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BRITISH CULTURE Government - Parliament - Election TOPIC 4 GOVERNMENT – PARLIAMENT – ELECTION ****** MEMBERS OF GROUP 4 1. Phạm Thị Thu Hiền 2. Nguyễn Thị Hiệp 3. Hà Thị Hiếu 4. Lê Thị Quỳnh Hoa (Group Leader) 5. Nguyễn Thị Phương Hoa 6. Lương Khánh Hòa 7. Nguyễn Thị Hoài 8. Phạm Thị Minh Huế 9. Đỗ Thị Huệ 10. Cảnh Thị Lan Hương 11. Hoàng Thị Hương OUTLINE TOPIC 4 I. Overview of British country and people II. Detailed content 1. Government 1.1 Organizational structure of British government 1.1.1 The cabinet 1.1.2 The Prime Minister 1.1.3 The civil service 1.1.4 Central & local government 1.1.5 Local government services 1.2 Comparison between British government & Vietnamese government 2. Parliament 2.1 The party system in Parliament 2.2 H GROUP 4 1 BRITISH CULTURE Government - Parliament - Election ouse of Commons 2.3 House of Lords 2.4 Comparison between British and Vietnamese parliament 3. Election 3.1 Electoral system 3.2 Formal arrangement 3.3 The campaign 3.3.1 Polling day 3.3.2 Election night 3.4 Recent results and future 3.5 Comparison between British and Vietnamese electoral system III. Statistics IV. References 3 5 5 5 6 7 9 11 11 16 17 22 25 31 35 35 36 37 38 40 45 47 GROUP 4 2 BRITISH CULTURE Government - Parliament - Election I. OVERVIEW OF BRITISH COUNTRY AND PEOPLE Referring to famous landmarks such as The Nottingham Palance, University of Cambridge, Giant’s Causeway along with one-time famous men known as The Beatles Band, Robin Hood - a hero character, anyone also thinks instantly to the land to which God had awarded these great value. That land is the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is known as many different names such as The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or only simply Britain. It is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. It is made up of four nations including England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Britain is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean in the west and north, the North Sea in the east, the English Channel in the south, and the Irish Sea in the west. The United Kingdom has a long history as a major player in international affairs and fulfils an important role in the European Union (EU), the United Nations Security Council, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the G7, the G8, the G20 and NATO. It is considered as a major economic and military power, with considerable political and cultural influence around the world. It has the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and eighth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. British not only make an impression of its economic power, but also catch an attention about culture and people in here. The UK has been at the forefront of youth culture since the heyday of the Beatles and Rolling Stones in the 1960s. It has a rich literary heritage encompassing the works of English writers such as GROUP 4 3 BRITISH CULTURE Government - Parliament - Election William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens, Scot Robert Burns, Welshman Dylan Thomas and Northern Irishman Seamus Heaney. Traditional music has deep roots across the UK, which has also produced classical composers from Henry Purcell in the Baroque period to Benjamin Britten in the 20th century. The British are rather formal. Many from the older generation still prefer to work with people and companies they know or who are known to their associates. Younger businesspeople do not need long-standing personal relationships before they do business with people and do not require an intermediary to make business introductions. Nonetheless, networking and relationship building are often key to long-term business success. Rank is respected and businesspeople prefer to deal with people at their level. If at all possible, include an elder statesman on your team as he/she will present the aura of authority that is necessary to good business relationships in many companies. GROUP 4 4 BRITISH CULTURE Government - Parliament - Election II. DETAILED CONTENT 1. GOVERNMENT 1.1 Organizational structure of British government The United Kingdom is a sovereign state and its form of government is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government which based on the Westminter system that has been emulated around the world - a legacy of the British Empire. Organizational structure chart of British government 1.1.1 The cabinet The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty’s Government of the UK, composed of the Prime Minister and some 21 Cabinet ministers, the most senior of the government ministers. Ministers of the Crown, and especially Cabinet ministers, are selected primarily from the elected members of House of Commons, and also from the House of Lords, by the Prime Minister. Cabinet ministers are heads of government department, mostly with the office of Secretary of State. The collective co- ordinating function of the Cabinet is reinforced by the statutory that all the Secretaries of State jointly hold the same office, and can exercise the same powers. The Cabinet is the ultimate decision-making body of