The structure and composition of the British Parliament.

House of Commons and the House of Lords

The British parliament consists of the Queen and two chambers, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The functions of the parliament are to pass laws, to provide taxes and to control the actions of the government. The Queen still plays a role, but only a formal one. In law, she is the head of the executive, a part of the legislative and the head of the judiciary.

The members of the house of commons are elected directly by general majority in geographically defined parliamentary constituencies.The minimum age for franchise is 18 since 1969. At present, the house of commons is consisting of 659 MPs which are distributed on the base of the number of inhabitants (around 60.000 in each constituency in the United Kingdom) and the total number of MPs which is fixed only by the house of commons itself. The parliament has a quorum when 40 MPs are present. The legislative period lasts 5 years by law – in case. . .

This chamber is especially suitable for these tasks because its members are not involved in the classical obligations of party policies. Ministers of the cabinet have the possibility to resign from their position without giving up their membership in parliament. It has a quorum when three members are present.The House of Lords was formerly composed of the hereditary peers of the realm, life peers, Scottish peers, all peeresses in their own right, and 26 Anglican prelates. In 1999 both houses voted to strip most hereditary peers and peeresses of their right to a seat in the House of Lords; 92 of them remained, some by virtue of offices they hold from the monarch or were elected to by the House, the rest (75) as a result of their election to the body. Formerly headed by the lord chancellor, Lords is now presided over by a lord speaker, a post that was created (2006) when the lord chancellor's duties were reorganized. Commons is a democratically elected body of 659 members: 529 from England, 40 from Wales, 72 from Scotland, and 18 from Northern Ireland. The speaker, a generally nonpartisan presiding officer, is elected by members of the party in power. The prime minister must, by modern tradition, be a member of Commons; all other ministers of the cabinet may be from either house.Although two parties have tended to predominate, a third party has often been important, yet coalition governments have occurred only rarely. The party or coalition controlling a majority chooses the prime minister—the executive head of government—while the largest minority party not in the government functions in Parliament as “Her Majesty's loyal opposition.” When the government party is unable to obtain a parliamentary majority on important issues, it is obliged to call a general election for a new Parliament. Elections must be called every five years at the latest, but the government may call an election earlier, at a time of its choosing.Unlike in the U.S. system, there is no clear separation of legislative and executive branches of the government; the executive branch is, structurally, a committee of the legislature, but because of party discipline, the cabinet, as leadership of the majority party, controls Parliament, while being answerable to it. The British Parliament has had great influence as a model for legislative bodies in other democratic countries.

A draft bill can first be introduced to the house of lords by government. The house of lords canґt block the passage of financial bills. The cabinet appears along the pinciple of collective responsibility as a unit. of special national crisis, for example war, there can be exceptional decisions to break up the period earlier or lengthen it.Theoretically every member of parliament can initialize bills of law, practically most of the bills are initalized by the ministers in charge. This guarantees the prime ministers power as regards the ministers. There it has not to be voted on again to become law. It can block the passage of a bill for one year maximum. The secular lords are hereditary peers, peers appointed for life who are especially in charge of some tasks in the field of justice and the “lords of Appeal” or “Law Lords”, honorous jurists plus some other peers who are usually appointed because of their achievements in politics or other important areas of life. It is not possible for any member of the house of lords, certain clericals, employees of the government, peace lawyers or officers charged with realization of elections to be candidate for the house of commons.The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords (the upper house). Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 646 members, who are known as "Members of Parliament" or MPs. Members are elected, through the first-past-the-post system, by electoral districts known as constituencies, and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved (a maximum of five years after the preceding election).A House of Commons evolved at some point in England during the 14th century and, in practice, has been in continuous existence since, becoming the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain[1] after the political union with Scotland. The House of Commons was originally far less powerful than the House of Lords, but today its legislative powers exceed those of the Lords. Under the Parliament Act 1911, the Lords' power to reject most legislative bills was reduced to a delaying power. Moreover, the Government is primarily responsible to the House of Commons; the Prime Minister stays in office only as long as he or she retains its support. Almost all government ministers are drawn from the House of Commons and, with one brief exception,[2] all Prime Ministers since 1902.

