UNIT2

READINGA

Without a Constitution Monarchy Constitutional

Choose the correct answer. ElizabethI bzenthe fionarch of Britain? iince wheir hds Queen a. 1948

ib-]1e52 c. 1960
$lich p{rrql do..sPrine Minister Tonj Blair belotrgLo? 6)Labour b. Conservative c. Liberal Democrats t How lo g ca a British Prillla Minister remain n office? a. 4 years. b. 5 years. fc)As long as he or she is re elected. oJP4rlianent? + \lay the Queen mtff the Houses a, Yes,oi course. b, No, under no citcumstances. it)She may not enter the House of commons t \\-hich oJ the follotring is the Queen'sLondot residenct? 6)Buckingham Palace 6. westminster Palace c. Crystal Palace 6 {tt the elKtion, horysoondoestht n(\| Pime ]liniste/ oc.upl,/ his or het oIfi.e at 10 Do\rningSfteet? Qu.en nizabeth lI and Tony BLair ,/a.)Thenext day. b. Three days later. c. One week later. :. \\hy ore thffe two rea Uneson the floor oJ th.. Llouse(t Comfio11sin Jront oJ uch fronl bench? a. They mark the exlent to which Members sitting in the front benchesmay strelch their lcgs wrlhouL sitting rmproperly ^ ' b,rThct mark the limit - a hltle mort than two swords' lengths- belond rl'hich a Member - may not approach the opposite benches c. They mark the limil - a little more than 6 feet - beyond which a Member may not spit on people sitting on the opposite side.

35

KINGDO\{ UN1TED THE

lowcr house, the llouse ol Commons 16rrrain r. a (onsliruliunal monarchv struggled for Polilical control oler the d $rrlrrn con\lilulion lhr'Dunhour country. The end ol rhis long slrugglewas strangesituatiorl is quite surPnsrngsrnce the Gtorious Revolution of 168S King Britain is famous ior being the oldesl con \\ ilh Jams Il came into a birtr conflict stilutional dcnocracy in the worid. and Parliament. and Parliamenl evenlually has been a lrodel lor many other couninvited Jamess daughter ancl successor. tries all over thc Slobe Yet the historicaL Mary, togctherwith her husband' Williant ileveiopmenl in Britain has never creat{'d ol Orange, from Hollatd, to replace the onc sinsle legal document which is the king. The nw monarch was lorced to highcst iat oi the lald and describesthe J!!Lpl frrlicmtnis (onditlonq in lb8o. fundamental institutions oI the siate,I h'ir Parlll1renr nrs5tLl the Bill ol Righls spheresolauthority and their reladonship \\,hich limircd thc power of the Cro\r'n to one another as happencdin the USA and increased$e aulhority ofParliament Brirish people olien reler to the constitu The monarchy $as maintained but praclition' but rhey mearl a variety of different cal political power was placed fully in.thc things under rhe phrase Parl of the conhands of Parliamnl: it was establrsnecr sritution are sveral Acts of Parliamert that members of lhe Housc of Commons (in evcryday language. they are simply have to be regularly rc elected and that , alled lat''.omc.-rr uhr'h Jr' c'rrrrrri'' ' net lan's and laxes musl be apProved by old. somc are quite rccent Then lhere 're aswcllas (hemonarcb Parliamenl various'conventions', which are tradi So Parlia ent becarne the dominant tionally accpted les and proceduresi law makingbody in the country butit t'as thse havc nevcr been written do\\'n bul slill uncltar how day-ro-aay governtng arc ha.edmu'.h un prc(edenl rhJl i' on should be carried out. The kirg had neithcr thc Acts hislorical rradition. Simc nl$r)s appoinled hri nwn ministers(tll( . nor rhe convcntions enjo,v any sPtcial I rn \\oLd mcani stn'ant ), anLlhe touLd legal protction (they are not lisLed or choose an,vbody he liked Howtver. it as 1art of d1econslidescribedany_where soon becam clear that if the House ol tution'), Pirliament is free to change an-v commons did rot acccpt thcse ministcrs, aspect of th conslilution by a ne* Act. thev could not do thcir $'ork The bcsl which tben becomcs part of thc corslrtusolution was to choose inistcrs from the tional tradilion. In mosl countries' pople party which had thc majority oI members crrJir) rnrrlJ hr s orri' J abnur'u, h an rrrr' in the House: these peopl cotld be cerlegal siLuation, but dre Bntisb rspect tain lhat they would be approvedard supevn unwrilten tradition vry suongll 'Ihe mosl important political Tnstitu ported by th olhers. Thc chicl minister came to be called the Prime Minis(er. ancl tioni oI Britain xre the Crown. the he chosc all the olher inistcrs to work uo\crnrtrcnlanJ I'arliamcrrt l he t r""n with him. This is ho\'!'lhe Cabinct, th and the Government are usuall-v reprebody ot leading minislers, headcd by the sentedby their he.rds:thc monarch (King Prim Minister. camc jnto bir1g' Th or Quecn) al1d thc Primc Minister Th Cabinet is whal rrrosl l]ritish people near relalionship between these thre instiluuh, n th, t .lcrk rbuut rhr ( "{crnmcrrr' lions is lhe result ola conplicaled histori political systemhas devcl cal devclopmentDuring the lTth centu_ Sincethen. the opcJ arr.l .hans,l in \arrorr' \\r\' rhc iis ry, LhekinS and Parlixment esPeciall,v

