of Britain every year, she gives audiences to the Prime Minister and other important persons, she pays state visits and undertakes tours in other countries of the Commonwealth, she formally summons and dissolves Parliament.(„The Queen´s speech“, with which the Queen opens each session of Parliament is prepared by the government and read by the Queen). Besides she is commander-in-chief of all armed forces and the head of the Church of England. She also awards various titles and orders, etc.

But in reality, the Queen acts only on the advice of her ministers. The monarch´s power of veto, which is not clearly defined, has not been used for over two hundred years, and so it has become a tradition that the royal power of veto doe not really exist at all.

Queen Elizabeth II was born on 21st April, 1926. She ascended the throne on 6th February 1952, after her father´s death (King George VI) and was crowned on 2nd June, 1953. The Queen´s husband is H.R.H. (Hir Royal Highness) Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. She has four children, three sons (Charles,Andrew, Edward) and a daughter(Anne). The eldest son, H.R.H. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, is the heir to the throne. In Britain a daughter succeeds only if there are no sons in the royal family. (Therefore of the 40 monarchs since the Norman Conquest only six have been queens: Mary I, Elizabeth I, Mary II, Anne, Victoria, Elizabeth II.)

The Queen´s residence in London is Buckingham Palace, in Scotland Balmoral. Officially Queen´s birthday is celebrated on June 6th.

Despite the scandals in recent years, the Royal Family is still loved by many people. The most popular member of the family is now Prince William.

The Constitution

of the UK is unwritten. It is based on custom, tradition and common law.

The Parliament

is the supreme legislative body and the highest authority in the UK. It consists of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. British parliamentary system is one of the oldest in the world, it developed slowly during the 13th century after King John´s signature of Magna Carta in 1215. The two Houses of Parliament share the same building, the Palace of Westminster on the left bank of the Thames.

The Queen formally summons and dissolves Parliament and opens each new session with a „speech from the throne“.

The House of Lords is made up of hereditary and life peers and peeresses, two archbishops and 24 bishops of the Church of England. Its main function is law-making.

The House of Commons consists of 650 paid members (MPs) who are elected at a General Election, which must be held every five years. Voting is not compulsory and is from the age of 18.

Another important parliamentary task is answering the questions. From Monday to Thursday all ministers must answer MPs´questions for one hour (questionig time). Two days a week the Prime Minister must answer MPs´questions.

All speeches in the House of Commons are addressed to the Speaker who is elected at the beginning of each new Parliament to preside over the House. In the House of the Lords it is the Lord Chancellor.

Scottish Parliament. A new Scottish Parliament was elected in 1999 and sits in Edinburgh. This is the first time Scotland has had its own parliament in 300 years.

The Government

is formed by the party which has the majority in Parliament and the Queen appoints its leader as the Prime Minister. The Cabinet is the executive organ of government. It´s made up by the leading ministers and heads of government departments (about 20 people). So the Government is a larger body (about 80 peple)

The second largest party forms the official Opposition with its own leader and „shadow cabinet“.

The present Prime Minister is …….., the head of the ……….. Party. The Prime Minister´s official residence is 10 Downing Street.

Political Parties.

In present-day Britain there are two big political parites, the Labour Party and the Conservative Party (they are still referred to as Tories). In foreign policy, the Conservatives and Labourists usually agree on the main issues and there is not much difference between the two parties.

The Political System in the USA.

The USA is a federation consisting of 50 states. In the American democratic system, rights and powers are divided between the individual states and federal government. The U.S. system of government is based on the Constitution adopted in 1789.

The federal government has three branches:

the executive ( the President and Executive office)

the legislative (both houses of Congress)

the judiciary (the Supreme Court and all other federal courts)

The three branches are designed to check and balance the others. (it is called a system of „cheks and balances“)

The U.S. were formed from 13 colonies. This is also represented on the American flag by 7 red and 6 white stripes.

The nation´s governing documents are the Constitution of the U.S. and its first 10 Amendments- also called the Bill of Rights- that were ratified in 1787. These

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