10. The main functions of the British Parliament, the process of passing a
bill.Laws, in draft form known as bills, may be introduced by any member of either House, but usually a bill is introduced by a Minister of the Crown. A bill introduced by a Minister is known as a "Government Bill"; one introduced by another member is called a "Private Member's Bill". A different way of categorising bills involves the subject. Most bills, involving the general public, are called "Public Bills". A bill that seeks to grant special rights to an individual or small group of individuals, or a body such as a local authority, is called a "Private Bill". A Public Bill which affects private rights (in the way a Private Bill would) is called a "Hybrid Bill".

Private Members' Bills make up the majority of bills, but are far less likely to be passed than government bills. There are three methods for an MP to introduce a Private Member's Bill. The Private Members' Ballot (once per Session) put names into a ballot, and those who win are given time to propose a bill. The Ten Minute Rule is another method, where MPs are granted ten minutes to outline the case for a new piece of legislation. Standing Order 57 is the third method, which allows a bill to be introduced without debate if a day's notice is given to the Table Office. Filibustering is a danger, as an opponent to a bill can waste much of the limited time allotted to it. Private Members' Bills have no chance of success if the current government opposes them, but they are used in moral issues: the bills to decriminalise homosexuality and abortion were Private Members' Bills, for example. Governments can sometimes attempt to use Private Members' Bills to pass things it would rather not be associated with. "Handout bills" are bills which a government hands to MPs who win Private Members' Ballots.

Each Bill goes through several stages in each House. The first stage, called the first reading, is a formality. At the second reading, the general principles of the bill are debated, and the House may vote to reject the bill, by not passing the motion "That the Bill be now read a second time". Defeats of Government Bills are extremely rare, the last being in 2005.

Following the second reading, the bill is sent to a committee. In the House of Lords, the Committee of the Whole House or the Grand Committee are used. Each consists of all members of the House; the latter operates under special procedures, and is used only for uncontroversial bills. In the House of Commons, the bill is usually committed to a Public Bill Committee, consisting of between 16 and 50 members, but the Committee of the Whole House is used for important legislation. Several other types of committees, including Select Committees, may be used, but rarely. A committee considers the bill clause by clause, and reports the bill as amended to the House, where further detailed consideration ("consideration stage" or "report stage") occurs. However, a practice which used to be called the kangaroo (Standing Order 31) allows the Speaker to select which amendments are debated. This device is also used under Standing Order 89 by the committee chairman, to restrict debate in committee.

Once the House has considered the bill, the third reading follows. In the House of Commons, no further amendments may be made, and the passage of the motion "That the Bill be now read a third time" is passage of the whole bill. In the House of Lords further amendments to the bill may be moved. After the passage of the third reading motion, the House of Lords must vote on the motion "That the Bill do now pass." Following its passage in one House, the bill is sent to the other House. If passed in identical form by both Houses, it may be presented for the Sovereign's Assent. If one House passes amendments that the other will not agree to, and the two Houses cannot resolve their disagreements, the bill fails.However, since the passage of the Parliament Act 1911 the power of the House of Lords to reject bills passed by the House of Commons has been restricted, and further restrictions were placed by the Parliament Act 1949. If the House of Commons passes a public bill in two successive sessions, and the House of Lords rejects it both times, the Commons may direct that the bill be presented to the Sovereign for his or her Assent, disregarding the rejection of the Bill in the House of Lords. In each case, the bill must be passed by the House of Commons at least one calendar month before the end of the session. The provision does not apply to bills originated in the House of Lords, to bills seeking to extend the duration of a Parliament beyond five years, or to Private Bills. A special procedure applies in relation to bills classified by the Speaker of the House of Commons as "Money Bills". A Money Bill concerns solely national taxation or public funds; the Speaker's certificate is deemed conclusive under all circumstances. If the House of Lords fails to pass a Money Bill within one month of its passage in the House of Commons, the Lower House may direct that the Bill be submitted for the Sovereign's Assent immediately.Even before the passage of the Parliament Acts, the Commons possessed pre-eminence in cases of financial matters. By ancient custom, the House of Lords may not introduce a bill relating to taxation or Supply, nor amend a bill so as to insert a provision relating to taxation or Supply, nor amend a Supply Bill in any way. The House of Commons is free to waive this privilege, and sometimes does so to allow the House of Lords to pass amendments with financial implications. The House of Lords remains free to reject bills relating to Supply and taxation, but may be overruled easily if the bills are Money Bills. (A bill relating to revenue and Supply may not be a Money Bill if, for example, it includes subjects other than national taxation and public funds).