attention to the words in bold !l Read the follo$ing text with special

36

III\]IT

dght to vote was xtended to all adult men and women, new parties becam dominant, etc.) but the modem British

government still has the same fundamen tal component parts: the Crown, Parliamentand the Cabinet-

Complete the following sentences.The ffrst letters are provided to help you.

l. The British c.CftbiLi1'kA(. is not one single written legal document: certain parts oi it are contained in AC-t of PA.f .{,rl"ur-uf.., but others are iust unwrirten c,.L)LiLaJ:L1. a'rld.

p.rLLr-CLil/-L5..., based on histodcaltmdition.

2. The three most important British polirical institutions are rhe C.fO].r,.(..., sFnbolised by the mcuo./.ct!, the GoLr{rdrL{.\tft headedby the Pn"r.tl-.. M ,t-r-.:h.r... and Pr]-f,.ltuLtuLL.

3. The basisof the modern systemof government was laid down in the B.*{"L..of Ruql.r"f,a passed in 1689. .1.The body of leadingministerswithin the Gs:;rr-{.r.!i1.{.tis calledthe C.c,bi,rqt..... trs membersare aibdihYed by the mcri.MLl.r*... on the adviceof rhe P(',/JrL.... M.\,]tjhif 5. The C.oh,{r.& can only funcrion if it is appcc--rrd.. and s:r.{Trr:trl by rhe majority of rhe
H.qLLiL... of C.a|rsLr!L9.. .

6. The lastBritishking who wasforcedto escape from the rhronewas-Iru-cer./i..... in 1688.This evenris calledrhe Gl:::r*':,......... Rr{toLitLal... by the British. I Match the definitions with the words given and then insert them in the appropriate form into the sentences below. acco plish . oppoint . approte . m/J,int/j'itr.support. stl:ltggle l. t!"l,llu+baL,t-.: cause something to continue,keepsomething in existence <omebody 2. .-n.k-q for or againsr or somerhing t{L......:lighr " u.l 3. ..a14;c;,i1......: choose somebody for a job or a position 4. .nf.J::t.tl:Y-......: say,showor feelthat somebody or something is goodor sarisfactory t. ..51+ffr.;.......: help somebody or something by slrnpathy,actionor money
6. 9JL0.."LtptJ,:J4,: cornpletesomething successfully 7. The boss .cJ.p..*fLJ.. him to the post becausehe wotked hard and showed ability. 8. t he planned5lralegv lor lhe elerlion (ampaignwas .t+l:,,,K-L....... by the represenrarire..

?r1..

KINGDO\I THEUNITED
9 . He lost the election becausethe majority of the local population did not.:rrr.-1 ':
to win the nominationof the partl hrr upPonents hard against 1 0 .5he-.,(.r.1.1....1.

I l . Iharc,....:... 12..ln order to 1rl,.1,1:.11. ,,our popularity' you must say that you have never seenthat wo

READING B

TheCrown
I nead rhe following text uith specialattention to the words in bold.
of rh Cabinet positionsi there is no la$ which would tie her hands.Shesummons and dissolves Parliament: and no legislaby Parliamentcan becomela\\' tion passed until she has signed it. Thousands of things in Bntain, from the govctnnent to rvarships, have 'Her Majestys' (in short. HM) in their name: theortically, they are ail'owned' by the nonarch. When somebody is accused of a crime at courL in Britain, he or shc is accusedby'lhe Crorrn', becausethe monarch embodies the arrthority of the law.

