Chapter 13 System of Government

1
Chapter 13 System of Government

• December, 2007
• Xiao Huiyun

2
The System of Government

• Representative Democracy and also known as
  Parliamentary Democracy
• Monarch -- Constitutional Monarch
• What powers does the Queen have?
• The Sovereign personifies the state and is, in
  law, an integral part of the legislature, head of
  the executive, head of the judiciary, the
  commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the
  Crown and the supreme Governor of the Church of
  England

The Crown is the permanent
3
A 1 Basic Structure of UK Central Government
4
The Monarch

• Queen Elizabeth II

• Real name Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor
• Birth 21 April 1926 in London
• Children 3 sons, 1 daughter

5
The Monarch

• The monarch is bound by statute to
• not be a Roman Catholic or marry a Roman Catholic
  
• on the death of a monarch, the oldest male heir
  will succeed to the throne
• In her role as Monarch, the Queen is head of the
  executive and plays an integral part in the
  legislature. She heads the judiciary and is both
  the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of
  the Crown and supreme governor of the established
  Church of England.

6
The Monarch

• Q1 If there were a referendum on the issue, would
  you favour Britain becoming a republic or
  remaining a monarchy?
•  Republic 19
• Monarchy 70
• Would not vote 3
• Don't kn
  
  ow 8

7
Legislature

• Parliament is the highest legislative authority
  in the United Kingdom the institution
  responsible for making and repealing UK law. It
  is also known as the Legislature. It consists of
  three constituent parts
• House of Commons
• House of Lords
• Crown

8
Executive

• EXECUTIVE
• Prime Minister and Ministers or
  Secretaries of State (about 25) (Political
  Heads of Government Departments), all MPs, form
  Cabinet Also Junior Ministers

• Civil Service(non-political) Permanent officials
  employed by government. Advise Ministers and
  implement policy. Top officials popularly known
  as mandarins but accountable to Parliament

9
Judiciary

• The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 made provision
  for the creation of a new Supreme Court for the
  United Kingdom.
• It is important to be aware that the new Supreme
  Court will be a United Kingdom body legally
  separate from the England and Wales Courts since
  it will also be the Supreme Court of both
  Scotland and Northern Ireland.
• The office of Lord Chancellor continues in
  existence but the office is no longer official
  head of judiciary.

10
Judiciary

• The new, independent Supreme Court, separates
  from the House of Lords with its own independent
  appointments system, its own staff and budget
  and, ultimately, its own building. The new
  Supreme Court is scheduled to be open for
  business in October 2009.
• The 12 judges of the Supreme Court will be known
  as Justices of the Supreme Court and will no
  longer be allowed to sit as members of the House
  of Lords. The current Law Lords will become the
  first 12 Justices of the Supreme Court, with Lord
  Bingham as President of the Supreme Court.

11
Separation of Power, British Style

• The Prime Minister is an active member of the
  legislative, yet he is also the leading member of
  the executive.
• Also the Lord Chancellor is a member of the
  cabinet and therefore of the executive as well as
  being head of the judiciary
• The House of Lords also has a right to vote on
  bills so they are part of the legislative but the
  Lords also contains the Law Lords who are an
  important part of the judiciary
• As with the PM, the members of the Cabinet are
  also members of the legislative who have the
  right, as a Member of Parliament, to vote on
  issues

12
Freedom Dutiesthe Limits to Freedom

• Civil Liberties under Parliamentary Democracy
• the freedom to organise politically
• the freedom of speech
• the freedom of the press
• the equality of all people under the law
• These rights are not absolute but have to be
  established and limited by the law. For example
  freedom of speech is limited by the law of libel
  and contempt. Such laws are decided by Parliament.

13
A 2 The Executive

• The role of the Sovereign the constitutional
  monarch
• As Head of State the Queen presides over the
  State Opening of Parliament. This takes place
  usually each November when Parliament reopens
  after the summer break for the next Session . The
  Queen reads a speech which outlines the policies
  and main bills that the government intends to
  introduce during the Parliamentary Session
• The Queen has to give the Royal Assent of
  agreement to any new law that is passed by
  parliament
• She is kept in touch with the government by a
  weekly meeting with the Prime Minister in
  Buckingham Palace.