The last stage of a bill involves the granting of the Royal Assent. Theoretically, the Sovereign may either grant the Royal Assent (that is, make the bill a law) or withhold it (that is, veto the bill). Under modern conventions the Sovereign always grants the Royal Assent, in the Norman French words "La reyne le veult" (the Queen wishes it). The last refusal to grant the Assent was in 1708, when Queen Anne withheld her Assent from a bill "for the settling of Militia in Scotland", in the words "La reyne s'avisera" (the Queen will think it over).

Thus, every bill obtains the assent of all three components of Parliament before it becomes law (except where the House of Lords is over-ridden under the Parliament Acts). The words "BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's [King's] most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-", or, where the House of Lords' authority has been overridden by use of the Parliament Acts, the words "BE IT ENACTED by The Queen's [King's] most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Commons in this present Parliament assembled, in accordance with the provisions of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-" appear near the beginning of each Act of Parliament. These words are known as the enacting formula.

Judicial functions

In addition to its legislative functions, Parliament also performs several judicial functions. The Queen-in-Parliament constitutes the highest court in the realm for most purposes, but the Privy Council has jurisdiction in some cases (for instance, appeals from ecclesiastical courts). The jurisdiction of Parliament arises from the ancient custom of petitioning the Houses to redress grievances and to do justice. The House of Commons ceased considering petitions to reverse the judgements of lower courts in 1399, effectively leaving the House of Lords as the court of last resort. In modern times, the judicial functions of the House of Lords are performed not by the whole House, but by a group of "Lords of Appeal in Ordinary" (judges granted life peerage dignities under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 by the Sovereign) and by "Lords of Appeal" (other peers with experience in the judiciary). The Lords of Appeal in Ordinary and Lords of Appeal (or "Law Lords") are members of the House of Lords, but normally do not vote or speak on political matters .In the late 19th century, Acts allowed for the appointment of Scottish Lords of Appeal in Ordinary and ended appeal in Scottish criminal matters to the House of Lords, so that the High Court of Justiciary became the highest criminal court in Scotland. Nowadays the House of Lords legislative committee usually has a minimum of two Scottish Judges to ensure that some experience of Scots law is brought to bear on Scottish appeals in civil cases, from the Court of Session.

Certain other judicial functions have historically been performed by the House of Lords. Until 1948, it was the body in which peers had to be tried for felonies or high treason; now, they are tried by normal juries. When the House of Commons impeaches an individual, the trial takes place in the House of Lords. Impeachments are now rare; the last one occurred in 1806. In 2006, a number of MPs attempted to revive the custom, having signed a motion for the impeachment of Tony Blair, but this was unsuccessful.

11.The electoral system. Evaluation of the "majority electoral system" posting in Great Britain.

The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, with a reduced overall majority of 66 Members of Parliament (MPs). In 2007, Blair was succeeded as Prime Minster by Gordon Brown.1

The general election took place in 646 constituencies across the United Kingdom, for seats in the House of Commons. All but one constituency polled on 5 May; the South Staffordshire vote was postponed and took place on 23 June due to the death of a candidate.

