Unit4ThePoliticalSystemintheUSandtheUK.docx

Unit4ThePoliticalSystemintheUSandtheUK.docx

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Unit4ThePoliticalSystemintheUSandtheUK

POLITICALSYSTEMINTHEUK.

Difficultpoints:

1.thefunctionsofthestateleadersandpartyleadersinthesetwocountries.

2.MakeacomparisonofthepoliticalsystemsbetweentheUKandtheUSA

Keypoints:

1.Thefunctionsofmajorpoliticalpartiesandothergovernmentorgansinthesetwocountries.

2.ThegeneralideaaboutthepoliticalsystemsintheUKandUSA.

TeachingAllotment:

Period1-2:

Review

Warm-up

Demonstration:

TextAPOLITICALSYSTEMINTHEUK

TheStructureofBritishGovernment

ØTheExecutive

ØMonarch

ØPrimeMinister

ØTheCivilService

ØThelegislature

ØParliament

ØHouseofLords

ØHouseofCommons

ØTheJudiciary

Casestudy

ØLaborParty

ØConsevativeParty

Period3-4:

Demonstration:

TextBPOLITICALSYSTEMINTHEUSA

TheConstitutionandtheBillofRights

–TheConstitution

–TheStructureofAmericanGovernment

•Thelegislativebranch（theCongress）;

•Theexecutivebranch（thePresident）;

•Thejudicialbranch（theSupremeCourt）

–Amoredetailedtreediagram

ØTheFederalSystem

–4basicprinciples

•republicanism

•federalism

•separationofpower

checksandbalances

Casestudy

DemocraticParty

RepublicParty

Summary

Assignment

Teachingprocedure:

Period1-2:

Review

T’llaskSssomequestionsaboutwhatthey’veleanredlasttime:

Q1:

WhenwastheU.Sfounded?

Q2:

whowasthesecondU.SPresident?

Warm-up

Talkaboutthefollowingpictures:

Whatrolesorfunctionsdotheyplayintheirrespectivepoliticalsystems?

•BuckinghamPalace:

Originallybuiltin1703,thepalaceisnowtheofficialLondonresidenceoftheBritishmonarchlocatedintheCityofWestminster.Thepalaceisasettingforstateoccasionsandroyalentertaining,andamajortouristattraction.

RoyalCoatofArmsoftheUK:

TheofficialcoatofarmsoftheBritishmonarch,currentlyQueenElizabethII.ThesearmsareusedbytheQueeninherofficialcapacityasmonarch,andareofficiallyknownasherArmsofDominion.

TheWhiteHouse:

ItistheofficialhomeandprincipalworkplaceofthepresidentsoftheUnitedStates.Builtbetween1792and1800ofwhite-paintedAquiasandstoneinthelateGeorgianstyle,ithasbeentheexecutiveresidenceofeveryU.S.PresidentsinceJohnAdams.WhenThomasJeffersonmovedintothehomein1801,he,witharchitectBenjaminHenryLatrobe,expandedthebuildingoutward,creatingtwocolonnadeswhichweremeanttoconcealstablesandstorage.

Demonstration:

TheStructureofBritishGovernment

ØTheExecutive

ØMonarch

ØTheheadofstateandtheoreticalsourceofexecutive,judicialandlegislativepowerintheUKistheBritishmonarch,currentlyQueenElizabethII.However,sovereigntyintheUKnolongerrestswiththemonarch,whoseroleislargelyasymbolicone.

ØThequeenpresidesovertheStateOpeningofParliament.

ØThequeenhastogivetheRoyalAssentofagreementtoanynewlawthatispassedbyparliament.

ØSheiskeptintouchwiththegovernmentbyaweeklymeetingwiththePrimeMinisterinBuckinghamPalace.

ØPrimeMinister

ØThemonarchappointsaPrimeMinister,whothenselectsabouttwentyotherministerswhomakeuptheCabinet.Inmakingtheselection,thePrimeMinistermusthavesomeregardforthefeelingsofthebackbenchersiftheywanttokeeptheirsupport.

ØTheCivilService

ØImplementationoftheMinister’sdecisionsiscarriedoutbyapermanentpoliticallyneutralorganizationknownasthecivilservice.ItsconstitutionalroleistosupporttheGovernmentofthedayregardlessofwhichpoliticalpartyisinpower.Civilservantsareofficialswhoservetheelectedpoliticalgovernment.Theythemselvesarenotelected,andremaininofficedespitechangesingovernment.Topcivilservantsofferadviceaboutthepossibleconsequencesofpolicy,andarealsoresponsibleforimplementingthepoliciesofthegovernment.

ØThelegislature

ØParliament

ØParliamentisthecentreofthepoliticalsystemintheUnitedKingdomandisthesupremelegislativebody.TheBritishParliamentconsistsoftwochambers:

theHouseofLordsandtheHouseofCommons.NowadaystheHouseofCommonsisthemostpowerfulpartofParliament.Beforethegovernment’spoliciesbecomelawstheyhavetobeapprovedbybothHouses.ParliamenthastoensurethattheGovernmentisworkingproperlyandthatitspoliciesanddecisionsareinthepublicinterest.

ØTheHouseofLords

ØTheHouseofLordswaspreviouslyahereditary,aristocraticchamber.Itiscurrentlyamixtureofhereditarymembersof26Bishops,800hereditarypeersorpeeresseswhohaveinheritedtheirtitlesandareautomaticallymembersofthechamberforlife,and387lifepeerswhoareappointedbytheQueenontheadviceofthePrimeMinister.TheHouseofLordsiscurrentlyalsothefinalcourtofappealwithintheUnitedKingdom,althoughinpracticeonlyasmallnumberoftheHouseofLords,knownastheLawLords,hearsjudicialcases.