-f hc monarlh) is Bntain ' oldecrsecular rhe ongrns ol the unrted I rnsrirution: English kingdom go back to th tenth century. There ivasjusl one shortlived republic in Bntish hisrory (1649-60) led by Oliver Crom$'ell. The monarchyis hereditary which meals that rhe oldest male child, or i{ rher are no sons, th oldest female child of th monarch succeeds1o the throne. There is one limitation, ho\\ ever: in 1701 Parliamntforbade the succession of any heir r,r'hois not Protestant. The reigning monarch, Quen Elizabeth II, is from the House of Windsor and she came !o the throne in 1952. Shehas many rsidencesin the country, but th t*'o most famous ones ar Buckingham Palace in London and windsor Castle in Berkshire.west ofLondon, which gavethe royal lanrily ils presentnamc. 'fhe position of the monarch in modem Britain is conlradictory: there is a huie diflerencebt\r'enlegaltheoryand polilica1practic. ln theory, lhe monarch has enormouspowers: she is the head c)lslale, hcad ofthe excutive (that is, the govern rnen(), the judiciary, the Church ol England and commander-in-chief oI the armed forces. when Queen Elizabeth opns Parliament every autumn, shc makes a spcech about what 'hcr govemment'wants ro do in the follo*ing year..ln rheory. she could appoinr an)-bodyto any

The practice of everydaypolitics, holv ever. is ver) dilfcrenl. Since 1689. the monarch's porvershave been very striclly limited by a constlutional Lheory\\''hichis summariscd by th well known slogan thar '!he monarch reignsbut does notmle'. This means thal the monarch exerciss

38

2 UNIT
\\'hen to dclare war on or make peace with an enmy power. Thc rronarch has not refused to give assnt to an)']a$ passed by Parliamentsince 1708. Even fic mosi formal lunclions of thc monarch - lL) and kniShtgive honours.suches peerages hoods and to pardon convicredcnminals ere directedby rhe governnent. what is lhe monarch s role thenl Sheis

panry a sl;fiii$lli'.{ieddi&1 of rhe

! L' i: ' l r . n I h( _J d\ r c c dt lhe

Jlm. sr a ll h er ln\!rL !

Prime Mi ster',lhat is, the Frime Minister lells herwhal lo do.lt is lhe Prime \4inister *,ho tells \{hen I'arliament should be clis solved,who should be appoilted for posi rn th( go\ern !nt. in Lhr (ourtt. nl tLUn< thL armed LuLccs, Ln rhe C1lui.li or "r

rational government for the British trnd she represcntsthe whole country abroad. ln a crjtical situation, ior cxample if tbe iovcrnmenttried to do somelhing dicta torial. lbe monarch could use her theoret ical power and prolect demotracy. Thc colourful ro)'al ceremonies and other events are also a source of nationel pride and a grcat altraction for foreign tourists

True (T) or False (F)? :ie monarch is the heaclol state. f :re monarch may be Catholic I his or her power by giving orders to the Prime Minister' [! lie monarch exercises has dissolvedthe House '. new election cannot be held before the monarch

I Commons. f
lhe slogan 'the monarch reigns but does not nrle' means lhat he or she comnands the army issues fl :rt doesno! dealwilh civiJian . he monarch appoin$ all the Anglican ancl Catholic bishops in Britain r a critical situation, the monarch may refuse to accepttbe Prime Minister's aclvice I lhe monarcl decidesindependentlywhom she gives knighthoods. \tatch the verbs with their objects.
: lmmon 6. exerclse b. a laq' c. honours d. Parliamenl

e. a criminal porver f. hisArer g. peace

39

THE UNITED KINGDOM

I The following words are all in some way connected to tbe monarch and royalty. Ma thcm $ ith the definirionsgircn h e lo $ . commotcler-in-chitf. heir . peerag. . preknAer . ptirrce. reign . sorereigll. stcaession the person who has the legal righr ro inherir property (e.9.the throne,a title, erc.)

z.
3. L 5. 6. 7. 8.

a high rank of nobility given by rhe monarch the processof inheriting the throne the highest officer ot a narion's army a person with a disputed right to the throne another narne for the monarch a male member of the monarch's family the period during which a monarch rules