The election was held under the first-past-the-post system. Local elections in parts of England and in Northern Ireland were held on the same day. The polls were open for 15 hours, from 07:00 to 22:00 BST. The election came just over three weeks after the dissolution of Parliament on 11 April by Queen Elizabeth II, at the request of former Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Elections are held in Great Britain for the national parliament in Westminster, the parliaments in Northern Ireland (Stormont), the regional councils and for the European Parliament. The turn out for council elections is traditionally low (40 percent and below) and even lower for European elections (between 32 and 36 percent). Between 72 and 78 percent of those entitled to vote usually turn out for general elections.The British electoral system is geared towards producing a majority for an individual candidate in each constituency. This system is known as the first-past-the-post system. The candidate for whom the electorate cast the most votes becomes the Member of Parliament for that constituency in the House of Commons. The term first-past-the-post is a metaphor form horse racing in that the candidate whose nose is in front of the others at the finishing post wins. Votes cast for the other candidates are disregarded The electoral system creates a close relationship between constituency and MP. Because ministers have to belong to one of the houses in parliament, a defeat in their constituency means they are unable to hold government office. The elected MP is traditionally the person to whom citizens turn with political and social questions and MPs are seen as messengers in the House of Commons. The MP is usually well known locally, but to win doesn't necessarily have to have been around for a long time. Candidates often carry out door-to-door campaigning during an election in order to speak directly to a large number of voters. A British election campaign is far shorter and cheaper than in Germany and uses less advertising money for things like posters and pop concerts Voting patterns The 1997 general election provided confirmation that voting patterns in Great Britain, like in other democracies, are becoming more influenced by issues and the presentation of the candidates in the media and less by traditional party ties. During the sixties the social background of individuals and the way in which they voted were strongly linked. The Conservatives were widely regarded as the Party of the middle classes and business community, while the Labour Party with its demands for the redistribution of wealth was the traditional home of the working classes. In 1964 approx. three quarters of the middle class supported the Conservative Party and two-thirds of the working class the Labour Party. While these sections of voters could still be identified for both the Labour and Conservative Parties in 1997, in percentage terms the number of middle class and working class people voting Labour had become closer. Indeed, the same is true for the Conservative Party. In addition to the reduced importance of social factors for determining voter preferences, the number of people that identify themselves with a party is also decreasing. In the mid sixties around two thirds of voters stated that they identified strongly with one of the political parties, today this figure has dropped to less than 40 percent. It is becoming increasingly tempting for voters to make their decision based on their own personal interests, political programs and candidate preferences, a fact that is reflected clearly in the tendency to vote according to what is best for one's own pocket. Increasingly, British voters are casting their vote based less on political conviction and more as "consumers" of the political policies on offer. The Labour Party rose to this strategic challenge by bringing into doubt the ability of the Conservative Prime Minister, John Major, and renaming itself "New Labour" for the coming election. To this end, Labour was successful in presenting itself as something new in the "marketplace", for which independent middle class people and even top company directors could vote. Even if the importance of social structures for voting patterns has reduced, it remains undisputed that the Labour Party still profits from these. People who belong to certain sections of society and perhaps have close links to trade unions or live in council-owned property are more likely to vote Labour. It has to be said, however, that such affiliations have generally become less important across the whole of society. In regional terms, support for the Labour Party comes mainly form Scotland, Wales, the north of England and the main urban areas. In the south of England it is often the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats who battle it out for votes. On top of the traditional nature of competition between the parties, competition for key policy areas is becoming more intense: Which Party do voters think most likely to create stable economic growth and guarantee law and order? Since 1945 these key areas of policy have been entrusted to the Conservative Party. 1997 represented a turning point for the Conservatives. Following the exit of the pound from the European monetary system in 1992 because of the pressure put on it by the financial markets, the Conservatives were unable to win back the trust of the electorate on economic issues. In addition to this, Labour also began projecting itself as the party of law and order. It also became clear that the Conservatives were having difficulty appealing to large sections of the population such as young people, ethnic minorities and women. And perhaps most surprisingly of all, even the business community on which the Conservatives has always been able to count were now expressing doubts about the Party's skepticism towards Europe.

12. The composition of the British Government. What is parliamentary government? The role of the British Prime Minister and the Cabinet. The "Shadow Cabinet" and its significance.

House of Commons and the House of Lords

The English common law legal system, developed over many centuries, is also the foundation of many legal systems throughout the English-speaking countries of the world.[43] It continued to apply in England and Wales after the Treaty of Union because the terms of the Treaty specifically guaranteed the continued existence of Scotland's separate legal system, which meant that England's system has also remained separate.The essence of English common law is that it is made by judges sitting in courts, applying their common sense and knowledge of legal precedent (stare decisis) to the facts before them. The court system is headed by the Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales, consisting of the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice (for civil cases) and the Crown Court (for criminal cases). The Appellate Committee of the House of Lords (usually just referred to as "The House of Lords") is presently the highest court for both criminal and civil cases in England and Wales though recent constitutional changes will see the powers of the House of Lords transfer to a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.[44] A decision of the highest appeal court in England and Wales, the House of Lords, is binding on every other court in the hierarchy, and they will follow its directions.Crime in England and Wales increased in the period between 1981 and 1995 though, since that peak, there has been an overall fall of 42% in crime from 1995 to 2006/7.[45]Despite the fall in crime rates, the prison population of England and Wales has almost doubled over the same period, to over 80,000, giving England and Wales the highest rate of incarceration in Western Europe at 147 per 100,000,[46]Her Majesty's Prison Service which reports to the Ministry of Justice, manages most of the prisons within England and Wales.

