Реферат: British parliament

                                Plan

1.<span Times New Roman"">     

Intraduction

2.<span Times New Roman"">     

The   queen and  the  parliament

3.<span Times New Roman"">     

The  main part

A .The  British  Constitution

B.<span Times New Roman"">    

The  Monarchy Britian

C.The  Function  of Parliament

E.Elections

F.The Government

G.The Opposition.H.The Cabinet

I.The Parties

4.The Make up of the House of Commons  Members of  Parliament

A.The Passing of Laws

5.In the House of Commons

6.The  Make up  of  the House  of  Lords

7.In the House of Lords

A.Raising Bills in the House of Lords
B.Overruling   the House  of  Lords

8.Private  Members  Bills

9.Devolution

10.Gladstone  in  Government and   his   as a  Prime  Minister,his administrations

11.Visiting  the  houses of  Parliament

12.Executive

13.Local  government

14.Health  and  Welfare

15.Defense

16.Customs  and  Traditions

<span UkrainianAcademy",«serif»;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;layout-grid-mode:line">17.The Comparison Of Two Political Systems:Ukrainian And British Ones.

18.Summery

19.Conclusion

20.The  litaruture

<span Times New Roman",«serif»; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;text-underline: none">                                         <span Times New Roman",«serif»">Introduction


The State System of any nation is not an artificial creation of some genius orsimply the embodiment of different rational schemes. It is nothing else but awork of many centuries, a product of a national spirit, a political mentalityand the consciousness of people.
I have chosen the topic because of its obvious importance. Ukraine is buildinga sovereign state and it is encounteing a lot of problems. Ukraine is sufferingan overall deep crisis, trying to set herself free from the persistentinheritance of totalitarianism preying upon economic, politic, nationalself-consciousness. There is no universally efficient remedy to help theUkrainian society out of this grave condition. The process of recovery will belong and arduous. Moreover, the country’s eventual deliverance fromtotalitarian inheritance and its harmonious entry into civilized worldcommunity remain for that matter, hardly practicable at all, unless politicalculture is humanized, and political education of such a kind propagated thatwould help society overcome the backwardness, the pre-modernity of prevailing visionsof justice, democracy, law and order, and the relationship of the individualand the state.
It is quite clear that in the process of democracy formation a lot of problemsconnected with it will inevitably appear. Many of them already exist. In this solution,a considered usage of foreign experience can help the Ukrainian community tooptimize the processes essential for the transitional period from one politicalsystem to another, and not to allow the social prevailing tensions to developinto a national civil crisis. And it will also help to save time and resources.

<span Times New Roman",«serif»; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;layout-grid-mode:both"> <span Times New Roman",«serif»; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;layout-grid-mode:both">THE  QUEEN AND   THE  PARLIAMENT<span Times New Roman",«serif»;mso-ansi-language:EN-US; layout-grid-mode:both;font-weight:normal">

Great Britain is a constitutionalmonarchy. This means that it has a monarch as its Head of the State. Themonarch reigns with the support of Parliament. The powers of the monarch arenot defined precisely. Everything today is done in the Queen’s name. It is hergovernment, her armed forces, her law courts and so on. She appoints all theMinisters, including the Prime Minister. Everything is done however on theadvice of the elected Government, and the monarch takes no part in thedecision-making process.

  It is  rather  difficult to  understant  the  British way of ruling the  country.In  Britain  the Queen  is  the Head  of  State,but in  fact  she doesnt  rule  the country  as  she has  no  power.The Queen is  a  symbol of  the  country histary  and  its traditions.She  is  very  rich.She  travels  about the  united  kingdom,meets different  people  and visits  schools,hospitals  and other  special  places.So do  all  the members  of  the  royal  family  the Queens  husbend,her  son Prince  Charles,the  Queen’s daughter  Princess  Anna and  Princess  Margaret.

    At the  beginning  of the  century  many countries  all  over the  world  were ruled  by  Britain.All of  them  were included  into  the British  empire  and were  its  colonies:

 India,Pakistan,Cyellon,for example,,were  among  them.

  Now these  countries  are independent  states.But  in 1949  Britain  ant the  former  colonies founded  the  Commonwealth.The   Commonwealth includes  many  countries such  as  Ireland,Canada,Australia,New  zealand and  others.The  Queen of  Great  Britain   is  also  the Head  of  Commonwealth and  the  queen of  Canada,Australia,New  zealand.

  The real  power  in the  country  belongs to  the  British Government. How    and  when is  built  the British  government  we will  say  under it.

 

The British Parliament has been inexistence since 1215, when King John signed the Magna Carta, and is one of theoldest in the world. The workings of it have changed through the ages and belowis a brief description of the ways in which it works.

Parliament consists of twochambers, the House of Commons, consisting of members of parliament who areelected, and the House of Lords, consisting of unelected peers. The Sovereign,at the moment Queen Elizabeth II, is the third part of the Parliament. Thegovernment is officially known as Her Majesty's Government. The Queen has, inprinciple, a lot of power over the government, but chooses not to exercise thatpower. This position has emerged through the ages, though at one time theSovereign exercised a lot of power over the government, and the country.

