UNIT II

The Political System.

Read and translate.

Text A.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional (or parliamentary) monarchy without a written constitution. The country has a monarch (a king or a queen) as its Head of State. The monarch has very little power and can only reign with the support of parliament. Parliament consists of two chambers known as the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Parliament and the monarch have different roles in the government of the country, and they only meet together on symbolic occasions such as the coronation of a new monarch or the opening of Parliament. In reality, the House of Commons is the only one of the three which has true power. It is here that new bills are introduced and debated. If the majority of the members are in favour of a bill it goes to the House of Lords to be debated and finally to the monarch to be signed. Only then does it become law. Although a bill must be supported by all three bodies, the House of Lords only has limited powers, and the monarch has not refused to sign one since the modern political system began over 200 years ago.

“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” is the official Head of State and, for many people, a symbol of the unity of the nation. For a thousand years England (and later the whole of the United Kingdom) has been united under one sovereign. The hereditary principal still operates and the Crown is passed on to the sovereign’s eldest son (or daughter if there are no sons).

The Queen has a certain role in state affairs, not only through her ceremonial functions, such as opening Parliament, but also because she meets the Prime Minister every week and receives copies of all Cabinet papers. Functions of the Sovereign are as follows:

- opening and closing Parliament;

- approving of the appointment of the Prime Minister;

- giving her Royal Assent to bills;

- Head of the Commonwealth;

- Head of the Church of England;

- Commander-in-Chief of the armed Forces.

The House of Lords has more than 1,000 members, although only about 250 take an active part in the work of the House. The chairman of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor, who sits on the Woolsack.

The House of Lords like the Monarch has now lost most of its powers and cannot influence the process of decision-making in Parliament. In practice, the powers of the House of Lords have been truncated to limited revising and delaying functions. Members of the House of Lords debate a bill after it has been passed by the House of Commons. Changes may be recommended, and agreement between the two Houses is reached by negotiation. The Lord’s main power consists of being able only to delay non-financial bills passed by the House of Commons for a period of a few months, but they can also introduce certain types of bills. One of the oldest functions of the House of Lords is judicial. It works as the highest and final Court of Appeal.

The two Houses of Parliament, the Lords and the Commons share the same building, the Palace of Westminster.

The House of Commons is made up of 650 elected members, known as Members of Parliament, or MPs. The Commons debating chamber, usually called “the House”, and has seats for only about 370 MPs. They are elected by popular vote and represent the counties and borough constituencies.

The House of Commons is presided over by the Speaker. A Speaker is customarily reappointed to his office in each new Parliament. As soon as a party member becomes a Speaker he must abandon party politics.

The life of Parliament is divided into periods called “sessions’. A session normally lasts for about a year, from late October of one year to about the same date of the next year. MPs have holidays of about four weeks over Christmas, two weeks each at Easter and Whitsun, and about eleven weeks – from early August to mid-October – in the summer.

The beginning of a new session, called “the State Opening of Parliament”, is a fine ceremonial occasion, beginning with the royal procession from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster.

The United Kingdom is divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies, each with an electorate of about 60,000 voters. Each constituency is represented by one Member of Parliament in the House of Commons. The main political parties are usually represented at the elections and sometimes candidates representing minority parties stand. The winner is the candidate who gets more votes than any other single candidate.

The leader of the party with most votes becomes Prime Minister and forms a government, which can remain in power for up to five years. The second biggest party becomes the official Opposition. Its leader forms a “Shadow Cabinet”.

The Prime Minister chooses the date of the next General elections, but doesn’t have to wait until the end of five years. Voting takes place on Polling Day. The national result is known by the next morning at the latest.

As soon as it is clear that one party has a majority of seats in the House of Commons, its leader is formally invited by the Sovereign to form a government. The modern government is arranged in about fifteen departments each with a minister at its head. Normally, all the heads of the departments are members of the House of Commons, though sometimes one is in the House of Lords. They form the cabinet, which meets about once a week in Number 10 Downing Street, a rather ordinary-looking house, which also contains the Prime Minister’s personal office.

Exercise 1. Turn the following nouns into adjectives.

Constitution; politics; symbol; ceremony; parliament; democracy; finance; royalty.

Exercise 2. Find English equivalents in the text.

Избирательный округ; представить законопроект; оставаться у власти; быть сторонником чего-либо; наследственный принцип; ограниченные полномочия; достигать соглашения; представлять на выборах; судебная функция; подписывать документы; государственные дела.

Exercise 3. Complete the following sentences.

1) The United Kingdom is divided into …

2) Prime Minister is the leader of the party that …

3) The role of the monarch is …

4) The executive power in the UK belongs to …

5) The House of Lords can not reject bills that …

6) A “Shadow Cabinet” is formed by …

7) Members of the Government are not elected by the House of Commons, they are…

8) The official residence of the British Prime Minister is ...

9) The party which has majority of seats in the House of Commons forms …

10) MPs have holidays which last … .

Exercise 4. Agree or disagree to the following. Give your comments.

1) The Queen’s powers in Britain are unlimited.

2) The Prime Minister is the leader of the party, which has majority in the House of Lords.

3) The Queen opens the first session of Parliament with a throne speech.

4) The Royal family is the principal aristocratic house in Britain.

5) The Cabinet formulates comprehensive policy covering all major issues both at home and abroad.

6) The maximum life of the House of Commons has been restricted to 4 years since the Parliament Act 1911.

7) The House of Lords can influence the process of decision making in Parliament.

8) A bill becomes Act of Parliament when the Speaker signs it.

Exercise 5. Discuss the following points.

1) What do you see as advantages and disadvantages of having a monarch?

2) Which members of the Royal family are best known in Russia? Why?

3) What differences are there between Parliament and the Government?

4) What do you know about the elective procedure to the House of Lords?

5) List the differences and similarities between the UK parliamentary system and that of Russia.

Exercise 6. Divide the text into several logical parts and think of the title for each part of the text.

Exercise 7. Translate into English.

1) В Великобритании нет избираемого отдельно президента, их премьер – лидер крупнейшей партии в парламенте.

2) Премьер-министр назначает министров, которые с помощью государственной службы руководят различными министерствами.

3) Самые важные министры во главе с премьер-министром образуют кабинет из примерно 20 членов.

4) Предложения правительства выносятся на обсуждение парламента: они дебатируются в палате общин, а позднее – в палате лордов.

5) Исторически парламентская система стала источником как законодательной, так и исполнительной власти.

6) Британское изобретение – должным образом выстроенная «лояльная оппозиция», которая обладает не только правом, но и обязанностью оппонировать правительству.

7) Права британского монарха носят формальный, а не практический характер.

8) Каждый вторник, когда королева в Лондоне, премьер отправляется в Букингемский дворец, чтобы проинформировать ее о событиях.

Exercise 8. Find some additional information on one of the following topics and describe it.

1) The Royal family.

2) The electoral system of Great Britain.

3) Procedure of passing bills.

4) The Prime minister’s duties.

5) Parliamentary monarchy.

Read and translate.

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