英美概况Section Three.doc

Section Three Politics and Law (Party politics) Political Parties P32 Party Politics ( based on A two-party system) p1 The two major parties p2 the Conservative Party the Labour Party The minor party History P33p1-2 British political parties date from the late 17th century, when the Whig and the Tory parties appeared during the time of the Revolution of 1688. Whig favoured protestantism and represented the interestes of landed aristocracy and big merchants -----------Labor party Tories represented the landed gentry and tradesmen-forerunners of the middle class ____ Conservative party. Labor Party and Conservative Party P33 Elections What is a general election? How often do general elections take place? When does an early election occur? What happened in an election? Who can stand for election as an MP? Election Campaign Elections P35 What is a general election? The election of all Members of Parliament (MPs) for each constituency (local area) is called a general election. How often do general elections take place? A Parliament has a maximum duration of 5 years. At the end of the 5 years or before, a general election must take place，so new members of parliament can be elected by the people. After the government has been in power for 5 years, it has to resign and hold a “general election”, in which all British people are given the chance to vote again for their constituency’s MP. When does an early election occur? When the government loses a “vote of no confidence” in the House of Commons, that is, an MP puts forward a statement for the MPs to vote on表决 saying that “This house no longer has confidence in the government”. If the Prime Minister decides that the government is currently popular, he can call for an early election hoping to win another 5 years. Who can stand for election as an MP? Anyone who is eligible合格的 to vote can stand as an MP. What happened in an election? Everyone on the “electoral register”选民登记册 will Receive a voting card→