The United Kingdom: Political Institutions Lauren Cummings
------------ The UK NORTHERN IRELAND (18) ----------------- SCOTLAND (59) Unitary: Government in which ultimate constitutional authority lies in the hands of the national government ------------- ENGLAND (533) Unwritten Constitution: A constitution is not embodied in a single document WALES (40) ----------------- but based on custom and precedent as expressed in statues and judicial
Prime Minister Theresa May Elected Leader of the Conservative and Prime Minister in 2016 Branches of the Government Court System The Supreme Court is the highest court House of Commons 650 members that are elected by the UK public Prime Minister Head of State Court System House of Lords House of Commons Head of State House of Lords Queen Elizabeth II 800 nonelected At age 91, the Queen members has been ruling for 65 years
Queen Elizabeth II The Crown Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne in 1952 She has been Queen of England for 65 years The UK is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy Parliamentary democracy: citizens elect a legislative body to represent their interests Constitutional monarchy: monarch serves as Head of State but is limited to power and must work with the Parliament
Duties of the Monarchy 1. Power to appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister 2. Power to appoint and dismiss other ministers 3. Power to make war and peace 4.Power to regulate the Civil Service 5. Power to ratify treaties 6.Power to appoint bishops and archbishops of the Church of England 7. Power to issue passports 8.Ceremonial, diplomatic and representational duties 9.Non-partisan functions 10.Meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss policy 11.Give her royal assent to all bills that Parliament passes before they become laws
The Prime Minister 1 Getting Elected The leader of the party with the most seats in the general election becomes Prime Minister 2 British people vote for a MP, not directly the Prime Minister Term Length No term of office- until they resign, are dismissed or die The House of Commons can choose to replace the Prime Minister if they find it 3 necessary Authority Policy/decision making, appointing government officials, overseeing departments, etc.
The Prime Minister 4 Question Time Weekly, the Prime Minister appears in the House of Commons for a half hour of questioning from MP There is no script, so they must prove they are a good advocate for the 5 government Appointing MPs A main role is appointing/ dismissing ministers and other government officials 6 Cabinet Consists of senior members of the party appointed by the Prime Minister Members represent departments and meet weekly to discuss major issues
Legislative Branch House of Commons The members: Are elected and have a fixed term of five years House of Commons Power: Passes laws, authorizes taxes and budgets, scrutinizes and investigates government administration and debates current issues House of Lords The members: Some of the seats have been passed down through generations, while others are appointed by the monarch House of Lords ** Have no real authority over legislation Power: Debate, improve and revise bill and amend/ reject bills (very
How Elections Work 1 Elections usually occur once every five years The election date is set five years from the last election 2 An early election can be caused by: A motion of no confidence: passed in Her Majesty s Government by a majority and 14 days pass without the House passing a confidence motion A motion for a general election: agreed by 2/3 of the House of Commons 3 Each constituency in the UK elects one MP into the House of Commons The MP for the constituency represents all people of that constituency
How Elections Work 4 The party with the most MPs elected forms the government If no party wins a majority of the seats, a coalition government is formed 5 The leader of the party with the most MPs becomes Prime Minister 6 Oxbridge There is a disproportionate amount of people elected that are Oxbridge educated than the general public
servants Administer Laws Bureaucracy Deliver public services Carry out routine activities of the bureaucracy Advise ministers/ oversee departments **The government would collapse without civil
The Judiciary 1 Justices of the Supreme Court Appointed by the Queen on advice of the Prime Minister Currently 12 Justices 2 Power Hold high power since there is not a written constitution to refer to 3 Judicial Review No judicial review- no constitution
Current Seats in the House of Commons and House of Lords Conservative Co-operative Democrati c Unionist Green Labour Liberal Democrats followers like s Sinn Plaid Fein Cymru Scottish National Sinn Fein Social Democrati c and Labour UK Independence Ulster Unionist
Conservative (center-right) Independent Euroscepticism (right) Political Parties Conservative/ Right Ideology: small government, free market, individual liberty, strong national defense, Role of government: provide people with freedom to pursue own goals Democratic Unionist (right) Unionist party in Northern Ireland Ideology: British nationalism and unionism, social conservatism, Ideology: Euroscepticism, populism, British unionism Ulster Unionist (center-right) Ideology: British unionism, conservatism, Euroscepticism
Political Parties Liberal/ Left Labour Ideology: Social democracy, democratic socialism Scottish National Ideology: Scottish independence, Scottish Nationalism Social democracy Sinn Fein Ideology: Irish independence, universal health care, Plaid Cymru Ideology: Welsh independence, Welsh nationalism Democratic socialism, social democracy, environmentalism Green Ideology: Green politics, eco-socialism, progressivism, Europeanism Liberal Democrats Ideology: Liberalism, social liberalism, Europeanism Education Co-operative Ideology: Co-operatism, social democracy Social Democratic and Labour Social Democratic and Labour Ideology: Social democracy, Irish nationalism, United Ireland, Europeanism
The Responsibilities of the Military 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Defending the UK and its oversee territories Providing strategic intelligence Providing nuclear deterrence Supporting civil emergency organizations Providing a defense contribution to UK influence Providing security for stabilization Defending the UK s interests The monarch is technically in charge of the military Similar to the United States Not very involved in the government The UK has: the largest navy and modern military
Kahoot https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/72f8ae08-da8e-4ff7-89d6-9a4fe57e1a12 Democratic Unionist