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TOPIC 63. THE BRITISH INSTITUTIONS. THE PARLIAMENT CHAMBERS. THE…
TOPIC 63. THE BRITISH INSTITUTIONS. THE PARLIAMENT CHAMBERS. THE GOVERNMENT. POLITICAL PARTIES AND ELECTORAL SYSTEM. THE CROWN.
INTRODUCTION
- The UK is a union of 4 nations (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) that are legally bound and they share many of the laws that are in force. However, there are occasions when the systems are different depending on the nation.
- The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has peculiarities which are essential to understand the uniqueness of the country. For instance, there's no written constitution, the laws are passed by means of jurisprudence and British citizens do not possess an identity card because it is considered as an attack to intimacy. They are one of the oldest parliaments and democracies in the world.
- Britain is a parliamentary monarchy and is ruled by a government headed by a PM who belongs to the political party with the largest amount of votes in the elections and representatives in the House of Commons and who names a number of ministers to develop the tasks promised before elections. This means that the UK is a democratic system with elections which change the head of the government but it also means a system that includes a monarch. Currently Charles III is the king, the head of the Monarchy and the Head of the Anglican Church.
- The most important political parties in Britain are the Labour Party (Whigs) and the Conservative Party (tories). There are also other parties with parliamentary representation, such as the Liberal Democrats, the Democratic Unionist Party or the Sinn Féin.
- The House of Commons is open to membership, whereas the House of Lords is closed to membership since a seat can only be obtained by heritage.
- Britain follow a set of rules of government about procedures and the amoount of power that the government is authorised to have specifying what they can or cannot do. These unwritten customs and rules are called "conventions"
BRITISH INSTITUTIONS
The UK is composed of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
There are also islands closely linked but not part of the UK; they are called Crown Dependencies which are self-governing jurisdictions for which the British monarch is the head of state and which have some degree of autonomy. Examples are Channel Islands and the Isle of Man . There are also several British territories overseas, which are under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the UK, often with a governor appointed by the monarch. Examples of it are Gibraltar, St Helena and the Falkland Islands .
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UK is governed by the parliament sitting in Westminster . Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also have parliaments or assemblies of their own, with devolved powers in defined areas.
The Uncodified constitution receives that name since the UK does not have a written constitution (because they did not have a revolution that made a total new system of government).
- The UK only have a set of rules and regulations constituted by jurisprudence, laws, various treaties and international agreements.
- Many of its founding principles and essential laws go back to charters and bills that were drawn up by the English Parliament long before the creation of the UK (The founding document of this constitution is considered to be the Magna Carta or Great Charter of the Liberties of England which King John signed in 1215).
- Other landmark bills that established the major new principles in the British Constitution are the English Bill of Rights and the Acts of Union of 1707 .
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- Under the uncodified constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch only after receiving the advice of the Privy Council. The PM, the House of Lords, the Leader of the Opposition, and the police and military high command serve as members and advisers of the monarch on the Privy Council.
CONCLUSION
- The Uk is a complex misture of nations and systems that make up one British identity. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England are ruled by one Government and it is headed by a Prime Minister. This emphasises the cultural, political, social identities that coexist in each one of the nations that form the United Kingdom.
- The monarchy also plays a special role in British political life, as the Sovereign holds several offices that are extremely relevant for the people of Britain and for other people around the world, where the King is Head of State. Currently he decides only symbolically and represents hundreds of yeras of traditions.
- There have been attempts to modernise the government and a new legislation has emerged in order to comply with the new demands of the members of the public. The FOI proposed by Blair's government and developed by Brown's ministers was initially seen in the white paper of 1997. A citizen's charter providing a code of practice was also published to offer access to official information.
HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT
ORIGINS
- "Mother of Parliaments" because it's the most **ancient** parliament
- in 1265, Simon de Montfort convened the first elected parliament of England. Since then, it has carried out its business on the same spot: the Palace of Westminster and the English Parliament operated steadily for 4 centuries (until the seventeenth century), acting as a counterweight to the king's power.
- From the 14th century, 2 chambers (House of Lords and House of Commons)
- 1642-1651:The English Civil war or Revolution was caused by King Charles I who was trying to rule without Parliament. This confronted the Royalist forces and the Parliament forces (under the command of Oliver Cromwell ) and ended in the victory of the Parliamentarians. From then on, the English Parliament was established as a vital force in running the country.
- In 1660 Parliament declared the restoration of the monarchy and established a system of parliamentary monarchy.
