Government and political regim of England

Plan
Introduction The Monarchy The constitution The parliamentary electoral system The Parliament Conclusion

Introduction
Government and poltical regim

Government
Government:
Body of people that sets and administers public policy, and exercises executive, political, and sovereign power through customs, institutions, and laws within a state. The system of the British government: Britain is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, as head of the State. The British constitution, unlike those of most countries, is not set out in a single document. Instead it is made up of a combination of laws and practices which are not legally enforceable, but which are regarded as vital to the working of government.

Political regime
A political regime is a set of political structures that make up a state. A political regime may also be known as a form of government, a state system, or a political system. The term political regime may also sometimes refer to a specific ruler or set of rulers within a political system. British political system: The UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been the official title of the British state ever since 1922. The UK is constitutional monarchy. This means that the official head of state is the monarch, but his or her powers are limited by the constitution. The British constitution is not written in any single document. Only some of these rules are written down in the form of ordinary laws passed by Parliament at various times.

The monarchy


The stablility of the British government owes much to the monarchy. Its continuity has been interrupted only once (the republic of 1649-60) in over a thousand years. Today the Queen is not only the head of State, but also an important symbol of national unity. Her complete official royal title is 'Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith', but she is usually referred to as Her Royal Highness or Queen Elizabeth.


According to the law the Queen is head of the executive branch of the government, an integral part of the legislature, head of the judiciary, the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Crown and the 'supreme governor' of the established Church of England. While that sounds like a lot of responsibility, the real power of the monarchy has been steadily reduced over the years to the point where the Queen is uninvolved in the day-to-day operation of the government. She is impartial and acts only on the advice of her ministers. The Queen, Prince Charles and the other members of the royal family take part in traditional ceremonies, visit different parts of Britain and many other countries and are closely involved in the work of many charities.

The constitution of a state consists of those rules,deemed to be universally accepted by the members of the State,which determine the relationships between the governed and the government . In general the constitution lays down the rules which organise the government of a state . Each state has it's own constitution either written or unwritten. The written constitutions : In some states the rules which organise the government are written down , examples : The United States has a written constitution setting out such prerogatives as the power of the President and of Congress. In some Europien States, the consititutions are written down also , example : France has had several constitutions , the latest one is the constitution of the Fifth Republic was approuved by Referendum in 1958 and has undergone several amendments since then

 The British Consitution


The unwritten part of the constitution consists of the Common law and the Conventions : -Common law : unwritten law of Englanid administered by Sovereigns' courts and derived from ancient and universal usage . -The conventions : they have no legal sanction , but they are observed because if they were not , the processes of government as we know them would break down , and Parliament might be forced to pass laws to make the conventions statutory .

The Parliamentary Electoral System

For electoral purposes, the united kingdom is today divided into 659 constituencies (geographical areas of the contry, containing about 66,000 voters).Each one elects a Member of Parliament to sit in the House of Commons. general elections are by secret ballot, but voting is not compulsory.British, commonwealth and Irish republic citizens may vote if they are resident in britain. Expatriate british persons may also vote under special conditions. people not entitled to vote include members of the House of Lord, mentally ill patients, individuals who are detained in prisons, and persons who have been convicted of corrupt or illegal election practices. Each elector casts a vote at a polling station, set up on election day in their constituency. Those who are unable to vote in person in their locale constituency can register postal or proxy votes.

The candidate wiho wins most votes in a constituency is elected MP for that area. this system is known as the simple majority or the "first past the post" system. No candidate requires the backing of a political party in order to stand for elections, but today no independent candidate succeeds in being elected. The present party system is based upon the existence of organised political parties, each laying rival policies before the electorate. The party that wins most seats in the House of Commons at a general election usually forms the new government, even though it has not obtained a majority of the popular vote. Indeed, the result of a general election may be a "hung parliament"where no one party has an overall majority. By tradition,the leader of the majority party is appointed as Prime Minister by the sovereign and asked to form a government.

The Parliament

Parliament, Britain's legislature, is made up of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Queen in her constitutional role. The Commons has 651 elected Members of Parliament (MPs), who represent local constituencies. The House of Lords is made up of 1,185 hereditary and life peers and peeresses, and the two archbishops and the 24 most senior bishops of the established Church of England. The center of parliamentary power is the House of Commons. Limitations on the power of the Lords (it rarely uses it power to delay passage of most laws for a year) is based on the principle that the Lords, as a revising chamber, should complement the Commons and not rival it. Once passed through both Houses, legislation requires the Royal Assent to become law.

Parliament has a number of ways to exert control over the executive branch. Parliamentary committees question ministers and civil servants before preparing reports on matters of public policy and issues can be debated before decisions are reached. However, ultimate power rests in the ability of the House of Commons to force the government to resign by passing a resolution of 'no confidence'. The government must also resign if the House rejects a proposal so vital to its policy that it has made it a matter of confidence. The proceedings of both Houses of Parliament are broadcast on television and radio, sometimes live or more usually in recorded and edited form.


General elections to choose MPs must be held at least every five years. Voting, which is not compulsory, is by secret ballot and is from the age of 18. The simple majority system of voting is used. Candidates are elected if they have more votes than any of the other candidates, although not necessarily an absolute majority over all candidates.

Conclusion