the executive within the Westminster system of government in traditional constitutional theory. The political and decision-making authority of the cabinet has been gradually reduced over the last several decades, with some claiming its role has been usurped by a prime ministerial government. The Cabinet is the executive committee of Her Majesty’s Privy Council, a body which has legislation, judicial and executive functions, and whose large membership includes members of the Opposition. Its decision are generally GROUP 4 5 MONARCH (Sovereign) Central Government Legislature Executive Judiciary Parliament Prime Minister The cabinet House of Lords House of Common House of Lords Civil Services BRITISH CULTURE Government - Parliament - Election implemented either under the existing powers of individual government departments, or by Orders in Council. The Cabinet meets once a week and takes decisions on new policies, the implementation of existing policies and the running of the various government departments. All government members summarize the topics discussed and the decisions taken, but they never refer to individual or what they said. Cabinet office runs busy communication network, keeping ministers in touch with each other and drawing up the agendas or cabinet meetings. 1.1.2 The Prime Minister The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (PM) is the head of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior ministers, who are government department heads) are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Monarch, to Parliament to their political party and ultimately to the electorate. The current Prime Minister, David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, was appointed by the Queen on 11 May 2010. The office is not established by any constitution or law but exists only by long- established convention, which stipulates that the Monarch must appoint as Prime Minister, the person most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons. The Prime Minister is typically the leader of the political party or coalition of parties that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber. The Position of Prime Minister was not created; it evolved slowly and erratically over three hundred years due to numerous acts of Parliament, political development, and accidents of history. By 1830s, the Westminter system of government had emerged, the Prime Minister was the first among equals in the Cabinet and the head of government in the UK. The political position of PM was enhanced by the development of modern political parties, the introduction of mass communication and photography. By the turn of GROUP 4 6 BRITISH CULTURE Government - Parliament - Election the 20th century the modern premiership had emerged; the office had become the pre-eminent position in the constitutional hierarchy vis-a-vis the Sovereign, Parliament and Cabinet. The strength of the Prime Minister’s power of patronage is apparent from the modern phenomenon known as the cabinet reshuffle. A few cabinet members are dropped, and a few members are brought in, but mostly the existing members are shuffled around, like a pack of cards, each getting s new department to look after. Everybody in the country can recognize the Prime Minister, while many cannot put a name to the faces of other ministers. As a result the PM can, if the need arises, go over the head of the other ministers and appeal directly to the public. 1.1.3 The Civil Service The Civil Service executes government decisions and therefore plays a vital part in the British Politics. The Civil Service currently employs at about 500,000. It is split into a number of departments to a government department. A Cabinet minister head one of these department and those civil servants within that department are meant to work for that minister in carrying out government policies. This specific role is very important as a government minister is a working MP and has been elected by the voters in his/ her constituency. Civil servants are not elected; they apply for a post in the Civil Service. The Civil Service in Britain is very hierarchical. At the top are the Permanent Secretaries and the so-called mandarins. These hold the most senior positions in the Civil Service. Their tasks are many and varied. They prepare policy papers and speeches for ministers. They deal with a minister’s correspondence and help to prepare him/her for question that might arise in the House of Common. The Civil servants maintain a minister’s official diary and minute meetings. They also can consult with pressure group to develop their knowledge on certain issues. The next layer down is the permanent career official who works within a government department and carry out government policies. As with all civil servants, these people are meant to be neutral in a professional sense. They might GROUP 4 7 BRITISH CULTURE Government - Parliament - Election have their own political views, but these must not be allowed to interfere or jeopardise their work. In theory, this level should not be having policy making powers, but they might be called upon to give advice if it is thought that their knowledge on s topic is