Chapter 7 Government and Administration 第七章英国政府机构
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy: the head of state is a king or a queen. The sovereign reigns but does not rule: the United Kingdom is governed, in the name of the Sovereign by His or Her Majesty’s Government, which is responsible to Parliament.
The System of parliamentary government is not based on a written constitution; the British constitution is not set out in any single document. It is made up of statute law, common law and conventions. The Judiciary determines common law and interprets statutes.
I．            The Monarchy 君主制
1．          Elizabeth II, her title in the United Kingdom is “Elizabeth the second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Her Other Realms and territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, and Defender of the Faith.
2．          The Queen is the symbol of the whole nation. In law, she is head of the executive, an integral part of the legislature, head of the judiciary, the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces and the “supreme governor” of the Church of England. She gives Royal Assent to Bills passed by parliament.
3．          The monarch actually has no real power. The monarch’s powers are limited by law and Parliament. Constitutional monarchy began after the Glorious Revolution in 1688.
4．          The monarchy is the oldest institution of government, dating back to the 9th century. The community of the monarchy has been broken only once between 1649 and 1660 (the commonwealth period).
5．          An important function of the monarch is to appoint the prime minister.
II. Parliament议会
1.     The United Kingdom is a unitary, not a federal, state. Parliament (at Westminster, London) consists of the Sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
2.     The main functions of Parliament are: (1) to pass laws; (2) to provide, by voting for taxation, the means of carrying on the work of government; (3) to examine government policy and administrations, including proposals and expenditure; and (4) to debate the major issues of the day.
3.     The House of Lords (with about 1200 potential members) is made up of the Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal. The main function of the House of Lords is to bring the wide experience of its members into the process of lawmaking. In other words, the non-elected House is to act as a chamber of revision, complementing but not rivaling the elected House.
4.     The house of Commons is elected by universal adult suffrage and consists of 651 Members of Parliament (MPs). The House of Commons has the ultimate authority in lawmaking.
5.     Britain is divided into 651 constituencies. Each of the constituencies returns one member to the House of Commons. A General Election must be held every five years and is often held at more frequent intervals.
6.     Britain has a number of parties, but there are only two major parties. These two parties are the Conservative Party and the Labor Party. Since 1945, either the conservative Party or the Labor Party has held power. The party which wins sufficient seats at a General Election to command a majority of Government. The leader of the majority party is appointed Prime Minister. The party which wins the second largest number of seats becomes the Official Opponents, with its own leader and “shadow cabinet”. The role of Opposition is to help the formulation of policy, criticize the Government and debate with the Government.
III. The Cabinet and Ministry 内阁和内阁部长
1.     The Prime Minister presides over the Cabinet, is responsible for th allocation of functions among ministers and informs the Queen at regular meetings of general business of the Government.
2.      Ministers are responsible collectively to Parliament for all Cabinet decisions; individual Ministers are responsible to Parliament for the work of their department.
3.     Prime Minister is appointed by the Queen and the ministers are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister’s official residence is No. 10, Downing Street.
IV. The Privy Council 枢密院
1.     The Privy Council was formerly the chief source of executive power in the state and give private advice to the King. So the Privy Council was also called the King’s Council in history. Today its role is largely formal, advising the sovereign to approve certain government decrees.
2.     Its membership is about 400, and includes all Cabinet ministers, the speaker of the House of Common and senior British and Commonwealth statement.
3.     A full meeting of the council is called only when the monarch dies or announces his or her intention to marry.
V. Government Department and the Civil Service
1. The principal Government Departments mainly includes: the Treasury, the House of Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defense…
2. Members of the Civil Service are called Civil servants. They staff government departments. Civil Servants are recruited mainly by competitive examination. Civil Servants do not belong to any political party. Changes of Government do not involve changes in departmental staff.
VI. Local Government 地方政府部门
1.     There are two main ties of local authority throughout England and Wales: counties and the smaller districts. Now, England and Wales are divided into 53 counties which are sub-divided into 369 districts.
2.     Greater London is divided into 32 boroughs.
3.     Scotland: two-tier basis: 9 regions are divided into 53 districts.
4.     Northern Ireland: 26 district councils are responsible for local environmental and other services.