Government and the Commonwealt

国家概况英国的政治，英国是一个单一制、君主立宪的民主国家，其核心是议会制，由众议院和上议院组成。

Government and the Commonwealth

• Constitution 宪法
  • Britain is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy拥有一位君主作为国家元首的议会民主选举制国家
  • statutory law（成文法）、{common law（判例法/普通法）、conventions（习惯法）}unwritten不成文
  • Statutory law is the most important and takes precedence（优先）over the others if there is a clash
  • statutory law：The Magna Carta《大宪章》、the Bill of Rights 《人权法案》
• Government
  • The Legislature 立法机关
    • Parliament is the law-making body of Britain.
    • The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is reigned over by the Monarch(君主统治),but ruled by the government(政府）
    • Crown 君主
      • The stability of the British government owes much to the monarcny英国政府的稳定在很大程度上要归功于君主制。
      • the King or Queen is the source of all government powers. They are the head of the legislative,executive and judicial branches, the commander-in-chief of all armed forces and the “supreme governor"of the Church of England.国王或王后是所有政府权力的源泉。他们是立法、行政和司法部门的首长，是所有武装部队的总司令，是英国国教的“最高总督”。
      • their role is symbolic, ceremonial and unpolitical.他们的角色是象征性的，仪式性的，非政治性的。
      • The importance of the monarchy is found in its effect on public attitude.It represents the continuity and adaptability of the whole political system and is a symbol of British unity,an indissoluble (牢不可破的) bond among people who retain many regional and cultural differences.君主政体的重要性体现在它对公众态度的影响上。它代表了整个政治制度的连续性和适应性，是英国统一的象征，是一个不可分解的(牢不可破的)保留许多地区和文化差异的人们之间的纽带。
    • the House of Lords 上议院
      • acts in a legal capacity as the highest court of appeal（上诉法院）
    • the House of Commons 下议院
      • The most important is drafting new laws and passing the law and acting.最重要的是起草新的法律通过法律并采取行动.下议院凌驾于上议院之上，特别是在批准中规定税收和公共开支的“钞票”。
      • The second function of the House of Commons is to scrutinize (仔细 检查) the actions of the government.第二个职能是审查(仔细检查)政府的行为。它可以通过不信任动议迫使政府辞职(不信任动议)
      • it has the power to supervised finance.它还拥有监督金融的权力。没有下议院的许可，政府不能合法地花钱。
      • The third function is to influence future government policy.第三个功能是影响政府未来的政策。
  • The executive 行政部门
    • The government is made up of the prime Minister，the cabinet ministers and assitants to the ministers.政府由总理、内阁部长和部长助理组成。
    • The Prime Ministers is the leader of the majority party in Pariament.首相是议会多数党的领袖。
    • Cabinet members are chosen by the Prime Minister from members of his own party in Parliament. 内阁成员由首相从议会中本党成员中选出。他们大多被任命为主管政府部门的部长。总理的作用传统上被描述为"平等中的第一位"。内阁一直由首相领导。
      • 内阁成员是首相的心腹，不一定是议会选举出来
    • The Cabinet is at the center of the British political system.It is the supreme decision- making body in the British government.内阁是英国政治制度的中心。它是英国政府的最高决策机构。
    • In addition to the Cabinet,the executive branch includes the Privy Council, serving ase body of advisors, which has about 500 members.除内阁外，行政部门还包括枢密院，它是一个顾问机构，有大约500名成员。他们由内阁成员、所有主要政党的领导人、议长、大主教、资深法官和一些其他重要的公众人物组成。以前，枢密院是一个权力很大的机构，但现在主要是礼仪性的。它的大部分权力掌握在内阁。
    • The Prime Minister, as the head of government,controls not only the Cabinet but also Parliament.Since the King or Queen's power is limited, the Prime Minister is in effect the most powerful leader in Britain.首相作为政府首脑不仅控制着内阁而且控制议会。由于国王或王后的权力有限，首相实际上是英国最有权势的领导人。
  • The Judiciary 司法部门
    • The judicial branch of the British government is rather complicated in that England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have their own legal systems, with minor differences in law, organization and practice.英国政府的司法部门相当复杂，英格兰和威尔士、苏格兰和北爱尔兰都有自己的法律体系，在法律、组织和实践上都有细微的差异。
