Parliamentary Democracy. How Does It Work?

WE will try to answer these questions: What do you think “Democracy” means? How does democracy work? Is the British Monarchy anti- democratic? Who rules the country in fact? The monarch or Parliament?

What do you think “democracy” means? People do what they want. People rule the country. People do what they want within the framework of law. People elect their representatives to rule the country. People elect the head of the state directly. People say what they think. People can live in any place they choose. The head of the state guarantees the rights of citizens. All people and authorities follow the constitution.

Cross out the words that don’t match the idea of democracy Cross out the words that don’t match the idea of democracy. Explain your choice. Ethnic harmony integration separatism democratic constitutional peace liberal racist

In GB there is a constitutional monarchy Political system of Great Britain (The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) In GB there is a constitutional monarchy

Officially the head of the state is the Queen Elizabeth II Real name: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor

In GB the Parliament is made up of two chambers: but Britain is administered from the Palace of Westminister in London also known as the Houses of Parliament In GB the Parliament is made up of two chambers: The House of Commons and The House of Lords

Parliament represents the legislative branch.

Parliament consists of two chambers or houses: the House of Lords the House of Commons

The House of Lords Benches in the Houses of Lords are coloured red. The Throne and canopy are located at one end of the chamber.

The House of Lords is not elected. It consists of Lords spiritual - 24 bishops of the Church of England. Lords Temporal – 764 peers, persons who holds any of the five grades of the British nobility: Duke [dju:k](герцог), Marquess [‘ma:kwis](маркиз), Earl (граф), Viscount [‘vaicaunt](виконт), Baron (барон)

The House of Lords Before 1999 year’s reform members of the House of Lords were not elected, but they inherited their seats from their fathers, so they were hereditary peers Now there are only 2 members of the House of Lords are hereditary peers accordingly their traditional ceremonial posts The others, elected by the whole House of Lords and by political parties, are called life peers

The House of Commons Speaker’s chair Government benches Opposition benches Galleries for visitors Press gallery

The House of Commons MPs are elected by the British public The House of Commons has 650 members The chairman is called the Speaker

Elections Are held every five years Voting is not compulsory and is from the age of 21 The party which wins the most seats forms the government The leader of the winning party becomes the Prime Minister

The Cabinet is a committee of ministers. There are 20 Ministers.

The most important ministers… Chancellor of the Exchequer канцлер казначейства (министр финансов Великобритании) Responsibility Government spending государственные расходы Presents the Budget annually in March

The most important ministers… Foreign Secretary Responsibility Relations with other countries

The most important ministers… Home Secretary министр внутренних дел Великобритании Responsibility Internal relations The police Law and order Law courts

Complete the facts below with the suitable words or word combinations. The letters “MP” mean the _______________________________. Parliament is made up of the two chambers: the ______________ and the _____________. The members of the _____________ are not elected. In the United Kingdom ___________ is held every four or five years. The party which wins the majority of seats in the General Election forms the _________. The leader of the winning party becomes the __________________. The members of the party of Parliament that did not win the election form the _________ to the Government.

Answer the questions Who is the head of the British Government? How many ministers are there in the cabinet? How many Houses does Parliament consist of? What are they? Who is in the House of Commons? Who elects them? How many MPs are there? Are the Lords elected?