The Shadow Cabinet (also called the Shadow Front Bench) is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition (or the leader of other smaller opposition parties) form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government. Members of a shadow cabinet are often but not always appointed to a Cabinet post if and when their party gets into government. It is the Shadow Cabinet's responsibility to pass criticism on the current government and its respective legislation, as well as offering alternative policies.

n the United Kingdom and Canada the major opposition party and specifically its shadow cabinet is often called Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition[1]. The adjective "loyal" is used because, while the role of the opposition is to oppose Her Majesty's Government, it does not dispute Her Majesty's right to the throne and therefore the legitimacy of the government. However in other countries that use the Westminster system (for example, New Zealand), the opposition is known simply as The Parliamentary Opposition.Some parliamentary parties, notably the British Labour Party and the Australian Labor Party, elect all the members of their shadow cabinets in a partyroom ballot, with the Leader of the Opposition then allocating portfolios to the Shadow Ministers. In other parliamentary parties, the membership and composition of the Shadow Cabinet is generally determined solely by the Leader of the Opposition.In most countries, a member of the shadow cabinet is referred to as a Shadow Minister.

13.The Commonwealth of Nations and its role in the present world. Britain's contribution to this organization.

The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as the Commonwealth or the British Commonwealth, is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states, most of which are former British colonies, or dependencies of these colonies (the exceptions being the United Kingdom itself and Mozambique).

No single government in the Commonwealth, British or otherwise, exercises power over the others, as in a political union. Rather, the relationship is one of an international organisation through which countries with diverse social, political, and economic backgrounds are regarded as equal in status, and co-operate within a framework of common values and goals, as outlined in the Singapore Declaration.[1] These include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, individual liberty, egalitarianism, free trade, multilateralism, and world peace,[2] and are carried out through multilateral projects and meetings, as well as the quadrennial Commonwealth Games. The symbol of this free association is Queen Elizabeth II, known for this purpose as Head of the Commonwealth. This position, however, does not imbue her with any political or executive power over any Commonwealth member states; the position is purely symbolic, and it is the Commonwealth Secretary-General who is the chief executive of the organization.

Elizabeth II is also the monarch, separately, of sixteen members of the Commonwealth, collectively called the Commonwealth realms. As each realm is an independent kingdom, Elizabeth II, as monarch, holds a distinct title for each, though, by a Prime Ministers' Conference in 1952, all include the style Head of the Commonwealth at the end; for example: Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Australia and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth. Beyond the realms, the majority of the members of the Commonwealth have their own, separate heads of state: thirty-two members are republics, and five members have distinct monarchs: the Sultan of Brunei; the King of Lesotho; the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia; the King of Swaziland; and the King of Tonga.

lthough performing a vastly different function, the Commonwealth is the successor of the British Empire. In 1884, while visiting Adelaide, South Australia, Lord Rosebery described the changing British Empire, as some of its colonies became more independent, as a "Commonwealth of Nations"

Conferences of British and colonial Prime Ministers had occurred periodically since 1887, leading to the creation of the Imperial Conferences in the late 1920s.[3] The formal organisation of the Commonwealth developed from the Imperial Conferences, where the independence of the self-governing colonies and especially of dominions was recognised. The Irish Oath of Allegiance, agreed in 1921, included the Irish Free State's adherence to and membership of the group of nations forming the British Commonwealth of Nations. In the Balfour Declaration at the Imperial Conference in 1926, Britain and its dominions agreed they were equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations. This relationship was eventually formalised by the Statute of Westminster in 1931.

Remaining members gain independence

After World War II, the Empire was gradually dismantled, partly owing to the rise of independence movements in the then-subject territories and partly owing to the British Government's straitened circumstances resulting from the cost of the war. In 1949, the word "British" was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect its changing nature.[4] Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar, 1948), and Aden (1967) are the only former colonies not to have joined the Commonwealth upon post-war independence. Among the former British protectorates and mandates, those which never became members of the Commonwealth are Egypt (independent in 1922), Iraq (1932), Transjordan (1946), Palestine (which became, in part, the state of Israel in 1948), Sudan (1956), British Somaliland (which became part of Somalia, 1960), Kuwait (1961), Bahrain (1971), Oman (1971), Qatar (1971), and the United Arab Emirates (1971). The Republic of Ireland left the Commonwealth upon becoming a republic in 1949. However, the Ireland Act 1949 passed by the Parliament of Westminster gave citizens of the Republic of Ireland a status similar to that of citizens of the Commonwealth in UK law.

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