READING C

Westminster
I Read the following text wirh special attention to the words in bold.
Parliament. in short an MP, to represent that area in the House ol Commons. Mps are elected for a maximum termt ther may be no more than five years between two parliamentary eleclions but the goverrunent rnay call lbr a generalelecrion ar an) time during its live-yearrrm. The shape of the Commons debaring chamber is dilferenr from most European legislative chambers:ii does nol look like a slice olpie - which suggests lhepresence ofseveralpolitical partlesfrom lelr ro righr but it is a long hall with five rorvs of bencheson eachside. Ar rhe far end, there is the Speaker's chair;the Speakrpresides o|er the Colnmons. The mernbersol the majority partl who suppor rhe gol.Ir1nent sil on the Speaker's righr, and on rhe other side sir those who oppose rhe govemment The front bencheson borh sides popular namr of rhr Brin,h -fh I Parlramrnr iq Wsrminsrr'. sin(e it is housed in lh Palace of Westmiftter. The B tish Parliament is bicameral, which meansthar ir consisrsoflwo'hous, es': thc House of Commons and the Hous of Lords. They are nol equally importan!: rhe House of Commons, although it is rhe lower house. has much more power than the Lords, becausethe indepeodent authoriq'of the Lords has been seriously limired during rhe 20th Wher Brirish people speak about 'Parliament , theyusuallymeanrhe House of Comrnons. For electoral purposs rhe Unitccl kingdom is difided jnlo special dislricts, which are called constituencies. Currenrly lhere are 659 consrituncies, each o{ which eiects one Member of

40

2 UNIT
are reseFd lor members of the Cabinet and for the leadersofthe Opposition, who are called the 'Shadow Cabinet'. Behind the Cabinet and the Sbadow Cabinet, in the higherrowssit tboseMPs who haveno leading position in their own party; these MPs are known as 'backbenchers'.The Speaker,who is chosen by the House, is required ro be absolutely impartial betweenparliesand individual MPs. The upper house of Parliament. the House of Lords, has no elected members and no fixed numbers. lt is presided over by the Lord ChanceJlor,a member of the Cabinet. Until the recent reform, there were more than a 1000 members who were entitled to sit in the House oILords. and they belonged to three main cate goriesl. Hetditary peers (dukes,marquises. earls. viscounts and barons), who inherited their titles (the so-called peerages) and held their seatsby right of succession. In 1999, there were exactly 751 hereditary peers (mostly men), bul only about halfofthem were actively intersted in politics. Those who hold hereditary perageswill b succeeded by thir heirs. 2. Lil pers. who received peerages. with th right to sit in the House of Lords, {rom the Crown on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Life peers are members of the House only until they die, and their children can not inherjt rheir title. Life peeragcs have been given since 1958, and nowadays the.e ar about f50-400lile peers. some of them women. Eminent politicians (including former Prime Ministers) are usually rewardedwith a li{e peerage and continue lo be active in the House ofLords. A specialgroup among the life peersare the Law Lords, senior relircd Judges of England and wales. l\'ho function as the highest court ofappeal in Englandandwales. 3. Thc Archbishops o{ Canterbury and York. and 2'+ most senior bishops of rhe Church of England, who are members of the House of Lords only until lhey retire. They are called. using an old-fashioned phrase, the Lords Spiritual. Unlil 19ll the Lords were able to reject bills passedin the Commons. By the lale 20th century, thy could only delay lhe nactmnt of a bill by a few months, but they rarely usd even this smail power. Reform of the House of Lords had long been discussed by various political groups. in November 1999 a fundamental and reform act was passed, which removed the right ofbereditary peersto sitin the Lords, except for 92 \emporary' members who were elecled from among thm to stay on. This meansthat traditional British aristoc racy ceasedto have any special power in the Bntish Parliament.The Labour govmment promises other relorm measuresin the near future, which would entirely transform the role and character of the upper house. BigBen. theclock rowcr o{theHouses of?arliannr

THE UNITED KINGDOM

Parliament's most impoItant function is ro creatlaws. A draft law is called a.bill,. Th biil is debated in the House. then a parliamentary commiitee considers wherher amendments (rhal is, modilica_ tions) should be made. E.r,enruallv. thc re_ vised bill is considered in its linal lorrn and members vote.Voring in tie Commons is carried out using a unique procdure called 'division'. There are rwo corridors (so called lobbies) ourside rhe House chamber on borh sides and Mps vore by walking rhrough either the Aye, (yes) lobby or tbe'No'lobby. Onc a bill has been passedby borh houses,it is sent to th Queen for royal assenrafrer which it becomesan Acr ofParliarnent.

al,:*,1* conceprs belong eitherto rhe House of Comrnons or rhe House P.Ill of rut them inlo the appropriate
column below.

