1、British British government structureThe highest position King Queen orBut their power is limited King or QueenParliament(议会)House Of Commons(下议院)House of lords(上议院)I.IntroductionlThe Britain is unitary(中央集权制的)monarchy（君主国）lacking a formal written constitution(law)and has highly disciplined(严格的)polit
2、ical parties.lBritain has a strong central government with little separation of power.But most Britishers have no idea what a primary election is about or what state governors do.Politicsl1.The beginning of politics lThe political traditions of the Britain date back twenty-five centuries to the anci
3、ent Greeks.Besides,it was the ancient Greeks who were the pioneers of Western political thinking,and their influence remains very great today.l2.The role of government in politicslA government is a social institution within which politics takes place.The politics in Britain is authoritative（权威性的）.Wh
4、ile other social institutions are not authoritative,such as churches,private clubs and university.Some get more and some get lesslThere is an example:lBritish government has taken much of the oil revenue and distributed largely for the benefits of English.Political Legitimacy（政治合法性）（政治合法性）1.God2.Exc
5、ellence3.The Will of the People.Absolutism（专制制度）（专制制度）and Constitutionalism（立宪政体）（立宪政体）lConstitutional government is limited government.lAbsolute government is unlimited government.It can do whatever it likes to its people.lLaw is an important constitutional limitation on government.Absolutism（专制制度）
6、（专制制度）and Constitutionalism（立宪政体）（立宪政体）l1 Unitary（中央集权政府）and Federal government（联邦政府）In a Unitary government,there is pre-existing central government which creates and controls smaller,local units of government.About 90%of national government in the world are unitary in form.1)Britain has a unitary
7、government.the central government in London can create,reshape,reorganize,or abolish this local units of government.2)Citizens of Britain have experience only with unitary government and are usually puzzled and confused about the differences between unitary and federal government.3)The British gover
8、nment is strong,and all-powerful in Britain.Election There are TWO basic kinds of election:lCandidate lIssue Candidate lAn essential part of representative democracy.lThe party organization choose the candidates.lThe voters select between the various parties candidates at a general election.lThe win
9、ner of a general election is elected to office.Issue lRare in Britain.lThe initiative and referendum are two types of issue election.Party and GovernmentParty lMajor British parties never forget that wining election is important and frequently adjust their principles to suit the current tastes of th
10、e voters.lIdeological zealots(意识形态狂热者):They believe that ideological purity is sacred and should not be compromise merely to win election.Government lThe parliamentary(议会的)whips(投票的监督人)are party leader whose job is to ensure that elected members of the party obey their party leaders in the manner th
11、at they cast their votes in parliament The Assembly ModelThe assembly model has these basic elements:lNone has a special leadership function.lThe members select officers.lEvery member can perform ALL the tasks of the organization.lThere is no necessary limit to the size of the group.questions Who we
12、re the pioneers of western political thinking?What is the most important course of political legitimacy in the world today?What is the length of term in office of the house of lords and house of commons?Whose members are elected by voters?What are the two kinds of elections?The end thank you for wat
13、ching!The British Parliament Building（英国议会大厦）（英国议会大厦）House Of Commons It passes acts,or laws Members are elected by voters Length of term in office is not more than five years Government are formed by the mojority party in house of commons Prime minister(首相)are chosen from government membersHouse Of
14、 LordslThey have a few powerslMembers are not elected by voters,but by hereditary(世袭的)lSo,members length of term in office is lifetimelThey have less powers than house of commonsGodl(1)Theocracy（神权统治）:The oldest and by far the most important source during recorded history is God.God speaks to the ki
15、ng,and the king speaks to the people.By obeying the kings the people are obeying the God.ExcellenceThe second source of political legitimacy is excellence.A)Aristocracy(精英统治)B)1)In Greek,it means the best and rule by the best.People obey aristocratic governments believe that the best people are in c
16、harge.2)However,in many countries including Britain,aristocratic legitimacy is becoming less and less important.The Will of the PeoplelThe third and most important source of political legitimacy in the world is the will of the people.A)British Democracy(民主政体)and the Monarchy（君主政体）.Britains experience with rising public participation is typical.The surviving monarchies,Britain is a prime example,succeeded because they shifted from absolute to constitutional rule.