 In principle, the “Crown in Parliament” is supreme. Thismeans that legislation passed by Parliament, which consists of the House ofCommons (elected directly by the people) and the House of Lords (made up ofhereditary peers and appointive members—archbishops, senior bishops, law lords,and life peers) becomes law upon royal assent. In practice, legislation isdominated by the prime minister and the cabinet, who initiate virtually allproposed bills and who are politically responsible for the administration of thelaw and the affairs of the nation. Fiscal legislation is always initiated inthe House of Commons, and other legislation almost always. Since the ParliamentAct of 1911, the House of Lords has been unable to block fiscal legislation. Bythe terms of the Parliament Act of 1949, the Lords may not disapprove otherbills if they have been passed by two successive annual sessions of theCommons. The power of the Crown to veto legislation has not been exercised inover 280 years.

 

The British Constitution. 

 

TheBritish Constitution is to a large extent a product of many historical eventsand has thus evolved aver many centuries. Unlike the constitutions of mostother countries, it is not set out in any single document. Instead it is madeup of statute law, common law and conventions. The constitution can be changeby Act of Parliament, or by general agreement to alter a convention. 

The Monarchy in Britain. 

 

Whenthe Queen was born on 21 April 1926, her grandfather, King George V, was on thethrone and her uncle was his heir. The death of her grandfather and theabdication of her uncle (King Edward VIII) brought her father to the throne in1936 as King George VI. Elizabeth II came to the throne an 6 February 1952 andwas crowned on 2 June 1953. Since then she made many trips to differentcountries and to the UK also. The Queen is very rich, as are others members ofthe royal family. In addition, the government pays for her expenses as Head ofthe State, for a royal yacht, train and aircraft as well as for the upkeep ofseveral palaces. The Queen’s image appears on stamps, notes and coins.

The Functions of Parliament.

The main functions of Parliamentare: to pass laws; to provide, by voting taxation, the means of carrying on thework of government; to scrutinise government policy and administration; todebate the major issues of the day. In carrying out these functions Parliamenthelps to bring the relevant facts and issues before the electorate. By custom,Parliament is also informed before all-important international treaties andagreements are ratified.

A Parliament has a maximum durationof five years, but in practice general elections are usually held before theend of this term. Parliament is dissolved and rights for a general election areordered by the Queen on the advice ofthe Prime Minister. The life of a Parliament is divided into sessions. Eachusually lasts for one year – normally beginning and ending in October orNovember. The adverse number of «sitting» days in a session is about168 in the House of Commons and about 150 in the House of Lords. At the startof each session the Queen's speech to Parliament outlines the Government’spolicies and proposed legislative programme.

<span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode:both">Elections

At least every five years there isa general election, when the MPs are elected. The Prime Minister decides on thetiming of the election, and can call an election at any time, but one must becalled within five years of the one before. It is usual for an election to becalled after four years. A motion of no confidence can be brought against agovernment, which, if successful, will result in an early general election.They are rare however, and are likely to bolster support for the government ifit fights off such a challenge.

There is potential for a by-electionwhere one constituency has to elect a new MP. This happens if the MP cannotserve as MP, such as if they die, resign, or become a member of the House ofLords .This allows a new MP to beelected.

<span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode:both">The Government

After a general election, in general,the party with the most MPs become the government, and the party with the nextlowest number of MPs forms the official opposition. This always happens if oneparty has a majority of MPs. The leader of the government party will become thePrime Minister. The government in the House of Commons sits on the governmentbenches, and the opposition and all other MPs sit on the opposition benches onthe other side of the House.

It is usually necessary for agovernment to have the majority of the MPs in the country. If no party has anoverall majority, the party with the most MPs has the first chance to form acoalition. In a coalition government, the government consists of two partiesrather than one, and there will need to be some compromise on issues where theparties disagree, although the coalition will almost certainly be betweenparties with similar views. It is usually advantageous to both parties, whohave more power together than they would otherwise.

<span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode:both">The Opposition

The official opposition has few privilegesattached to it, but usually the opposition has a greater voice in speaking outagainst the government, and the media will pay more attention to the oppositionthan more minor parties. There is very little that the opposition can do thatother parties cannot, but the opposition having more MPs has more power tooppose laws, especially if the government is divided over an issue. It can alsouse this power to help it dictate the business of the House.

<span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode:both">The Cabinet

The Cabinet are the main people whorun the country, with the Prime Minister in charge, and other ministers havingtheir own department or ministry. They are each responsible for some area ofpublic policy such as education, health and transport. A minister has somefreedom in the decisions (s)he can make, but in some cases legislation isneeded, which requires the support of both houses of Parliament (see 'ThePassing of Laws' below)

Ministers are chosen by the PrimeMinister, and are usually chosen from the government party. Most cabinet postsneed to be held by MPs. Some minor posts can be held by members of the House ofLords, but only MPs can debate issues in the House of Commons, so it would beunlikely for someone not an MP to have a high profile role in the government,as they would not be able to defend their position in the House of Commons.

