Political System Of Great Britain

Great Britain is a capitalist state. Political system of the country is a constitutional monarchy. According to the constitution the powers of the Queen are limited by Parliament. The organs of the government in the United Kingdom are:

1. the legislature, which consists of the Queen and Parliament and

2. the executive, which combines:

1. the Cabinet

2. and government departments under the control of ministers.

As a result of long revolutionary process, the Prime Minister is the real head of English government. He is usually the leader of the party having a majority in the House of Commons.

The British Parliament consists of two Houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords consists of over 1000 MPs. The Lord Chancellor controls of all debates in this House. Historically he sits on a woolsack. The MPs of this House are not elected.

There are 630 MPs in the House of Commons. They are elected by secret ballot. The speaker controls the debates in this House.

The life of English Parliament is fixed at 5 years and divided into Sessions. The main function of Parliament is to make law. The starting point is to draft a bill. When the draft has got cabinet approval it goes to the House of Commons.

The bill’s progress is very complex and includes the following stages:

1. reading in the House of Commons;

2. detailed examination by the committee;

3. debates in the House of Lords;

4. the final approval by the Queen.

After that a bill becomes an Act of Parliament.

Voting in both Houses is done by dividing into those in favour of the bill going through one lobby and those against it, going through the opposite lobby. Their names are recorded by clerks. The Lords vote “Content” or “No content”, the Commons “Aye” or “No”.

The Prime Minister forms his Cabinet without consulting Parliament. The Cabinet is the real instrument of Government. It controls and runs all nation’s affairs and carries out the policy of capitalists.