【英语专业课堂展示】英美政体及选举制度对比.ppt

Election campaigns in in the UK The United Kingdom has five distinct types of elections: UK general elections, elections to national/regional parliaments and assemblies, elections to the European Parliament, local elections and mayoral elections. Elections are traditionally held on Thursdays. General elections do not have fixed dates, but must be called within five years of the last election. Other elections are held on fixed dates though in the case of the devolved assemblies and parliaments, early elections can occur in certain situations. Six different electoral systems are currently used: single member plurality system (First Past the Post), multi member plurality system, Party list, Single Transferable Vote, Additional Member System and Supplementary Vote. General election United Kingdom general elections are the elections held when the Members of Parliament (MPs) forming the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom are elected. At the 2005 general election, there were 646 constituencies, thus 646 MPs were elected to Parliament. Almost all candidates are members of a political party and the majority of voters in the UK choose who to vote for based on the candidates parties, rather than the personalities or opinions of the individual candidates. Eligibility Anyone who is a citizen of the UK, the Republic of Ireland, or of a Commonwealth country, or over on the date of the election is eligible to vote, or have been convicted of corrupt or illegal practices in connection with an election within the previous five years. UK citizens who have moved abroad remain eligible to vote for 15 years thereafter. They would vote for the MP of the constituency in which they lived before they moved abroad. Voters must appear on the electoral register in order to vote. The right of Irish and Commonwealth citizens to vote is strange by the standards of elections across the world, as citizenship and the right to vote are usually synonymous. ? Tim