<span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode:both">The Parties

Most parties give their leader, andother important party members, a safe seat  to represent. It would be apolitical embarrassment if the party leader, or high-profile members of a party,were to be elected out of office. In the case of a cabinet minister, theycould not serve as minister until, and unless, they are re-elected. It ispossible for a member of a political party to stand for election in anyconstituency, but they could be expelled from a party for standing against oneof their fellow party members, and this is not usually in the interests ofeither, as they could split the vote, and allow another party in.

 

The Make up of the House of Commons

Members of Parliaments

The House of Commons consists ofMembers of Parliament, who are elected. The United Kingdom  is split intoconstituencies, and each constituency votes for an MP (Member of Parliament) torepresent them, using the 'first past the post' system.

EachMP is a member of one of the political parties, or an independent candidate,and this is stated on the ballot paper. There is no requirement to be a memberof one of the parties, but most MPs are party members.

The Passing of Laws

In the House of Commons

Almost all laws that are made areproposed by the Cabinet. The Cabinet, through a relevant minister, proposeslaws to the House of Commons, and then there is a debate on the issues. Thebills, go through a number of stages in the House of Commons. First, the billis announced in brief. This is called the first reading. Within a fortnight,the principles and some of the detail of the bill are announced, and they aredebated. This is the second reading. Here, there is a vote, and if the bill isnot supported, then it cannot proceed further. Assuming a vote is successful,then it is passed on to the committee stage.

At the committee stage, the bill isdiscussed in minute detail. A committee is a number of MPs meeting to discussthe bill. Sometimes a standing committee is set up to discuss the bill.Sometimes, a select committee, dealing with a certain area of government maydiscuss the bill. On very important matters, the committee may consist of thewhole House of Commons or both houses of parliament.

After this stage, the committeereport back to the House of Commons. Amendments to the bill can be proposed atthis stage. The individual details of the bill cannot be discussed, however.This precedes the third reading, where the bill with any amendments is announcedto the House of Commons. If the House approves, then the bill is passed to theHouse of Lords.

<span Times New Roman",«serif»;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;layout-grid-mode:both"> <span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode:both">The Make up of the House ofLords<span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode: both;font-weight:normal">

The House of Lords consists of bothhereditary peers, who have inherited their peerage and their title, and lifepeers, who are appointed by the government, and stay in their positions forlife. A large majority of the peers are life peers. Also, important members ofthe clergy form part of the House of Lords, as do senior judges, or law lords,and other office holders, who have specific roles in the House. Only the officeholders, such as the Leader of the House, are paid, the rest can only claimexpenses.

Members of the House of Lordscannot become MPs, or hold certain other elected posts. However, lords areallowed to disclaim their title and when standing to become MP, for example,and reclaim the title later. The rule is, however, that no-one can be a memberof both houses at the same time.

Peers may have some loyalty to somepolitical party, but there is less of a compulsion to follow the wishes of anyparty, than for MPs. They cannot be expelled from the House of Lords by beingvoted out, so have less need for the support of a party, although peers mayfeel some loyalty to one party.

At the time of writing, the governmentis reforming the House of Lords, and has appointed so called people's peers,who are not chosen for their affiliation to any political party, but are, intheory, appointed on merit, by an independent committee. This has not met withmuch success, as the people chosen were not ordinary members of the public. Itmay be that the House of Lords becomes fully elected, but it is unlikely to bethe priority for any government, and slow progress is likely on this issue.

<span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode:both">In the House of Lords<span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode:both;font-weight: normal">

The House of Lords will then debatethe issues, following similar stages to those the bill must pass through in theHouse of Commons, although it is not usual for committees to be discuss bills,rather it is more likely for the whole house to act as a committee. After thisstage, both houses must agree on the final form of the bill, so if the bill hasbeen amended, the assent of the House of Commons is needed for the amendedbill.

If both houses accept the bill thenit, possibly having been amended, will go to the Queen to sign it. TheSovereign is unlikely to decline this, and the last time the Royal Assent, asthis is known, was refused was in 1707. At one time, the Sovereign would haveused his/her power a lot more, but more recently the Sovereign has deferred toparliament.

Mostly government bills are passedas stated, with few changes as the government will almost always have amajority, so can usually force through bills, if the government's MPs vote withthe government. The greater the majority, the easier this is. Most parties haveindividuals in them called Whips whohave a role of keeping their party's members informed of parliamentarybusiness, and also try to make sure that the MPs vote in favour of their party.In a coalition government the situation is different, as the two parties maydisagree on many issues.

