Goverment.pptVIP

British and American Government Chapter 9 Britain unitary monarchy (it began after the Glorious Revolution): has a strong central government lack a formal written constitution has highly disciplined political parties: A. the Conservative Party (Tories) the Labor Party little separation of power among 3 functions of government: legislative, executive, judicial The U.S. federal republic: has a weak central government (p.268) with a written constitution (the oldest written constitution in the world) has undisciplined political parties: two-party system/ bipartisanship The Democratic Party (donkey) more liberal believe in a stronger role for government has particular appeal to ethnic minorities and women The Republican Party ( elephant) more socially conservative favors state rights middle class, business interests and the farming community Unitary Government the central government has created local governments (53 counties/shires? 369 districts) it is the central government that causes the local units of government to exist the local government do not constitute a limitation on the powers of the central government Federal Government the small units (local governments) that come together to create a central or federal government the central government is powerless to change its structure. It depends on the 50 states for its structure, its powers and its existence. it sets more limits on the powers of a national government each of the 50 states in the U.S. has a unitary government democracy direct democracy A. Initiative 公民立法提案权 B. Referendum 全民投票 C. Recall 罢免权 indirect/ representative democracy Indirect/ representative democracy (U.K) king or queen : the symbol of the whole nation, has no real power House of Commons: it consists of 651 members of parliament (MP) House of Lords: to bring the wide experience of its members into the process of lawmaking (P. 280) the Privy Council: It formerly gave private advice to the King. S