Anglican . bachbencher brshop . hereditary peer. llk peer . La\\t Lorcl. Lord Chancellor . MP . Sh/J.,ilo$ Cdb net, Speaher
House of Commons House o{ Lords

B Answer the-questionsby adding the abbreviation of either the House of Commons ( or the Housof Lords (HoL)_ l. Which house includes former prime Ministers? f I 2. Which house is headedby an electedleaclert ]. ] 3. Which house does the monarch dissolveevery l.ew years? 4. Which house includes the majority of Cabiner members?

5. Which househas'absent, members who almostneverattendsessions? 6. Which househasa fixed numberofmembersl l I 7. Which househasdominantpoliricalpo*"r? i _,

2 UNIT
process. le lhe chart about the legislative

Houseof Lords Third readrng (finalvote.called d....,......)

C.i..r..r.:1.1.... stage (detailed of possible a]r.t...r..i..r.....) discussion Second reading (d:-l,lll.ii,.in the House)
_.t.. llrst reaolng (the formal announcement)

t
tI

rl]

I !i.g'jti&{',...tiii'

irite a summary of exercise 4 in about 100 words. Use the equivalents of the following in your text.

majority decision - -.,..........,...........: electoraldistdct .. .-.......-.-.............: the body of the leadingministers - ,.-.....-..:-...| ...... .:l noblemen with a title they receivedfrom one of their ancestors towardsanybody farr and neutral,showingno prejudiceor preference -....,....;..i..ii......: - - ..:.......I r.r.........: all the MPs who do not support the government .. - .-..........i ..:. .....: consisting ol two housesor chambers ' by Parliament a draft law discussed --..-...-...............r ' rhr.form;l .rnnrnval oI rhe monarch noblemen with a title receivedfrom the monarch for their lifetime argueover a problemin an officialbody of people - ..-.-................-.-.:

IJNIT I,
the heads of their departments: their olficial title is Secretary of State, and everydaypeople usually mean them when speaking about 'minisrers'. The minister in charg of financial alfairs still has the archaic tide 'Chancellorof the Exchequer'andthe Lord Chancllor performsmost of the functions ofa minister ofjustice, as well as presiding overth HousofLorals. The other, narrower meaning of the word 'governmenf is the Cabinel, whicb consists ofthe Secretaieso{State,together with a few other snior ministers. about twenty people altogether.They are siuing right in the front bench of on the Speaker's the House o[ Commons. The size and the composilion of the Cabinet is not fixed: anybody can be a rnember who has been mvitedby the PrimeMinister. Since the most important departmenls can be {ound along Whitehall. a road runninS from Tra{algar Square to Parliament, the name is often used as a synonym for the government'.The oftice of the Prime Minister can be found at l0 Downing Street, a small sidestreetopen ing lromWhitehall. He or she lives on the top floor with his or her lamily. but the meetingsofthe Cabinet are also held here and the neighbouring buildings are used by other rninistersand th Cabinet staff.
Ihr Pn me Vin i'ler'\ r . idc nr e: l0 DowiI S \ r c . r

After a general election, the Queen invites the leader of the majority party to form a governmenr.Govemment ministeB alwayscome {rom Parliament, and most of them are MPs in the House of Commons; they all continue to represent the consriruencies which electedthem. The Pnme Minister has the exclusivepower to choose all ministr and to dismiss any of them at any time (although appointmentsare formally made by the monarch). The Cabinet work on the principl of collective responsibitity, which means tha! all minislers are respomible for any governmentpolicy, no matter whelher they have taken parl in making it. This alsomeansthat government members cannot criticise publicly any aspectof governmentpolicy: if they do so they must resign. The Pdme Minister is th most powerful personinBntain. Theoretically, he orshe is only the firstamong themonarch'sservanls (as the name suggests), but in practicethe PrimeMinister hasfar more power than any other minister in rhe Cabinet,since he or she is responsible for collecting the information from all the departrnens, making most of the linal decisions, making the appointments through rhe nonarch, and, as the leader o{ the majodty party, he or she hasthe lirrn support of the Commons.