<span Times New Roman",«serif»;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;layout-grid-mode:both"> <span Times New Roman",«serif»;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;layout-grid-mode:both"> <span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode:both">Raising Bills in the House ofLords<span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode: both;font-weight:normal">

Some bills are debated solely inthe House of Lords. These tends to be noncontroversial bills, where the mainproblems are to do with the detail, rather than the principle. These bills muststill be presented to the House of Commons, who must vote in favour of it, forit to become law. Also bills relating to the introduction of new charges, suchas taxes, must be raised by a government minister in the House of Commons.

Overruling the House of Lords

The House of Lords usually followsthe Salisbury Convention in that parts of a government's manifesto are notchallenged in the House of Lords. Also, the system allows for the House ofLords to be overruled. Bills dealing only with tax or government spending mustbe made law within one month, for example. Also after one year, and in a newsession of parliament, a bill rejected by the House of Lords can be sent forRoyal Assent, bypassing the House of Lords. There are some types of bills thatmust have the support of the House of Lords to become law.

<span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode:both">Private Members Bills

Any MP can propose a bill, called aprivate members bill. These are unlikely to be made law, but can be. They tendto be proposed where the government does not want to raise it, and theygenerally do not have government backing, so are rarely made law, and may noteven be fully debated. The process is sometimes used to highlight the need forgovernment action rather than to make law.

The Early Day Motion system can bea way of highlighting the need for action. They take the form of a request'That… ' followed by the subject of the motion. While they may not bedebated, they are distributed to MPs so can become widely known in the House ofCommons. Some Early Day Motions are comments on certain groups, actions, orevents, while some seek to encourage certain actions by the House of Commons.

The motions can be endorsed byother MPs, by signing them, and amendments can be made, by the MPs, and theamended motion may be signed. This system can give an indicator of the views ofthe MPs, and is also used to raise issues when there is little or no time todebate them. They, in themselves, may not become law, although they can, butcan be a way of drawing attention to the need for law to be made, or actiontaken in the case in question.

There is limited time for debate ofbills in the House of Commons, so private members bills are presented to theMPs, and some of these are voted for. The successful bills are then given timefor debate, and have a chance of becoming law, given support of the MPs. Also,the ten-minute rule allows for a short speech in favour of a bill, and a shortspeech against it. This can be an attempt at law, but may be an attempt to highlightan area of concern. The time for this bill is when the House will usually befull, and the press are likely to be present, and the MP in question is likelyto be able to get a lot of publicity, even if the bill does not make law.

 Devolution

In the last few years, thegovernment has devolved some power over Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland toparliaments in these countries, called respectively the Scottish Parliament,the Welsh Assembly, and the Northern Ireland Assembly. This allows them some powerover issues only affecting their country.

At the moment, the Welsh Assembly,Scottish Parliament, and the Northern Ireland Assembly, allow these countriesto have more control over certain issues in their countries. Wales andScotland, and Northern Ireland still have MPs in the British parliament. Thisis a source of controversy, as Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs can votein issues that only affect England, but not the other way round.

  Gladstone in Government

 

Gladstone was first called upon bySir Robert Peel to take a Junior Lordship in the Treasury in December 1834.However, following an election, which was called the following month, he wasoffered the post of Under-Secretary for the Colonies shortly afterwards, as theprevious incumbent had failed to retain his seat. His Secretary, Lord Aberdeen,sat in the House of Lords, therefore on colonial matters Gladstone was incharge of in the Commons. However, this spell of office was short-lived as theGovernment fell in April over the matter of endowments of the Irish Church.Thus, two of the great concerns of Gladstone's life, the Church and Ireland,were to remove him from his first term of office.

In 1841, when Peel returned topower, Gladstone took up the Vice-Presidency of the Board of Trade. It was nota cabinet post which Gladstone was very pleased about. His fellow rising Tory,and later rival, Benjamin Disraeli, wasn't even offered a junior post despitewriting to Peel. Peel, however, assured Gladstone that he would be sitting at thetable in the Cabinet Room as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

It wasn't too long a wait as twoyears later he was promoted to President of the Board of Trade and sat for thefirst time at the cabinet table. In this role, in 1844, he was responsible forthe Railway Bill.

His control of the Treasury

The post in government, whichGladstone held most, was as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He served asChancellor under four Prime Ministers; Lord Aberdeen, Lord Palmerstone, andLord Russell. Initially, when he stepped up to Prime Minister he did not trustany other Liberal to maintain the spendthrift policies he had previouslybrought in his budgets.

He first held the post in 1853under Lord Aberdeen and started to show his colours as a prudent economistlimiting excessive public expenditure and therefore being able to reduce dutiesboth in value and in the range of goods on which these had effect.

However, Gladstone stood adamant onthe principle of free trade and harboured long-term ambitions to abolish incometax. Gladstone maintained this determination until the onset of the Crimean Warmade this impossible. It was then seen as the easiest way to gather the fundsneeded for the war effort. So income tax has remained with the British eversince, and no subsequent chancellor has ever been anywhere near as able to getrid the tax as Gladstone was on the eve of the Crimean war.