- In 1688, Parliament deposed King James II and invited Dutch Prince William of Orange to take the Crown of England. The success of the Glorious revolution followed the signing of the Bill of Rights, which made England more democratic (allowing the people to have the power to decide their future), establishing the role of parliament and the limits of royal power.
- In 1707, with the Acts of Union between England and Scotland, the English Parliament of London became the British Parliament.
- In 1911, the Parliament formally confirmed the supremacy of the House of Commons
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upper house
It's formed by 785 members.
- most members are Life Peers = former members of the House of Commons or former senior officials, judges or former business leaders, members of political affiliations (such as the Conservative and the Labour Parties)
- The other members are 92 hereditary peers (nobles) and 26 Bishops of the Anglican Church
its essential role is to investigate, revise and discuss non controversial subjects or examine in detail projects for which the house of Commons doesn't have time.
discuss, delay and suggest amendments to financial bills
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hold the government to account, reviewing secondary legislation
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THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
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it is composed of 650 members elected by universal suffrage.
- The life of a Parliament is 5 years.
- Elected MPs do not have a deputy so they must be called in order to elect a new MP in case of death or removal.
- Each MP represents a territory and the link is symbolically and historically important, standing for the public
It's structured with an official leader of the opposition and a shadow cabinet of spokesmen for the opposition
debates are devoted to projects of government legislation, to Private Members' bills or to Opposition motions.
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TERRITORIALITY
- British Parliament = of England and of the United Kingdom. It is sovereign.
- Parliament has delegated some of its powers to the regional parliaments or assemblies of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
THE GOVERNMENT = Westminster
the word "government" refers to the Political Party in power in Britain.
- It's also used to refer to individuals who have power in specific fields.
it is led by the PM (currently Rishi Sunak) who selects other ministers.
- The PM and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee known as the cabinet.
- The PM appoints about 20 senior MPs to become ministers in charge of departments
- is dependent on Parliament to make primary legislation.
- since the Fixed-terms Parliaments Act (2011) general elections are held every 5 years to elect a new House of Commons. After an election, the monarch selects as PM the leader of the party most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons by possessing a majority of MPs.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT:
- towns, cities, and rural areas are governed by democratically elected councils (called "local authorities").
- Local authorities provide a range of services in their areas. They're funded from the central government by local taxes
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DEVOLVED ADMINISTRATIONS
- since 1997, some powers have been devolved from the central government to give people in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland more control over matters that directly affects them.
- There's been a Welsh Assembly and a Scottish Parliament since 1999.
- Many other public services, such as transport, health and education, are controlled by the devolved administrations.
- Their members are elected by a form of proportional representation.
The Welsh Government
- it has 60 members of the Senedd and elections are held every 4 years using a form of propositional representation.
- they can speak either Welsh or English.
- Senedd has the power to make laws for Wales in 21 areas including: education, training, and housing.
Since 2011, the Senedd has been able to pass laws on these topics without agreement of the UK parliament.
The Scottish Parliament
- was formed in 1999 and it sits in Edinburgh.
- There are 129 MSPS elected by a form of proportional representation.
- It can pass laws for Scotland on all matters not reserved to the UK parliament (criminal law, health, education, planning, additional tax-raising powers)
The Northern Ireland Assembly
- was established soon after the Belfast Agreement.
- It has 90 elected members known as MLAs who are elected with a form of proportional representation.
- it can make decisions on issues such as education, agriculture, the environment, health and social services.
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it has the power to levy taxes, declare war, control the military, initiate foreign and domestic policies, and so on.
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ELECTORAL SYSTEM: held on Election Day (Thursday) and administered locally
There are 5 types of elections in the UK:
- General elections: when the voters of the country cast their votes to elect Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons.
- local elections: where people choose councilors who run their villages/towns/cities.
- Mayoral elections for a directly elected mayor with executive powers for a city or region.
- Police and Crime commissioner elections: There are 41 (PCCs) in England and Wales who are elected to make sure the police are run properly. They aim to cut crime within a force area.
- Devolved parliaments and assemblies
- by-elections (held to fill a parliamentary seat that becomes vacant between general elections)
The 5 electoral systems used are:
- First-past-the-post [vote for a single candidate in their constituency.The candidate with the most votes wins the seat]
- the multi-member plurality system [Voters choose multiple candidates (usually equal to the number of seats available)]
- the single transferable vote (rank candidates on a ballot)
- the additional member system [Voters have two ballots: one for a local candidate (like FPTP) and another for a party list]
- the suplementary vote (rank top two candidates in order of preference)
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