自考0522英语国家概况基础班课程讲义全Chapter07.pdfVIP

Chapter 7 Government and Administration 本章重点： 1.君主的权利 2.英国议会的组成 3.英国的内阁 4.英国的枢密院 Part Ⅰ. The Monarchy. 1. Constitutional Monarchy（君主立宪制）: The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy: the head of State is a king or a queen. In practice, the Sovereign reigns, but does not rule: the United Kingdom is governed, in the name of the Sovereign, by His or Her Majestys Government---a body of Ministers who are the leading members of whichever political party the electorate has voted into offices, and who are responsible to Parliament. This system began with the Glorious Revolution. The system of parliamentary government is not based on a written constitution. There is no written constitution in the United Kingdom, unlike the constitutions of most other countries, the British constitution is not set out in any single document. It is made up of statute law（成文法），common law（习惯法） and conventions（惯例）. I. The Monarchy 1. The Present Queen. The monarchy is the oldest institution of government, which can be traced back to the 9th century. The present Sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II, who was born on April 21, 1926and was crowned on June,1953. Although the seat of the monarchy is in Britain, the Queen is also head of state of a number of Commonwealth states such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In each such state the Queen is represented by a Governor-General（总督）, appointed by her on the advice of the ministers of the country concerned and completely independent of the British Government. The eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II---Prince Charles, who is the Prince of Wales, is the heir to the throne. Prince Charles and Lady Diana were married in 1981. Their wedding was one of the most lavish ever seen and was watched by 1,000 million people worldwide. The royal romance did not last, and the two separated in