41

THE UNITED KINGDOM (F)? E True (T) or False

1. Ministers have lower-ranking assistants called secretaries of state. f J 2. Mini\ler\ mu.t alwav' come lro m t h e Ho u s eo f t o . ln o n . . I 3. The Chancellor of the Exchequer fulfils the same role as a Minister of Finance in Continental countries. E 4. The Cabinet includes all Lheministers. !

5. The Lord Chancellor is the deputyof the PrimeMinisterin rhe Cabinet.I

6. The Prime Minister has to be electedin a constituencvlike all MPs. I

7. The PrimeMinisteris appointed by the monarchafterhe or shehasbeennominated for the postby the ministers.I 8. The popularnameof I0 DowningStreet is Whitehall.I
9. The decisionsof the Cabinet have to be acceptedand supported by all ministers. I 10. The Prime Minister is the head of the majority party in the Co*-ons. I E Define the task of the following members of rhe British Cabinet.

l. Clianii:llor of the Exchequer

2. Home qecrelar\: J. I ord t hancellor 4. For(iB nsecretary: ... 5. )ecreur) o[ Defun(.e: 6 . Pr rmeMini5ler: I Find a meaningful opposite of the following words from Reading D.

l. junior 2. appoint 3. acceptan appointment 4. modern 5. individual (responsibiliry) 6. minority

UNIT 2 READING E

Election Rules Political and Parties

I Readrhe following text with specialalention lo the word< in bold.
Elecrionsare A ny Brilr.h ( rrizFncrn be nominared apprqriate lo one's address. a candidate for a sear in rhe Hous. by ballot rhar r'. bv orc. -f1as . -ecren of Commons except {or peersand Church The main rule o{ rhe lection is very ofEngland clerglrnen, since rhy are rep\rmpte: lhe L'andidate in a !on5liruenr) resented in the House of Lords. MPs do who gains most votes .i\.ill becom a not have to live in their constiruencies, Member of rhe Commons. The .i\.inner and less than half of the candidatesare does not need to receive an absolute local residenls. lf an MP dies, resiqns his majoril) rlh.rl i.. mtrrerhan 50ootol rh. or is madea peer, dTlilictffit votes: as long as the number of votes is ,seat, held to replace him. Candidates do nor more than rhrr oI any orher ,andidare have to be nominatd by any party: all (this is called a sirnple majority), he or they need to do is to deposit t500, which rhe ha. uon the eleLlron.;ndwill rcprethey get back if they receiveat leasr5% of \enr rhc $hole.on.liruencl. In rhi. firsrall the votes. In practice, hoivever, candj past-the-posf system. ail rhe votes rhar dates without the support of a national are castilbr other candidatesare'wasted' party havevery little chance. tr"m the pornr ol vreu ol rhe ek'rrons All Biti-sh citizensmay vote ifthey are ar .rnce rhe\ do nol helpan1parrl candrdare least eighteen years old and are nor mentalto get into the Commons. Therefore, rhe ly ill, not convictedprisonersor members ploportion of rhe national vore gained by of the House of Lords. Voling is nor comonc prrly rnd lheir numberol .ear. in rhc pulsory, usually about 75% of the elecaommon. can .hor.rgreardi.crepancies. to]jllg !lM,q!! q general election. lr is Lefs take the 1997 elecrion results as arr ?! possibleto vot only at rhe polling starion example: Party % of popular vote number of MPs 06 of MPs

Labour
Conservative Liberal Democrats

4l.t

30.6
9.6

418 165 30

63.4

other

The real losersin this systemare the smaller parties who are considerably underrepresnted in the Commons. ln other counrries like Hungary, this distortion is parrially balanced by a party list system, underivhich national vots ar added up and some of the parliamentary seats are given to pa{ies in proporlion to their overall performance. Some lorm of lhis systm, called propor\tional representation,Las been demanded

by smaller parties in Brirain for a long rime, bul neitherofrhe rwo major parristike the idea since it would reduce their own power rn tne Lommor!! Since the early nineteenth century. mostly two political parries have been competing ior power in Brirain: lhis is called a two-party sysrem. Since rhe 1920s, tlrEse two parries have been the ConseF,'ativeParty (often called by their