14
The State Opening of ParliamentMay, 2005

• From Buckingham to Westminster

• Sovereigns Entrance at Westminster

15
The State Opening of ParliamentMay, 2005

• Although the speech is delivered by the Queen,
  the content of the speech is entirely drawn up by
  the Government and approved by the Cabinet.
• It contains an outline of the Government's
  policies and proposed legislative programme for
  the new parliamentary session.

16
The Prime Minister

• the leader of his party in the House of Commons
• the head of government
• he has the right to select his cabinet, hand out
  departmental positions, decide the agenda for
  cabinet meetings which he also chairs.
• he can dismiss ministers if this is required
• he directs and controls policy for the government
  
• he is the chief spokesman for the government
• he keeps the Queen informed of government
  decisions
• he exercises wide powers of patronage and
  appointments in the civil service, church and
  judiciary

17
The Prime Minister cont

• he can amalgamate or split government departments
  
• he represents the country abroad
• he decides the date for a general election within
  the five-year term
• he decided the timetable of government
  legislation in the House (though this has been
  delegated to the Leader of the House before)

18
The Prime Minister cont

• The powers of the Prime Minister within the
  British political structure have developed in
  recent years to such an extent that some
  political analyst now refer to Britain as having
  a Prime Ministerial government rather than a
  Cabinet government
• The Prime Minister selects his own Cabinet and he
  will select those people who
• Have ability
• Have demonstrated good party loyalty
• Have clearly demonstrated loyalty to the Prime
  Minister himself

19
The Cabinet

• The Cabinet is appointed by the Prime Minister.
  The senior positions within the Cabinet are
  usually appointed by the Prime Minister within
  hours of an election victory
• In British Politics, all Cabinet members are
  serving MP's or peers
• The most senior members of the Cabinet are the
  Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary,
  Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary .
• There has never been a set number for posts
  within the Cabinet. The most common figure for a
  Cabinet is 22

20
THE CABINET

• Meets weekly at No. 10 Downing Street
• Collective responsibility or resignation e.g.
  former foreign secretary Robin Cook
• Generalists rather than specialists
• 22 is large by international standards
• Ministers responsible (accountable) for their
  particular department
• Oppositions have a Shadow Cabinet

21
Downing 10
22
The Civil Service

• Civil servants are servants of the Crown, they do
  not hold a political or judicial office, and they
  are paid with public money which is voted through
  Parliament.
• Civil servants are officials who serve the
  elected political government of the day. They
  themselves are not elected.
• They are career officials who remain in office
  despite changes in government.
• Top civil servants offer advice about the
  possible consequences of policy, and are also
  responsible for implementing the policies that
  the government, with Parliaments approval,
  decides to pursue.
• To enter at the higher levels of the civil
  service you have to pass a rigorous civil service
  exam.

23
THE CIVIL SERVICE

• Permanent, well-educated elite, dominated by
  Oxbridge (75) politically neutral (unlike USA)
• Recruited by meritrocracy (Northcote-Trevalyan
  reforms)
• Generalists rather than specialists
• Anonymous (since Minister takes responsibility)
• Now less than 500,000 (751,000 in 1976)

24
A3 The Legislature Parliament
25
Parliamentary Sovereignty

• Parliamentary Sovereignty Parliamentary
  Supremacy Parliament has absolute ultimate
  power within the British system
• Parliament can pass, repeal and alter any of
  Britains laws. This is one of the major powers
  that a government has.
• In theory there is no body that can declare a law
  passed by Parliament as unconstitutional - though
  the full impact of the European Court is not yet
  known