sufficiently expert. While the civil servants for the department (and therefore the government) she/he is in, there are a number of legally enforceable restrictions placed on all civil servants. They can vote in elections, but while they are a member of the Civil Service, they cannot stand for a political office. They are bound by the Official Secrets Act, and they may not speak to the media or write about their experiences without permission. Civil servants must not members of extreme left or right wing political parties, though they can be members of mainstream parties. There are modern criticisms of the Civil Service which do not question on its loyalty but its efficiency. The criticism is that the civil servant does not have enough expertise in matters such as economics or technology, and that it lives too much in its own closed world, cut off from the concerns of most people in society. 1.1.4 Central & local government The pattern of Local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements. Legislation concerning local government in England is decided by the Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom, because England does not have a devolved parliament or regional assemblies. Local government authorities (known as “councils”) only have powers because the central government has given them powers. Indeed, they only exist because the central government allows them to exist. The system of local government is very similar to the system of national government: • The elected representatives are called councilors (the equivalent of MPs). GROUP 4 8 BRITISH CULTURE Government - Parliament - Election • There is a council chamber in the Town Hall or County Hall (the equivalent of Parliament). • There are local government officers (the equivalent of civil servants) to make and implement policy. * Local councils: • Local councils traditionally manage nearly all public services. • In practice, therefore, local councils have traditionally been fairly free from constant central interference in their day to day work. • Local councils are funded by a combination of central government grants, Council Tax (a locally set tax based on house value), Business Rates, and fees and charges from certain services including decriminalised parking enforcement. Councillors cannot do the work of the council themselves, and so are responsible for appointment and oversight of officers, who are delegated to perform most tasks. Local authorities nowadays have to appoint a "Chief Executive Officer", with overall responsibility for council employees, and who operates in conjunction with department heads. The Chief Executive Officer position is weak compared to the council manager system seen in other counties. The modern trend has been towards greater and greater control by central government. There are now more laws governing the way councils can conduct their affairs. England is devided into 9 regions including: 6 metropolitan couties, 27 non- metropolitan couties, 56 unitary authorities and the Greater London. GROUP 4 9 BRITISH CULTURE Government - Parliament - Election Sizes of council areas vary widely. The most populous district in England is Birmingham (a metropolitan borough) with 977,087 people (2001 census), and the least populous non-metropolitan unitary area is Rutland with 34,563. However, these are outliers, and most English unitary authorities have a population in the range of 150,000 to 300,000. The smallest non-unitary district in England is West Somerset at 35,400 people and the largest Northampton at 194,458. However, all but 9 non-unitary English districts have fewer than 150,000 people. Responsibility for minor revisions to local government areas falls to the Boundary Committee for England. Revisions are usually undertaken to avoid borders straddling new development, to bring them back into line with a diverted watercourse, or to align them with roads or other features. 1.1.5 Local government services In Britain, most of the numerous services that a modern government provides are run at local level. These include public hygiene and environmental health inspection, the operation of police and fire, the collecting of rubbish from outside people’s houses, the cleaning and tidying of all public places, the provision of public swimming pools. Public libraries are another well – known service. Anybody can go into one of these to consult the books, newspapers and magazines there free of charge. There are about 5000 public libraries (that’s about one for every 12000 people). On average, each one houses about 45000 books. 1.2 Comparison between British & Vietnamese government British government Vietnamese government The Government's powers include general executive and statutory powers, delegated legislation, and numerous The Government of Vietnam is the executive arm of the Vietnamese state, and the members of the Government are elected by GROUP 4 10 . BRITISH CULTURE Government - Parliament - Election TOPIC 4 GOVERNMENT – PARLIAMENT – ELECTION ****** MEMBERS OF GROUP 4 1. Phạm. Organizational Structure of Vietnam government GROUP 4 13 BRITISH CULTURE Government - Parliament - Election 2. PARLIAMENT The Parliament of the United Kingdom