On Aberdeen's death Palmerstonesucceeded as Prime Minister and offered Gladstone the chance to continue asChancellor. Although not able to eradicate income tax, Gladstone did what hecould to alleviate the tax burden in other ways. He saw this as being importantto encourage the economy to grow and compete on the world stage. He served inthis role again for the duration of Palmerston's second administration from1859-1865.

When he first held the Chancellor'sOffice, every single change announced in the budget had to be ratified by aseparate Bill. This procedure had lead to several revolts in the House of Lordsor occasionally the Commons, which had unseated governments. Following one suchdefeat for Gladstone, on The Paper Bill (1860), the following year heinaugurated a single Finance Bill to cover all the clauses, taxes and so on,mentioned in the budget. This was to deter the Lords from jeopardising theelected house's financial programmes by taking umbrage at one part of it andpossibly destabilising the whole system. This innovation of Gladstone's is themeans by which government still ratifies its budget today. The red box thatGladstone used to carry his budget from No 11 Downing Street1 has continued tobe used as a ritual box by most chancellor's since. Usually this box has to becarried following it being photographed on the front step before heading to thehouse with the budget inside.

 THE  GLADSTONE AS  A  PRIME MINISTER

 

The First GladstoneAdministration December 1868 — February 1874

 

There were a number of sweepingchanges to occur in Gladstone's first administration, and he spent many longhours drafting speeches and defending his policies at every turn. In the earlyyears he even kept a tight leash on financial policy by remaining Chancellor.As previously stated, the reason for this was that he feared that he couldn'ttrust any of his liberal colleagues to be as prudent in this role as he hadbeen in previous administrations.

The Second Gladstone Administration April 1880 — June1885

While in opposition, Gladstone wasa very vocal critic of Disraeli's policies, and upon his re-election he setabout a number of land and agricultural reforms. However, these reforms were tobe overshadowed by the outbreak of the First Boer War in 1881.

The ThirdGladstone Administration (January — July 1886)

The entire life, and in the end thefall, of Gladstone's third administration rested on one issue it — the Irishquestion.

The Fourth GladstoneAdministration (August 1892 — March 1894)

At the age of 82 Gladstone was oncemore returned to the highest elected position in the land. Also at thiselection the first ever socialist, James Keir Hardie was returned forparliament for Holytown, Lanarkshire. Unknown to Gladstone and the Liberals wasthe long-term effect this would have in keeping them from holding power for themajority of the 20th Century.

Gladstone was once again to returnto the question of Irish Home Rule. He believed the only reason that God hadpreserved him and kept him active this long was to see this bill finallyenacted. So he navigated the Second Home Rule Bill (1892) successfully throughthe Commons only to be defeated on it in the Lords. As a consequence Gladstonerelinquished the premiership and leadership of the Liberal Party in 1894 toLord Rosebery and retired from public life, standing down at the next election.The Queen didn't offer him a peerage as she knew from their dealings in thepast that he wouldn't have accepted it anyway.

Visiting the Houses of Parliament.

Entry is through St. Stephen'sEntrance, where you can join a queue for the public galleries, known asStrangers Galleries. Debates in the commons take place on Mon. Tues. and Thurs.from 2-30 pm; Wed. & Fri. from 9-30 am.

The busiest and most interestingtime to visit the House is during Prime Minister's Question Time. If you wishto attend Prime Minister's Question Time you must book a ticket through your MPor your embassy. Prime Minister's Question Time is on Wed. from 12pm — 12-30pm.

The House of Lords sit on Mon. — Wed. From 2-30; On Thurs. From 3pm; If a sitting takes place on Friday itcommences at 11am.

Both housesrecess at Christmas, Easter and from August to mid October.

Opening Times

(2005 times)

August: Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday 09.15 — 16.30;
Wednesday and Thursday 13.15 — 16.30; Sunday closed.
September and October: Monday, Friday, Saturday 0915 — 1630;
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 13.15 — 16.30.
Please note that the building will be closed on Sundays, Bank Holidays, and some weekday mornings.
Tours last 75 minutes. Groups of 25 are taken by Blue Badge qualified guides.

Admission Charges

(2005 prices)

Admission to both houses is free. Although admission to the Houses of Parliament Strangers Gallery to observe debate is free, there may be in some cases a guiding cost in relation to tours for constituents and other interested parties, arranged through Members of Parliament.

The Houses of Parliament, otherwiseknown as The Palace of Westminster, stands on the site where Edward theConfessor had the original palace built in the first half of the eleventhcentury. In 1547 the royal residence was moved to Whitehall Palace, but theLords continued to meet at Westminster, while the commons met in St. Stephen'sChapel. Ever since these early times, the Palace of Westminster has been hometo the English Parliament.