47,

THE UNITED KNGDOM

old nickname,the'Torics') and the Labour Party. The Conservativc Party is a righ!-of centre party. Ir slands for the tradjtional social hierarchy and the idea ol economic freedom the protection and developlnent ofthe fre market and free comptition , and dislikes re{orms (as its name suggests).It has traditionally been supported by the arislocracy, the Church of England. business interests and the wealthy rniddJe class. It emphasises the importance ol law and order - a strong police force and lirm measures againsl crime , and the naintenance of strong armed forcesto protect British inrercsrs. A siSnificant number of Conservatives. called Eurosceptics, refuse furthr integration ol Bdtain inro rh European Union because they claim that Bntain would be 'governed'from Brussels. The Labour Party is a left-of-centre pa y. lt emphasisesth importance of social justice and wants to give better opportunilies lo all mernbers of sociely. The rvorking classand lhe reform minded menbers olthe middle classwerethc tndilional supporters of lhe parq,. Th party traditionaly advocatedpublic ownership ol major industries,and nore govemment involvement in the economy. lls political profile changedconsiderablyin the lggos with the rise o[ 'New l-abour'. a younger generalionoI politiciansled by Tony Blair. the reform o[ the panl was made necessary by the dclin o{ hea\'f industry and th rsulting disappeamnceof the tradi tional working class. Labour was forced to change irs image to attracr more middleclassvoters.The power olthc largesttrade unions, which had been very inlluential in the party, was greally reduced.Toclay.the Labour Parly does not want to nationalise companies ormise income taxanymore, It also supports lull participation in the EU. In 1997,altcr lS o{Conservative gov emment. the Labour Party returned to ''eaN powr llith a sweepingvictory al the gcneral election. The third largest par(y is the Liberal Democratic Party, which tries to attracl ihe votes of the middle ground between Labour and ConseNative, but its sup porlers are scatleredall ovcr the country, and the present electoral system gi\,es them little chance. Other smaller parlies in thc Commons include lhe Scottish National Party and its Welsh equivalent. Plaid Cymru, as well as the Protestant (Unionisl) and Catholic parties of Northern Ireland. They usuallywin a few in their counlries. seals

[_ Compare the two largest parties in the British parliament. The chart below is provided nelp you. Labour Party Conservative Paity

specrnrm
Economic Social support General attitude to reforms Political emphases Atritude towards the EU

48

UNIT 2
Complete the sentencesusing words from Reading E. All the votersin a country or in an areaare collectively calledthe e.-._..._.1...t..... _ In orderto becomea cL,lt:.:.......r-. at the e....-......,.... !he n-......t....... of a poliricalparty is not necessary, bul party c:lr.r..r.1,.:1.1.-,. have a much better chance. Ihe placewherevotersshouldgo in order to vote is calJed a p,..._._,... s. fhe pieceofpaper on which votersmark rheirvore is calledb.t...,...-.:......... . lt is collecred in b......::........ bi..:.r;....... ln moderndemocracies, votercvote anonymously, without tellingor showing anybody whom they have chosen. The Britishelectoral system is calledf::....-p..r.... {....- . -p........., because the c.-r.lr.r.:.r.:,..twirh the most voteswins, regardless of the actualpt.:.....:......r-.-... of the votes;he or shedoesnot needan ai...r.....i.:... m....t...r....:.:... to clefeat the othersThe British electoral system helps the big parries,becauseir gives rhe smaller parties lirtle chance: therefore thereis a t....r.p-..r..-.... systemin Britain. ln pairs or small groups, collect as rnuch information as you can about the Hungarian :toral system and compare it to the British. What are the differences and what aie the ties? The following points of comparison are plovided to help you. Britain '[irst-past-the-oosf How many MPs are elected directly? How many MPs are elected indirectly (i.e. not personally)? How many ballot papers do voters fill in?

proportional

ntation

How rnanyrounds can the electionhave? What majority is required of the winning candidate?
Do people vote for pa ies directly? Are there so-called 'party lists'? Do votes cast on losing candidates count at th; election in any way?

