The structure of the British political system

BEFORE YOU READ📕

№1. You are going to read the text. Before you read, check out the first sentences, which usually contain the main idea, revealed then in a paragraph. Judging by the topic sentences extracted from the text, what do you think will be discussed in each paragraph?

1. The reigning monarch is not only head of state but symbol of the unity of the nation.

2. Britain is a democracy, yet its people are not, as one might expect in a democracy, constitutionally in control of the state.

3. The upper chamber of Parliament is not democratic in any sense at all.

4. Her Majesty’s Government governs in the name of the Queen, and its hub, Downing Street, lies in Whitehall, a short walk from Parliament.

5. Her Majesty’s Government, in spite of its name, derives its authority and power from its party representation in Parliament.

6. The dynamic power of Parliament lies in its lower chamber.

7. Each parliamentary session begins with the “State Opening of Parliament”, a ceremonial occasion in which the Queen proceeds from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster where she delivers the Queen’s Speech from her throne in the House of Lords. 

Westminster 

1. ……….. Parliament is housed in the Palace of Westminster, once a home of the monarchy. Like the monarchy, Parliament is an ancient institution, dating from the middle of the thirteenth century. Parliament is the seat of British democracy, but it is perhaps valuable to remember that while the House of Lords was created in order to provide a council of the nobility for the king, the Commons were summoned originally in order to provide the king with money.

 The Crown

2. ……….. The monarchy is Britain’s oldest secular institution, its continuity for over a thousand years broken only once by a republic that lasted a mere eleven years (1649-60). The monarchy is hereditary, the succession passing automatically to the oldest male child, or in the absence of males to the oldest female offspring of the monarch. In law the monarch is head of the executive and of the judiciary, head of the Church of England, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

The House of Commons 

3. ……….. Of its 650 members, 523 represent constituencies in England, 38 in Wales, 72 in Scotland and 17 in Northern Ireland. There are only seats in the Commons debating chamber for 370 members, but except on matters of great interest, it is unusual for all members to be present at any one time. Many MPs find themselves in other rooms of the Commons, participating in a variety of committees and meetings necessary for an effective parliamentary process.

The System of Government

4. …………. The constitutional situation is an apparently contradictory one. As a result of a historical process the people of Britain are subjects of the Crown, accepting the Queen as the head of the state. Yet even the Queen is not sovereign in any substantial sense since she receives her authority from Parliament, and is subject to its direction in almost all matters. This curious situation came about as a result of a long struggle for power between the Crown and Parliament during the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries.

Whitehall

5. ……….. Following a general election, the Queen invites the leader of the majority party represented in the Commons, to form a government on her behalf. Government ministers are invariably members of the House of Commons, but infrequently members of the House of Lords are appointed. All government members continue to represent “constituencies” which elected them.

Parliamentary Procedure

6. ………..Her speech is drafted by her government, and describes what the government intends to implement during the forthcoming session. Leading members of the Commons may hear the speech from the far end of the chamber, but are not allowed to enter the House of Lords.

The House of Lords

7. ……….. It consists of four categories of peer. The majority are hereditary peers, a total of almost 800, but of whom only about half take an active interest in the affairs of the state. A smaller number, between 350 and 400, are “life” peers – an idea introduced in 1958 to elevate to the peerage certain people who rendered political or public service to the nation. The purpose was not only to honour but also to enhance the quality of business done in the Lords.

WHILE READING

№2. Make sure that your guesses were correct. Read the text and match each topic sentence with the correct paragraph.

Read the text again. As you read, find justification for the fact that men have priority over women in becoming the head of the UK.

AFTER READING

№3. You are going to be divided into groups of 2 to create your own questions about the text. Each group should come up with at least 3 questions. Write your questions below in the blog. Then the questions will be gathered and allocated to students to comment on. Make sure your questions are based on the text and lend themselves to answering.

WRITING TASK

№4. At home, you are suggested to compare the structure of the political system in the UK and your country. Working in pairs, make a comparison table. You can also include schematics. Before starting your work, elaborate and discuss with your colleagues in the comments the criteria for comparison. Your table should cover at least 5 points. Make sure you describe each of them in detail.