In 1834 a fire broke out which destroyedmuch of the old palace, all that remained was the chapel crypt, The Jewel Towerand Westminster Hall. It was Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister, who saved thegreat hall by arranging for the fire engines to be brought right into the halland personally supervising the fire fighting operation.

The magnificent Gothic Revivalmasterpiece you see today was built between 1840 and 1888, this was the work ofCharles Barry who designed the buildings to blend with nearby WestminsterAbbey. The two imposing towers, well known landmarks in  London, are theclock tower, named after it's thirteen ton bell called  Big  Ben, and Victoria tower, on whose flagpole the Union Jack flies when parliament is sitting. Much of the Victoriandetail of the interior was the work of Barry's assistant Augustus Pugin.

Entrance to Westminster Hall ispermitted only as part of a guided tour, otherwise it can be viewed from St.Stephen's porch above. The hall measuring 240 feet by 60 feet has an impressivehammerbeam roof of oak and is one of the most imposing medieval halls inEurope. In this noble setting coronation banquets were held until 1821. It wasused as England's highest court of law until the nineteenth century and it washere that Guy Fawkes was tried for attempting to blow up the House of Lords on5th November 1605. The statue of Oliver Cromwell, which stands outside thehall, reminds us it was here in 1653 that he was sworn in as Lord Protector.

<span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode:both">Executive

The British monarch is head ofstate. Executive power, however, is wielded by a prime minister, who is head ofgovernment, and a committee of ministers called the cabinet. The prime ministeris usually the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons. By custom,cabinet ministers are selected from among members of the two houses ofParliament. Cabinet ministers are also among the members of the Privy Council,the traditional, but now largely ceremonial, advisory body to the Crown.

<span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode:both">Local Government

The government of Great Britain isunitary in structure. Thus, the powers of local government derive fromParliamentary acts, and responsibility for the overall administration of thecountry rests with specified cabinet ministries. Local authorities, however,are essentially independent. The present structure was established by a LocalGovernment Act in 1972. Shire counties have county, district, and parishcouncils. Metropolitan areas have joint authorities, district councils, andparish councils. District council members are elected for staggered four-yearterms; most other councilors are elected for three-year terms. England has 39counties and 7 metropolitan areas, including Greater London, which has aspecial government structure. Wales has 8 counties, and Scotland has 9 countieswhich are called regions. Northern Ireland has only district-level government,with 26 districts. There is no constitutional division of powers betweencentral and local authorities in Britain, but local units are responsible forpolice and fire services, education, libraries, highways, traffic, housing,building regulations, and environmental health. In April 1990 a change infinancing local government reduced local rates or property taxes andsubstituted a community charge, labeled a “poll tax.” This unpopular taxproduced intense political debate and riots in London; it was replaced in 1992with a property-based tax. The same legislation called for competitive biddingfor local services such as garbage collection and street cleaning.

<span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode:both">Health and Welfare

Most practicing general physiciansin Great Britain are part of the National Health Service, although some alsohave private patients. Established in 1948, the service provides full, and inmost cases, free medical care to all residents. Patients, who may opt for aparticular physician, pay minimal charges for prescriptions, adult dentaltreatment, eyeglasses and dentures, and some locally administered services,such as vaccinations. Most dentists, pharmacists, and medical specialists takepart in the service. Each general practitioner may have no more than 3500registered patients under the plan, for each of whom he or she receives a fee.The National Health Service is financed through general taxation, with nationalinsurance payments contributing some 14 percent of the total cost, and patients'fees contributing 4 percent.

The national insurance system, putinto full operation in 1948, provides benefits for industrial injuries,illness, unemployment, maternity costs, and for children in certaincircumstances, as well as allowances for guardians and widows, retirementpensions, and death payments. Retirement benefits are paid to men at the age of65 and to women at the age of 60. Family allowances are payable for allchildren up to the ages of 16 to 19, or when the child leaves school. Theinsurance system assists the needy through weekly cash benefits and specialservices for the handicapped. Most of these services are financed partlythrough compulsory weekly contributions by employers and employees and partlythrough a contribution by the government out of general taxation. Expenditureson social security and the National Health Service accounted for about 47percent of annual government spending during the early 1990s.

<span Times New Roman",«serif»;layout-grid-mode:both">Defense

Britain depends for its basicsecurity on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and therefore makes amajor contribution in maintaining NATO's defense posture. Defense policy isdetermined by the Defence and Oversea Policy Committee, headed by the primeminister and including the secretary of state for defense, the foreignsecretary, and the home secretary. In 1964 the three military services wereunified under the newly created Ministry of Defence and the post of secretaryof state for defense. The Defence Council, including the secretary of state fordefense, the chief of staff for each of the three services, the chiefscientific adviser for defense, and the permanent undersecretary of state fordefense, exercises powers of command and administrative control.