ØHouseofCommons

ØTheHouseofCommonsconsistsof650MembersofParliament（MPs）whoareelectedbythepeopletobetheirrepresentatives.EachMPrepresentsthevotersinanareacalledaconstituency.MPsholdtheirseatsonlyforthelife-timeofaParliament.TheyhavetobereelectedwhenanewgovernmentisformedataGeneralElection.

ØTheJudiciary

ØTheLordChancelloristheheadofthejudiciaryinEnglandandWales.HeappointsjudgesandmagistratesforcriminalcourtsonbehalfoftheSovereign.TheLordChancellorfallsintoallthethreearmsofstate,takingrolesintheexecutive,legislativeandjudiciary.However,theConstitutionalReformAct2005removesmuchofthepowerinthislastroleandgivesittoothersintheBritishgovernment,mainlythenewlycreatedpostofSecretaryofStateforConstitutionalAffairs.

Period3-4:

Demonstration:

TextBPOLITICALSYSTEMINTHEUSA

TheConstitutionandtheBillofRights

–TheConstitution

–In1787delegatesfromthestatesmetinPhiladelphiatorevisetheArticles,buttheydidmorethanthat.TheywrotetheConstitution,whichwasfinallyadoptedbythethirteenstatesby1790.TheConstitutionisstillinforce.Itsetsthebasicformofgovernmentofthreeseparatebranches,eachonehavingpowers（’checksandbalances’）overtheother:

theexecutivebranch（thePresident）;thelegislativebranch（theCongress）;thejudicialbranch（theSupremeCourt）

–TheStructureofAmericanGovernment

–

–Republicanism

–Arepublicangovernmentisoneinwhichpeopleelectrepresentativestogovern.IntheUS,thepeoplevoteformembersoftheHouseofRepresentativesandformembersoftheSenate.

–Federalism

–Federalismisthedivisionofpowerbetweenacentralgovernmentandthestateunits.Whenconflictsemerge,thecentralgovernmenttakestheupperhand.Generally,thestateswererequiredtogiveupthepoweronlywhentheywereinthewayofaneffectivenationalgovernment.

–separationofpower

–Separationofpowersisthedivisionofthelaw-making,law-enforcingandlaw-interpretingpowersamongtheindependentlegislative,executiveandjudicialbranchesofgovernment.Suchadivisionisdesignedtopreventanybranchfrombecomingtoopowerful.

–ChecksandBalances

–Checksandbalancesmeanseachbranchofgovernmentscrutinizeandrestraintheotherbranchessoastopreventonebranchfromignoringoroverpoweringtheothers.Seeademonstrativediagramformoreinformation.

–CaseStudy

–MajorPoliticalPartiesintheUK

–HistoryofPartypolitics:

–Priortothemid-19th（loosealliancesofinterestsandindividuals）:

–TheTories（托利党）　　thelandedgentry,theChurchofEnglandandtheChurchofScotland

–TheWhigs（辉格党）　　thenewlyemergingmoneyedindustrialclasses

–

–Betweenthemid19thcenturyand1920s:

–TheTories　　theConservativeParty（保守党）

–TheWhigs　　theLiberalParty（自由党）

–Post1920s:

–TheConservativePartyTheConservativeandUnionistParty

–TheLabourPartyAlliancebetweenthetradesunionsandvarioussocialistsocieties（工党）

–TheLiberalDemocratsLiberalPartydeclinedandmergedwiththeSocialDemocrats（自由民主党）

–Introductiontopartypolitics

（2）

–Smallpartiesdonothavetheirplace.WHY?

–TheUK’sFirstPastthePost（简单多数票当选）electoralsystem.

–FirstPastthePostwascoinedasananalogytohorseracing

–1.Thewinneroftheraceisthefirsttopassaparticularpointonthetrack.

–2.Allotherrunnersautomaticallyandcompletelylose.

–3.Thepayoffis“winner-takes-all“（赢者统吃）.

–4.Thecandidatemustreceivethelargestnumberofvotesintheirfavourwins.

–TheConservativeParty

–TheConservativePartybelievesthathumannatureisimperfect,andmanneedtobeconstrained.Thereforecentralcontrolandastronglegalsystemisnecessarytoguaranteeindividualfreedom.Anysocialchangeshouldbegradualandcautious.Weshouldbepragmaticandcautious.Theyareconservativewhenitcomestotraditionalvaluesregardingfamilyandrespectforauthority,buthaveafree-marketapproachtotheeconomy.Theyalsostressitscommitmenttostatewelfareprovisionsasnecessary.

•History

1.TheToryParty（fromthelate18thandearly19thCenturies）

ThepartystilloftencalledtheToryPartyanditsmembersstillcommonlyreferredtoasTories.

2.Publicmembership:

thelargest

3.History:

theoldest:

4.Electionvictories:

themostsuccessfulinBritishhistory

5.Themostsuccessfulpoliticalpartyintheworld.

•Theofficialname:

TheConservativeandUnionistParty

1.OriginatedfromthemergewiththeLiberalUnionistPartyin1912

2.maintainedtheUnitedKingdomofGreatBritainandIreland（1886-1921policy）

inoppositiontoIrishnationalistandrepublicanaspirations

3.Scotland’salliedUnionistPartyindepen