42

KINGDOM THE UNITED

can you see in each El On the basis of exercise 4, what advantagesand disadvantages t"tnt Co-p.." lhem in an essayo[ aboul | 50-200 $ords. @ Translate the following passageinto English. magyar valasztrisirendszer alapvet6en elt6r6 a britt6l Mig Nagy-Bdtannidban min'den als6hrizikpvisel6nek ;gy6ni jel6ltknt egy vlilasztlisikorzetben gydzelmet kell aratnia, ad'dlg Magyarorszagoncsak a parlamenti kepviseldk kevesebb mint fele kerul a parla-"ntbi egyitti kot."ibol e ISO magyar parlamenti-hely nagyobleadott szavaaz 6sszes bik felt azok k6z;tt a pdrtok kozott osztjiik el, akik orsziigosan arenydban - megszavazataik megszerzett zat legalebb5%-dtmegkaptrik.Ezek a panlok rin n6vsordt egy haur;zott szdmri kepvis;ldt delegrllhatnaka parlamentbe.Ezeknek a partlistrin e16remegha titozzirk. E) a rendszer egyfel6l ariinyosabbd teszi a vdlasztist, hisr"n urok a rruuara-toksem vesznekkdrba, melyeket nem a gy6ztesjeloltre adtak le' mfsfeldl viszont olyan kepvisel6ketjuttat a parlamentbe,akiket szemely szerint senki nem egyetlenkoEet vdlasztdinak valasztottmeg, 6s akik nem tatoznak szemlyifeleldss6ggel rendszermellett gyakranmegemhtik. hogy kevesparLotjuttat a parsem. A brit viilasztrisi lamentbe,s koziiliik is el6segitiegy eros korman)?arl es egy ellenzekrpart kialakullislit' ami stabil kormdnyzdst ds politikai egyensulyttesz lehet6v

?0

THE UNITED KINGDO\I

6 With thehelp ofyour summaiy! compare rhe British parliament to rhe Hungarian in pairs 01 groups. The questions below are provided to help you. How many houses does the tlungarian Parlianent have?Approximately how many members does it haveJ How man)' parties are representedin the Hungarian pailiamenr? Fiow long is the normal term ol the Hungarian parliament? What does the charnber of the Hungarian parliannr look ljke? Where clo members of the Cabinet sit? How is rhe chairman of rhe parliamenr elected?ts rhere a ShadowCabinet in the Hungarian ParliamentJ What is the legisiative process in th Hunllaian parlianent? How does the Hungarian Parliamentvote? After Parliamenthas passeda bill, what is required for it to becomeL\\,? fl Translate the following passageinto English. a5arorszdg mintegy 950 ven dr kinilys,ig volt. 1867ben, a kiegyez6s utin rulaj donkdppenalkotmdnyoskirdlys:igjotr lrre,ahol a politikai hatalmata kdrkarnaras I V I magFr orszdggyril6s s az annak felel6smagyarkormdny gyakorolta,iim a magyar tdrvnyhozct ds vegrehajr6hatalom nem voh reljesenszuverdn:a krihigyek, a hadrigye{ es az ezekfenntart.isiit szolg.ildpdnzrigyekter6n az osztrdkparlament6s FerencT6zsefis:isz:ir dont6 befolvrissal rendelkezetr. Az eLs6 magyarkc;zrdrsasitgor az L \.ildgh:iboruurrn, lgl8-ban ki:iltorr.ik ki, de nem volr hossz( letri. 1920-rol 1946-ig Magyarorsz.ig ism6t kiriilysrigvoh, iim ekkor m:ir teljesen fuggetlen,6s uralkod6 helyen az dliamf6i haralmatHonhy Mik16skormdnyzd gyakoioha. 1946 dta Magyarorszag kozrdrsasdg. Az egl?lirri kommunisra diktatfra osszeo;Lisautiin, 1989 ben Magl'arorszdgon ismdt kikinltortrik a demokratikus kozr:irsas:igol. MagFrorszag jelenlegi ,llamfdje Mrdl Ferenckoztilrsasigieln6k: a parlarnentivrilaszLlsok utan o nevezi ki a miniszterelnokot es a kormdny tagjait. s a parlamenr dhal elfogadorrtorvdnyek csakaz 6 aldiriisdval emelkednektorvnyerdre.[990 6ta MagFrorszdgonmindig koaliiios konn:inyok kormdnyoztak,arni azt jelenri, hogy tobb p:irt alkorta a parlamenti-kormdny tobbsaget, s tobb perlbdl ,ilh az ellenzek is.

READING D

whirehall
Read the following text with special attenlion to the words in bold. rhe name Her usually called minrsrers.Their nunlber is -Fhe eu(r meanrng "t ff

I Mrj(5t) s Goremmenr'ij l1ordefinrLl anywhcre.in the widest sense,ir includes all lhe pohticianswho havc beenapporlted by the monarch to n'ork in one ol rhc governncnt departmenrs. Thcse people are

not lixed, but there are abour a hundred such personsin each govemment. several ofthem working in the sane deparimenlin unous leadingpositions.The most impor tart minislers.however.arc those\\'ho are

+4