    • Different types of cases are dealt with in specific courts. For example, all criminal cases will start in the magistrates' court (地方法院), but the more serious criminal matters are committed to the Crown Court. 不同类型的案件由不同的法院审理。例如，所有刑事案件都将在地方法院开始审理(地方法院)，但较严重的刑事案件则交由刑事法院审理。
    • Civil cases will somgtimes be dealt with by magistrates, but may well go to county court (郡法院）上议院管Again, appeals will go to the High Court and then to the Court of Appeal.民事案件有时由地方法官处理，但也可能交由上这院管县法院审理(郡法院)。同样，上诉案件将交由高等法院审理，然后再交由上诉法院审理
• Political Parties政党
  • the Conservative Party保守党（历史悠久，从光荣革命到现在）
    • Thatcher （1979-1990） 撒切尔夫人（铁娘子）
    • support free enterprise and privatization of state-owned enterprises(支持自由企业和国有企业私有化）、reducing the influence of trade unions（减少工会影响）、minimizing expenditures on social welfare（减少社会福利开支）
    • pragmatism（实用主义）and a belief in individualism（个人主义信仰）
  • the Labor Party工党（最年轻）
    • Tony Blair （1997-2006） “Third way”
  • the Liberal Democrats自由民主党（历史悠久，从光荣革命到现在）
    • ”middle party"中间党派
• Election 选举
  • A general election is held every five years.
  • The candidate who wins the most votes in each constituency becomes a Member of Parliament.在会边院成员每个选区赢得最多选票的候选人成为国会议员。（下议院议会成员）
  • Independent candidates are unlikely to win the election, for yotersd usually won't vote for them because even if they were to win the seat, they would be powerless in Parliament against the larger parties.独立候选人不太可能赢得选举，因为选民通常不会投票给他们，因为即使他们赢得了席位，他们在议会中也无力对抗更大的政党。
• The Commonwealth 英联邦
  • Origin of the Commonwealth
    • The British Commonwealth of Nations is the suecessor of the British Empire英联邦是大英帝国的继承者。
    • In 1949.the word "British” was dropped from the title of the British Commonwealth of Nations to reflect the new political status quo(现状). 1949年，“英国人”一词从英国人的称谓中删除英联邦反映新的政治现状.许多独立运动在其成员国内部开始。
    • In 1949 the London Declaration (《伦 敦宣言》),accepted and recognized India's continued membership a-a republic.1949年伦敦宣言(《伦敦宣言》)，通常被认为是现代英联邦历史上的里程碑，接受并承认印度继续成为共和国。
    • From 1960 on,new menbers joined the Commonwealth
  • Characteristics and Functions 特点和功能
    • a voluntary association of independent sovereign states, 独立主权国家自愿组成的联合体，所有这些国家都承认英国君主是联合体的象征性首脑。这些州大多是大英帝国的前殖民地，曾经被统称为英联邦国家。
    • to advocate democracy, human rights and to promote economic cooperation and growth within its members. 主要目的是倡导民主、人权，促进成员国之间的经济合作和增长
  • Menbers of the Commonwealth
    • The countries of the Commonwealth have a population of two billion people，some 30% of the world's total population.India is the most populous member whie Nauru(瑙鲁) and Tuvalu (图瓦卢) are the smallest.英联邦国家有20亿人口，约占世界总人口的30%。印度是人口最多的成员国，而瑙鲁图瓦卢(图瓦卢)是最小的。
    • After many years of development, the Commonwealth has become an organization composed of 54 countries经过多年的发展，英联邦已成为一个由54个国家组成的组织。由于成员国遍布世界各地，英联邦国家占据了每一个时区。
  • Organizations of the Commonwealth
    • The headquarters and the standing bodies of the Commonwealth of Nations are all located in London. 英联邦总部和常设机构都设在伦敦。
    • the Commonwealth Heads ofd Government Meetings (CHOGM) 英联邦政府首脑会议(CHOGM)，所有英联邦国家的国家元首在此聚会。每两年在不同的成员国举行一次会议，
    • the Commonwealth ministerial meetings held annually.每年举行的英联邦部长级会议。
    • 1. the Commonwealth Secretariat, which is the central body of the Commonwealth of Nations.英联邦秘书处，它是英联邦的中心机构。它执行协会54个成员国政府作出的决定，并组织英联邦部长会议；
    • 2.The Commonwealth Foundation, which helps civil society organizations promote democracy, development and cultural understanding英联邦基金会，帮助民间社会组织促进民主、发展和文化了解；
    • 3.Commonwealth Learning, which encourages the development and sharing of open learning and distance education.英联邦学习，鼓励发展和分享开放学习和远程教育。
  • Commonwealth Day
    • on the second Monday in March each year