1. Unit4 Politics ，Class and Race

2. Contents: 1. General Elections 2. Political Parties
3. Recent Political Trends
4. Current Issues
5. Class
6. Race

3. General Elections the process to its democracy
in 1832: 5% of the adult
by 1884: 25%
by 1919: 75%
in 1928: 99%

4. A government can stand for no more than 5 years except in exceptional circumstances

5. General Elections
The general election in Britain is held every 5 years and is controlled by the 2 principal parties--- the Conservative Party and the Labour Party.
electoral areas/ constituencies
2. MP

6. Anyone who is eligible to vote can stand as an MP
Anyone who is eligible to vote can stand as an MP. But a deposit of 500 pounds should be paid in advance.

7. The Preparation of Election: Advertisements Door-to-door campaigning Leaflets Broadcasts

8. Political Parties 1. The Labour Party 2. The Conservative Party
There are 3 major national parties in Britain
1. The Labour Party
2. The Conservative Party
3. The Liberal Democrats
The first 2 main political parties dominate the political scene.

9. The Labour Party
The Labour party was founded in 1900 by a union between 3 parts:
1. The Trade Union
2. The Independent Labour Party
3. The Fabian Society
It became the main opposition party after the WWI and won a majority in the House of Commons in 1945 under Attlee.

10. Attlee
The Prime Minister in Britain from

11. The Consertive Party
The Conservative party developed out of the Tory Party.
Tory Party was founded in 1679 when Parliament divided into 2 political groups over the dispute whether James II should be the heir to King Charles II. The supporters of James II formed the group known as “ Tory”, while the opponents formed the “ Whig”. The Tory Party changed its name into the Conservative party and Whig into Liberal Party in 1833.

12. The Consertive Party
The Conservative party was the “ Empire Party” during the 19th century. Before WWI, the conservative party and the Liberal party were 2 principal parties, taking turns in office.
After 1922 the Labour Party ( formed in 1900) took the place of the Liberal Party as one of the 2 main parties.
Now the Conservative Party has about 2 million members. It supports private enterprise and is generally opposed to nationalization and extending social services.

13. The Conservative Party is the party that spent most time in power
The Conservative Party is the party that spent most time in power. The Conservatives are standing for protecting the individual’s right.

14. The Liberal democrats
The third biggest party.

15. The Liberal Democrats are the third biggest party ,and to some extent may be seen as a party of the middle .

16. Recent Political Trends
The recent Prime Ministers in U.K.
Margaret Thatcher
John Major
Tony Blair
Gordon Brown

17. Margaret Thatcher UK’s first woman Prime Minister
The Conservative Party

18. Margaret Thatcher

19. Margaret Thatcher

20. John Major
He served as the Prime Minister in Britain from
The Conservative Party.

21. John Major

22. Tony Blair

23. Tony Blair

24. Gordon Brown
June 27th, 2007, Brown became the new Prime Minister in Britain.
The Labour party

25. Gordon Brown

26. Gordon Brown
Former Treasury chief Gordon Brown became British prime minister, promising “a new government with new priorities,” after Tony Blair resigned to end a decade in power.
Power changed hands traditionally and quietly behind closed doors in Buckingham Palace as Blair first called on Queen Elizabeth II to submit his resignation, and Brown arrived soon after to be confirmed as the new prime minister.
“This will be a new government with new priorities,” Brown told reporters outside his Downing Street office minutes later. “I’ve been privileged with the great opportunity to serve my country.”

27. (4)These are some important events of UK policy on Environmental Protection 1997, signed Kyoto Protocol 2000, launched the Untied Kingdom’s Climate Change Programme 2008, the Climate Change Act became law 2010，launched a High Level Advisory Group 2010,published Household Energy Management Strategy

28. Current Issues
E.U.
NATO

29. E.U.
European Union
The European Union (EU) aims to promote social and economic progress among its members, common foreign and security positions, police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters, and European citizenship.

30. NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
It is an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe committed to fulfilling the goals of the North Atlantic Treaty signed on April 4, 1949.

31. NATO---- the North Atlantic Tready
The North Atlantic Treaty
Washington D.C. - 4 April 1949
The Parties to this Treaty reaffirm their faith in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and their desire to live in peace with all peoples and all governments.
They are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. They seek to promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area.
They are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defence and for the preservation of peace and security. They therefore agree to this North Atlantic Treaty . .

32. NATO ---- member states
Belgium   Bulgaria Canada Czech Rep Denmark Estonia France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Turkey United Kingdom United States

33. Class Upper class Middle class upper-middle class lower-middle class
Lower class

34. Middle class: upper middle-class(doctors, lawyers) lower middle-class

35. The way of marking off upper middle-class Employment newspaper that people read; the way they speak; accents; education

36. Race Ethnic minority populations
Immigrants(from South Asia and Caribbean countries)

37. Positive effects of immigrant
Increase the variety and interest within British culture Food Music

38. The negative of immigration
Troubles in the process of assimilating those immigrants.