英美文化基础教程，lecture 9.ppt

elections the monarchy is hereditary A General Election must take place at least every five years, held in every constituency (635) to decide which individuals shall represent them in the House of Commons. * Then the leader of the majority party with the largest number of members in the Commons is invited by the Queen to form a Government执政党, and he is called the prime minister. The party with the second largest number of supporters in the Commons becomes the official Opposition在野党，反对党 to the Government. The rule of Opposition is to help the formulation of policy, criticize the Government and debate with the Government影子内阁. * Gordon Brown (戈登·布朗) * * 2009年6月，戈登·布朗领导的工党政府的支持率持续下跌，卡梅隆曾呼吁举行临时大选。2010年4月6日，英国宣布解散议会，大选于5月6日举行。在经济危机和政治丑闻的双重背景下，这次大选被认为是自1992年以来，英国最激烈的一场选举。结果虽然保守党获胜，但未能取得过半数议席。由于执政工党未能成功与自由民主党合组联合政府，2010年5月11日伦敦时间晚上7时，戈登·布朗向英女王辞职，并举荐作为反对党领袖的戴维·卡梅伦筹组新政府。在觐见女王后，戴维·卡梅伦接任英国首相，并于7时45分于唐宁街10号门外召开记者会。 * 权力下放 除了位于伦敦的英国上议院外，现在苏格兰、威尔斯和北爱尔兰都拥有自己的议会，这些议会中的部分议院是按照比例代表制选举产生的。虽然这些二级政府拥有部分立法等方面的权限，他们的权力还是无法足够大到能与英国议会抗衡。三个地方议会之间的权限大小也各不相同。例如，苏格兰议会拥有立法权，而威尔斯议会政府则只能决定具体如何使用由中央政府分配给威尔斯的预算。此外，这些议会的存在不受宪法保障，它们的具体权责范围也可由英国议会决定增大或缩小。因此，英国被认为是一个权力下放的单一制国家。这与联邦制国家是不同的。在联邦制国家中，地方议会的地位得到宪法承认，其权限范围和职责都有明确保障，中央议会无权随意剥夺这些权力。英国政府目前的政策是继续下放中央权力。在未来的几年中，英格兰部分地区的民众将举行全民公决，以决定是否由民主选举产生地方政府领导人。 * The same: both have a parliament The difference: 1. Perhaps the most fundamental difference is the constitution - or the lack of one. The United States has a written constitution which is very difficult to change. The UK does not have a single document called the constitution but instead its constitutional provisions are scattered over various Acts of Parliament, any of which can be changed by a simple majority in the Parliament. contrast between the American and British political system *  2.Britain is a constitutional monarchy, the United States is The Democratic Republic Britain‘s head of state is King, there is no real power; President of the United States is the highest executive