The British army is controlled bythe Defence Council through an Army Board composed of both civilian andmilitary members. Active members of the army are volunteers who enlist for 22years of service. Under a plan introduced in 1972, however, army personnel maychoose to serve for only three years. In the early 1990s the army numbered134,600 men and women. A citizen national reserve force, the Territorial Army,has an establishment of more than 68,500 and may be called out in times ofemergency. Northern Ireland has a special reserve force of 5700, the UlsterDefense Regiment, which gives part-time support to the regular army.

The Royal Navy is governed by theAdmiralty Board under the secretary of state for defense. Naval craft in theearly 1990s included 2 aircraft carriers, 12 destroyers, 25 frigates, 20(including 16 nuclear-powered) submarines, and many auxiliary vessels. The navywas in the process of reducing its fleet size in the mid-1990s. Navy personnelnumbered about 59,300.

The Royal Flying Corps wasestablished in 1912; in 1914 the naval wing of the corps became the Royal NavalAir Service, and in 1918 the two were amalgamated as the Royal Air Force. Since1964 the air force has been under the unified Ministry of Defence. It isadministered by the Air Force Board, headed by the secretary of state fordefense. The air force is organized into home and overseas commands. In theearly 1990s Royal Air Force personnel numbered some 80,900.

More than 85,000 British troopswere deployed abroad in 1990. Contingents were serving in Germany, Belize,Brunei Darussalam, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, and Cyprus.

 

 

 

 Customs andTraditions

Thereare many customs and traditions in England. And I would like to tell you someof them. First tradition is called «Wrong side of the bed» When peopleare bad tempered we say that they must have got out of bed on the wrong side.Originally, it was meant quiet literally. People believe that the way they rosein the morning affected their behavior throughout the day. The wrong side ofthe bed was the left side. The left always having been linked with evil. Secondcustom is called «Blowing out the candles» The custom of havingcandles on birthday cakes goes back to the ancient Greeks. Worshippers ofArtemis, goddess of the moon and hunting, used to place honey cakes on thealtars of her temples on her birthday. The cakes were round like the full moonand lit with tapers. This custom was next recorded in the middle ages whenGerman peasants lit tapers on birthday cakes, the number lit indicating the person'sage, plus an extra one to represent the light of life. From earliest daysburning tapers had been endowed with mystical significance and it was believedthat when blown out they had the power to grant a secret wish and ensure ahappy year ahead. And the last tradition I would like to tell you is called«The 5th of November» On the 5th of November in almost every town andvillage in England you will see fire burning, fireworks, cracking and lightingup the sky. You will see too small groups of children pulling round in a homemade cart, a figure that looks something like a man but consists of an old suitof clothes, stuffed with straw. The children will sing:" Remember,remember the 5th of November; Gun powder, treason and plot". And they willask passers-by for «a penny for the Guy» But the children with«the Guy» are not likely to know who or what day they arecelebrating. They have done this more or less every 5th of November since 1605.At that time James the First was on the throne. He was hated with many peopleespecially the Roman Catholics against whom many sever laws had been passed. Anumber of Catholics chief of whom was Robert Catesby determined to kill theKing and his ministers by blowing up the house of Parliament with gunpowder. Tohelp them in this they got Guy Fawker, a soldier of fortune, who would do theactual work. The day fixed for attempt was the 5th of November, the day onwhich the Parliament was to open. But one of the conspirators had severalfriends in the parliament and he didn't want them to die. So he wrote a letterto Lord Monteagle begging him to make some excuse to be absent from parliamentif he valued his life. Lord Monteagle took the letter hurrily to the King.Guards were sent at once to examine the cellars of the house of Parliament. Andthere they found Guy Fawker about to fire a trail of gunpowder. He was torturedand hanged, Catesby was killed, resisting arrest in his own house. In memory ofthat day bonfires are still lighted, fireworks shoot across the November skyand figures of Guy Fawker are burnt in the streets.

<span UkrainianAcademy",«serif»;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;layout-grid-mode: line"> 

<span UkrainianAcademy",«serif»;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;layout-grid-mode: line"> 

<span UkrainianAcademy",«serif»;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;layout-grid-mode: line"> 

<span UkrainianAcademy",«serif»;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;layout-grid-mode: line"> 

<span UkrainianAcademy",«serif»;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;layout-grid-mode: line">The Comparison Of Two Political Systems:

<span UkrainianAcademy",«serif»;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;layout-grid-mode:line">                                      Ukrainian And British Ones.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">1.    Thefirst distinction may seem to be the form of rule:

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">Ukraine is a respublic. And Britain,as you probably know, is considered to be a parliamentary monarchy.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">The Queen is the personification ofthe U.K. By law, she is the head of the executive branch, an integral part ofthe legislature, the head of the judiciary, the commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the Crown andthe temporal head of the established Church of England. But in practice, as aresult of a long evolutionary process, these powers have  changed. Today, the queen acts only on the adviceof her Ministers which she cannot constitutionally ignore. In fact she reignsbut she doesn’t rule.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">However, the monarchy has a good dealmore power than is commonly  supposed.There remain certain discretionary powers in the hands of the monarch, known asthe Royal Prerogative.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family:«Times New Roman»; layout-grid-mode:line">2.    The Ukrainianand the British Parliaments have at least four similar functions:

