UK - Political System英语国家概况.pptVIP

UK Political System From Monarchy to Democracy Questions Is Britain the ‘Mother of Parliamentary democracy’? How was democracy achieved? Has it been achieved? In what ways is the British political system similar or different to other Western systems? First… Britain has no (written) constitution and had no revolution. So, in many ways, Britain’s government is very ancient. But it has changed significantly over the centuries. The monarchy* and parliament is very different today, compared to previous centuries. – more and more symbolic The Civil War (1642-49) A Half Revolution Result 1: At the end of the war between Parliament and the king, Charles I was executed* (1649); but the new republic failed to?survive. Result 2: Charles II (Ch I’s son) was restored (1660). Why? As it was the first revolution, there were no examples of previous revolutions to follow or learn from. There were also?no theories of political revolution to read. Nobody knew what to do, so they eventually returned to the old familiar system. Result 3: The restored monarchy was not the same as the monarchy before the civil war. The king could not rule without parliaments agreement. And in 1689, parliament (for?religious reasons) decided to depose** the new king (James II) and replace him with his Dutch son-in-law William. This showed how the balance of power had moved towards parliament (even though the monarchy survived). The monarchy was abolished The republican victory was brief But it didn’t completely fail Parliamentary Reform (19th C) No revolution: concessions* by the ruling class The Great Reform Act 1832 Secret Ballot Act 1872** Votes for Women 1918 / 1928 Historical Summary Medieval kings’ power came from God (‘divine right’), but gradually it was limited (first by the nobles: Magna Carta). Parliament was first created in the Middle Ages by kings who needed to raise taxes (for wars). Because they got control of tax, power gradually moved to Parliament, especially after the Civil