26
Parliamentary Elections

• General elections are held after Parliament has
  been dissolved.
• For electoral purposes Britain is divided into
  (659) constituencies, each of which returns one
  MP to the House of Commons
• The British electoral system is based on the
  relative majority method sometimes called the
  first past the post (FPTP) principle which
  means the candidate with more votes than any
  other is elected.
• The leader of the political party which wins most
  seats (although not necessarily most votes) at a
  general election, or who has the support of a
  majority of members in the House of Commons, is
  by convention invited by the Sovereign to form
  the new government. h

27
Constitutional Reform

• Constitutional Reform
• Devolution
• House of Lords reform
• Partial independence for Bank of England
• Freedom of Information
• Parliamentary select committees
• Electoral reform
• A written constitution a bill of rights
• Constitutional Reform Act 2005

28
The House of Commons cont

• The House sits in Westminster from Mondays to
  Fridays, usually from about 2.30pm until 10.30pm,
  and often continues through the night when
  important debates are going on.

29
What Goes on in the House of Commons?

• Debates Many hours are spent debating issues
  of national and international importance. Most
  often a motion is proposed by one or two of the
  Governments front benchers and then the same
  number of persons from the Opposition front
  benches oppose it
• The Speaker decides who is allowed to speak and
  he/she must ensure that each side is given equal
  opportunity and time to speak. After the debate
  the MPs vote for or against the motion.
• MPs vote by going into lobbies, corridors
  outside the chamber, one for aye and one for
  no votes where they are counted
• The MPs vote is recorded so that anybody can know
  which way an MP voted on any particular issue
• After the votes are counted the results are
  announced in the chamber.

30
What Goes on in the House of Commons cont

• Question Time
• Four times a week Government ministers have to
  give short, oral answers to questions put to them
  in the House of Commons by MPs.
• Many questions are answered during each question
  time which lasts for 55 minutes.
• The Prime Minister also has a question time of 30
  minutes once a week.

31
What Goes on in the House of Commons cont

• Question Time
• Four times a week Government ministers have to
  give short, oral answers to questions put to them
  in the House of Commons by MPs.
• Many questions are answered during each question
  time which lasts for 55 minutes.
• The Prime Minister also has a question time of 30
  minutes once a week.

32
A 4 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DEVOLUTION

• The British Parliament is sovereign and decides
  what the responsibilities of other levels of
  government are to be.
• Since Tony Blairs constitutional reforms at he
  end of the 20th century, more power has been
  devolved from Westminster to Scotland, Wales and
  Northern Ireland.
• The Scottish parliament -- 1998
• The Welsh Assembly -- 1998
• The Northern Ireland Assembly -- 1998

33
Local Government

• Though there are variations, the general pattern
  of local government in Britain is for there to be
  three layers county councils at the top, divided
  further into district councils, with community or
  parish councils at the lowest level.
• County level responsible for education and social
  services
• District councils responsibilities include, for
  example, rubbish collection and disposal
• Representatives are elected periodically to be
  councillors. representing wards (about 1200
  people at county level)
• At district and county levels there are also
  full-time specialist officials who advise them
  and implement polic

34
The Devolution

• Devolution is where power is transferred from a
  superior governmental body (such as central
  power) to an inferior one (such as at regional
  level). In his book "Devolution", V Bogador
  claims that devolution has three parts to it
• The transfer of power to a subordinate elected
  body
• The transfer of power on a geographical basis
• The transfer of functions at present is exercised
  by Parliament

35
The Devolution cont

• Devolution essentially involves the setting up of
  an elected regional assembly whose powers are
  carefully and clearly defined by national
  government
• These powers do not usually include major
  financial powers such as tax collection, the
  raising of taxes etc, the control of the armed
  forces or an input into foreign policy decisions.
• Invariably the sheer financial clout of a
  central government will give it a huge amount of
  power over a regional one should a clash between
  authority occur
• This power will be given to the Scottish
  Parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland
  assemblies .

36
The Devolution

• The Greater London Authority
• London held its first elections for a new form
  of city-wide government in May 2000. A Mayor and
  a separately elected Assembly are elected every
  four years .
• The Authority has responsibility for London-wide
  issues such as transport, economic development,
  environmental protection and strategic planning.

37
The City of London

• Greater London Authority Headquarters