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»; mso-fareast-font-family:«Times New Roman CYR»;layout-grid-mode:line">a)<span Times New Roman"">     

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">to work out legislation, including thecreation of a budget;

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»; mso-fareast-font-family:«Times New Roman CYR»;layout-grid-mode:line">b)<span Times New Roman"">    

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">to control the government;

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»; mso-fareast-font-family:«Times New Roman CYR»;layout-grid-mode:line">c)<span Times New Roman"">     

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">to represent and respond to publicopinion;

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»; mso-fareast-font-family:«Times New Roman CYR»;layout-grid-mode:line">d)<span Times New Roman"">    

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">to influence actively the people byacquainting them openly with the facts, concerning the accepted desisions.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">The difference lies in the electoralsystems and the rules for recalling the government.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">But there is also one more remarkablepeculiarity of the Ukrainian Parliament: the political history of Ukraine doesnot know any potent legislative bodies (we can hardly take into account theexperience of the Soviet Congress ).

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">3.    BothUkraine and Britain are countries with the representative democracy (whichmeans that the people delegate power to the bodies, which act on their behalf).

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">The difference is, that Britain has aparliamentary form of government, and Ukraine, in its turn, has a so-called«semi-presidential» form. The main distinctions of this forms are shown in thetable, given below.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family:«Times New Roman»; layout-grid-mode:line">The British parliamentary form

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family:«Times New Roman»; layout-grid-mode:line">

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family:«Times New Roman»; layout-grid-mode:line">The Ukrainian «semi-pesidential» form

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family:«Times New Roman»; layout-grid-mode:line">

 

 

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family:«Times New Roman»; layout-grid-mode:line">1.    The election solves two questions:
 On one hand, the forming of the Parliament. And on the other hand, the creation of the Government and different coalitions.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family:«Times New Roman»; layout-grid-mode:line">1.    The election solves just one question:
 Either the problem of forming the Parliament or the creation of the Government.

 

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family:«Times New Roman»; layout-grid-mode:line">2.    The Government is formed only by the Parliament.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family:«Times New Roman»; layout-grid-mode:line">2.    The Government is formed by both the President and the Parliament.

 

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family:«Times New Roman»; layout-grid-mode:line">3.    The executive Power is separated.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family:«Times New Roman»; layout-grid-mode:line">3.    The executive Power is not separated.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">4.    UnlikeBritain, Ukraine has different bodies of legislative and executive power, andone body doesn’t interfere with the activity of the other.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">5.    Thenegative features of the British system may seem to be too much power in thehands of Prime Minister and rather uncontrolled local government.

Summary

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">Having compared two political systems,I have come to the conclusion that the form and the level of development of thesystems are influenced greatly by the history of the State. The second factoris that of evaluationary progress, which usually improves the existing orderand makes it more democratic.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">Having analysed two state systems, Ihave noticed the tendency towards  thereinforcement of the executive power and a lessening of the legislative power.But still, parliament remains an integral institution in a democratic society.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family: «Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">I have studied the British politicalexperience concerning the division of powers and I can say that with all itsoriginality, the British System is not something unique or exceptional. Thissystem should be taken as the foundation stone of the cooperation of two powersin countries with a representative democracy.

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»; mso-bidi-font-family:«Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">The reason forthe lasting discussion of this problem in the Ukrainian Parliament lies notonly in involving the interests of powerful persons. Actually, it is the resultof the «amateur» level to understand this problem.

 

<span Times New Roman",«serif»;mso-ansi-language:EN-US; layout-grid-mode:both;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">                                          <span Times New Roman",«serif»;mso-ansi-language:EN-US; layout-grid-mode:both">Conclusion

 We  have talken  about  the British  parliament,government  and its  houses.About  their making  up  and their  laws.About  the queen  and  their   fonctions  and  about the  Gladstone  who had   been    in the  Parliament  had been  its  prime minister.About   their  defense and  traditions  and  how  it have  maked  up.We have  given  about their  local  government,their  customs and  how  and when  we  can visit  the  Parliament of  the  British,about constitution  and  about monarchy  of  Britian,the Parliaments  parties.

                                                 Litaruture

Q.V.AFANASYEVA,I.N.VERESHCHAGINA  “ENGLISH BOOK  FOR  4-TH CLASS”

WWW.CLADEZ.RU

WWW.RAMBLER.RU/EDUWORLD/REFERATS/X9/X82207.HTML.

www.h2g2.ru

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»; mso-bidi-font-family:«Times New Roman»;layout-grid-mode:line">M.Y.Mezey   Comparative Legislatures, Durham, 1979

<span Times New Roman CYR",«serif»;mso-bidi-font-family:«Times New Roman»; mso-ansi-language:
еще рефераты
Еще работы по конституционному (государственному) праву зарубежных стран